Review: Rock Band

This new game is quite an addition to the Guitar Hero type of games. This game literally has it all. In it you can be vocals, lead guitar, bass guitar, or drums. What else do you want? There is only one or two things you could add to it if you wanted to, such as rhythm guitar or possibly keyboard. But with this review, let's start with the basics.

Well first off, here in Canada, it is almost impossible to get this game at this time of the year, as retailers are even supposed to be selling it. I happened to get lucky as my dad walked by a cart with Rock Band on it, but it was an Xbox 360 version so he held it hostage pretty much until he got a PS3 version of it. But here is the breakdown on the game.

Guitar

This guitar is very life-like. It does look like a proper Fender Stratocaster. It has two spots with frets on it, a whammy bar, overdrive, and a few other things. The whammy bar works great for those sustained notes, and it really does sound cool. The frets that are close to the base of the guitar are quite handy as well when in a solo, as you don't have to strum for these notes. Overall the guitar looks great!

Bass Guitar

Personally I prefer the lead guitar, but the bass guitar is pretty cool to. To be a bass guitar, simply selection bass when in the menu where you select the difficulty level. I haven't experimented much with the bass guitar to say a lot about it, other than that it does get quite a few less notes than the electric guitar in some songs.

Drums

Well, the drums are pretty much the hardest part of the game. There is pretty much always a time in the game where your banging on the drums, as drums are constant in most songs. It can take a while to get your body in sync with the music, and a lot of the times the foot pedal throws your timing off. It is very realistic though.

Vocals

Well, the vocals are pretty much like on Xbox karaoke games. It has the same set up, and you have to keep your pitch at a certain point in each word. I haven't done to much vocals since i can't sing at all, so I can't say much about this.

Visuals

The graphics in this game are very up-to-date. In my opinion they don't lack anything, and look extremely good. In the background the visuals are always changing, which is great.

Gameplay

This game is very good. They have set up the screen very well, and it never seems to be to cluttered. They must have put quite a bit of thought into the layout of the game, as everything ties in perfectly. The only bad thing is, when playing you don't have much time to admire the rest of the things on the screen, because the notes at time come to you very fast and at a constant pace. The points system is very good in this game, and the energy level system is a great idea. The songs in the game really go together, and they did a good job in choosing and compiling them.

Overall this is a great game and definitely worth looking for for weeks. If they do decide to make another one, I'll be one of the first to buy it for sure.