First Impressions: Rock Band 2
While I’d love to say that I’ve been busy with other things that have prevented me from posting more topics – like finding out how to spend the millions of dollars I won, or joyriding in a new car that we bought I instead have fallen victim to a game whose whole premise is something that is both addicting and … kind of pathetic at the same time. Yes, folks, I bought Rock Band and Rock Band 2.
Now some may ask … why in the hell did you do that? Well, by doing the math I realized that I’d get more by spending $150 for the original Rock Band and peripherals, then paying another $60 alone for the sequel. This way, I have double the songs and the actual CD’s instead of just renting a copy of Rock Band and then trying to copy the music over – which is an option for those who own the original Rock Band.
And overall, I must say I’m quite happy with the game – as those who are on my friends list usually notice that if I’m online, “Rock Band 2″ is almost always displayed underneath my name. I’m quite stunned at all that can be done in the game. There are tons of features – both online and offline. I’d say the neatest feature is to create a band online. The neat thing is that this time around, everything can revolve around the one band you make. No need to make an online or offline band – just one band can do it all … and people can swap in and swap out. So, if you wanted to advance your bands career by yourself – fine … but if you’re looking for some online assistance then that option is available to you, as well.
And not to completely n3rd out, but there’s just something that’s really cool about the fact that you can hop online with your instrument in hand and within a minute you have three other people who pick up the other three instruments and you all work together. And online experience overall is pretty clean – I haven’t experienced one hiccup in-game and haven’t run into any connection issues. I’m looking into the fact that headset’s are a feature on the game so you can actually talk to the people who’s in your band … I just heard it was done weird.
And there are a ton of songs … you have 85 songs right off the bat and if you import your original Rock Band, you have about an additional 60 songs. Then, you get 20 additional tracks available via DLC (Downloadable Content) – and while these are bands I’ve never heard of … I find that even by playing a song I don’t know of can make me a fan of that band … so I don’t complain. Then, there’s hundreds of songs available online … most of them about $2 per song, with packages offered too. Some are no-name, others are big name … such as Disturbed, Offspring, Metallica and Credence Clearwater Revival. (Only one from them at the moment … hoping to see more)
Character customization is pretty detailed as well … you choose your clothes and can also choose bandannas, sunglasses, piercings, wristbands, rings … and even make your own custom tattoos out of the 100+ pieces of artwork that are available on the game. And you would customize them by taking different pieces of artwork and layering them and modifying them to your liking. You also use that artwork to create a band logo … pretty neat stuff overall. And then, of course, you can buy nicer looking instruments.
I think my main frustration with the game is that through your band tour mode you find yourself repeating songs 2 to 3 times in a short time span. And with 85 songs available I don’t see why that’s the case. Even big-name songs become boring after awhile. I know this is “essentially” how a band tour works … but some variety would be nice. THEN, if you start another band with someone else – say you save that band for when you play multiplayer with that person ONLY – then you do all those songs again. Pretty tedious.
Overall, though, I’m really happy with the purchase. With all the things available offline as well as online co-op and versus mode, I think this game will eat my soul for a very long time. But despite me playing this game for hours a day, I’m still going to try to rent other games just so I don’t get burned out on it because like I said before … this game can be terribly addicting.
And to finish up … I did mention on the first paragraph how the whole concept of Rock Band/Guitar Hero is kind of pathetic. I’m sure you can figure out why … but I’m saving that for another topic.
I don’t think Guitar Hero/Rock Band is pathetic. I think, if played alone, the game loses a lot of its fun factor (they seem very much to benefit from party environments).
I personally find music games to be very tedious/boring because they don’t seem all that different from Dance Dance Revolution from the 90s/early 00s. I also don’t think the guitars/drums/etc. are all that revolutionary because I’ve played with Maracas (Samba De Amigo) and even bongos (Donkey Kong JungleBeat) over half a decade ago…years before GH was on the scene. The “rhythm” pattern gameplay was the game but using those instruments seemed much more fun/authentic. Using a guitar shaped device that operates nothing like a real guitar? Eh…that’s okay. Then again, if the guitar was too acuurate no one would play GH/RB…because playing a guitar is friggin’ difficult.
I also have a little animosity towards RB/GH in general because, like Wii Sports/Mario Party/etc., the games seem to thrive on casual gamers. Now that’s all fine and good… but when I see year end lists or collections of “Best Games Ever” and GH/RB show up…I can’t help but feel the world is playing some cruel joke on me. (For reference, it pains me whenever I see magazines/sites/etc. list Tetris as the #1 game of all time…talk about choosing the most simplistic game ever and saying its better than the Marios, Zeldas, Final Fantasies, etc. of the industry.)
I’m usually very keen on “trendy” games (because I’ve been a die-hard gamer for so long) and can spot a franchise that will be milked for all its worth usually before it even is released. Guitar Hero always struck me as a title that the publisher would milk on *at least* an annual basis until it got to the point that game critics and players alike just got sick of it. Remember Tomb Raider? Huge hit. Sequel one year later? Big hit. 3rd game two years later? People started getting tired of it. 4th game 3 years later? People stop caring about TR.
The same thing has happened with Tony Hawk, Street Fighter, Tekken, Soul Calibur, etc. more recently. Games still need time to grow on you…and with a “new, updated” version coming out every couple of months players barely have enough time to form an attachment to a particular title or series before another one is crammed down their throats. Ideally, games and sequels should be placed at least 3 years apart. 5 years is ideal and 6/7 years is when you get to those games that people drool over (like Half Life 2, Doom III, Zelda 64, Bioshock, etc.)
I’ll be interested to hear what you have to say about GH/RB’s flaws and what you think the games are/aren’t doing for the industry as a whole.
October 23, 2008 at 4:37 am
It also seems that “being a musician” is like the #1 thing young people want to be. Perhaps because I’ve never been a huge music nut (heck, I listen to game music more than I do “real” songs off the radio)…but I’ve never understood what the fascination was with being some “rock star.” It’s a life that usually involves addictions, ass-hattery-behavior, criminal charges, snobbinish, delusions of grandeur in regards to, well, everything and very little actual talent/creativity (it’s just music…who couldn’t plunk out notes on a musical instrument if they wanted to? Let’s see them make a movie, write a huge novel or create a fancy painting).
Ehhhh….again, maybe this is a “cool person” game that I just “don’t get” because, well…I’m not cool. That’s fine. While people play GH/RB I’ll be fine playing games like Monster Hunter, Halo, Civilization, Crysis and Shenmue.
October 23, 2008 at 4:46 am
I would say that RB/GH is aimed at both casual and hardcore gamers. I mean, there’s a lot of stuff to do in RB2 and unlike Wii Sports you can’t get through it all in a few hours. I think they did a good job on making it so you can play if you only have 15 minutes or three hours.
I won’t totally spoil my next post but it’s going to be regarding the popularity of these games where you’re literally mimicking a genre. Instead of actually learning to play a guitar (can’t be that hard … I can play the Zelda them on guitar … … ) you play a plastic guitar with five buttons. Instead of actually playing a drum set with the snare, three “bongo” drums, top hat and cymbals … you have the four “big buttons. and your bass pedal.
Don’t want to give too much away though …
October 23, 2008 at 11:47 am