Don't Want to Be an American Idiot? Buy Green Day: Rock Band

I have to admit I like playing video games, and if I had more free time, I'd play them more often. I am also a huge fan of Green Day's music; in fact, the band's album, Dookie was the first album I purchased with my own money back in the day. When I recently heard about the release of Green Day: Rock Band for Xbox 360, I was ready to spend the money on the new game.

I purchased Green Day: Rock Band for the Xbox 360 for $59.99 at Best Buy and immediately played the game for about three hours. So far, I think the sound quality is great, and a nice feature about the game is that you can calibrate the instruments so you the sound links up when you are strumming (instead of having a time delay) and so that what you see on the screen is timed up with your strumming (ensuring that the strumming action is not timed incorrectly).

The game play includes the standard Rock Band formula with the Career mode, Quickplay, and Training.
In Career mode, you play gigs that open up additional set lists. You also earn collectibles and achievements. In Quickplay mode, you can select any song to play. With either of these modes, you can play as an individual or you can play with a group of people. In the Training mode, you can learn how the basics of strumming or more advanced skills such as the hammer on.

In the Green Day: Rock Band game, you can select from easy, medium, hard, and expert levels. In easy mode, there is a built in "fail-safe" so that you can't fail even when you're playing poorly.

The graphics are great in Green Day: Rock Band. The band members look very lifelike and their looks change based on the album/gig/timeframe. For example, from the earlier Dookie days, Billie Joe has his hair dyed blue, but once you get to the American Idiot timeframe, his hair is black.

Songs available for game play on Green Day: Rock Band include the full track listings from Dookie and American Idiot along with songs from 21^st Century Breakdown, Insomniac, and Nimrod. For true Green Day fans, Green Day: Rock Band includes a great variety of songs we've all heard for years on the radio along with several others that were more hidden away on the albums. There's a good variety for each instrument and for the vocals as well. Some songs on Green Day: Rock Band are loud and fast while others flow nicely as ballads.

Some critics have commented that Green Day: Rock Band is too limited in the set lists because a user would have to be inclined to like Green Day's music to fully enjoy the gaming experience. All I can say to that is, DUH! I think it goes without saying that if you don't care for Green Day's music, the Green Day: Rock Band game is probably not for you (just like The Beatles: Rock Band game would not be terrific for someone who doesn't like The Beatles).

While many Green Day songs contain explicit lyrics, parents will be happy to know that the swear words are bleeped out. Now, for someone who knows the songs as well as I do, I still accidentally sing them, so the swear words may be inadvertently blurted out by someone like me...I say that as a warning!

Band Information. Green Day is a punk/alternative rock band that formed in the late '80s in California. The band consists of three members, Billie Joe Armstrong (vocals, guitar), Mike Dirnt (bass, harmonies), and Tré Cool (drums). In earlier years, the band played mostly fast-paced punk music, but over the years, they have also released songs that fit more of the adult contemporary crowd. Some of Green Day's most popular songs include "American Idiot," "When I Come Around," "Welcome to Paradise," and "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)."

Sources Consulted
Personal Experience
Green Day Wikipedia Article athttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_day