Review: Rock Band for XBOX 360
I’ve always been a huge fan of video gaming. I pretty much grew up on games, but when you look back at the history of video games, the concept of video games actually growing from isolated gameplay to one of interaction and collaboration hasn’t really taken off until the past few years.
Most video games, however, pit players in an adversarial role against each other. As more and more first-person shooters emerge, it gets to be a rare treat when you actually find a game that encourages you to work with a group in real-time environments as opposed to just blowing each other up. And even those with teamwork tend to have you spend the entire game fighting another team. Don’t get me wrong, it’s tons of fun, but I feel the scope of these games tends to be narrower.
So, enter games and systems like “Rock Band” and the Wii, which encourages you to have fun with friends in your own living room. I’m finding games like this are much more enjoyable for me (see my previous review of the Nintendo Wii) and I believe that this is the way gaming should go in the future.
There’s nothing wrong with FPSers, but there’s an emerging market for games that are just as fun to play with your grandparents as your friends.
But enough ranting about social gaming. How’s “Rock Band“?
It’s frickin’ awesome.
I’ve never played any of the “Guitar Hero” games, nor do I know how to really strum a guitar, keep the beat with drums or sing with perfect pitch. But none of that really matters in “Rock Band,” which brings out everyone’s inner desire to be a superstar musician.
I bought “Rock Band” a few nights before New Year’s Eve and managed to pick up the basics rather quickly. Obviously, there’s a variety of settings to adjust the difficulty, which means you’ll have to hit more notes faster and do harder combos, but they’re not impossible with practice.
But the best part is the collaborative play. Anyone can jump in and you can actually help out a struggling newbie band member to bring them back into play if they fail out. I think that’s what made the game such a hit on NYE with my friends. There’s no way a game like “Halo 3” would’ve had such an enormous response.
I also have to give huge props to Harmonix for actually including equipment that’s sturdy and tough. While there’s been reports of the drum’s footpedal breaking, I think the construction of the gear is actually impressive and justified the pricetag.
If you’re considering “Rock Band,” I would recommend purchasing it. There’s enough stuff to do on your own to learn the various instruments and also unlock more songs. Plus, it makes a great party game with friends. It’s a bit on the high-end side as far as prices go, but the replay value is really high.
Update: One minor complaint. Actually, a HUGE complaint. There’s no songs by Journey in the game, nor any coming up in the future as a download for purchase. This dramatically needs to change. There is no greater “rock out” song than those by Journey. Harmonix, please take note.
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