Reviews
Ok so let’s get one thing straight right off the bat, Rock Band is the first band orientated music game. Though it may have landed officially on Australian shores late last November (one week before Activision’s Guitar Hero World Tour) it’s already been out well over a year old in the US and as such has already seen a sequel in Rock Band 2. Unfortunately for us Aussies waiting patiently for its release the way EA has decided on its distribution worldwide has meant a painstaking wait and consequently it has left many wondering whether it’s worth the purchase over the larger Guitar Hero franchise now both are sat side by side on the shelf. My personal opinion is a resounding, yes! While it is a flawed title (more on that in a moment) it still manages to establish itself as the band platform more than just being a game and if you’re a fan of genre it stands as a landmark title.
For a bit of background reading Harmonix is the developer behind Rock Band and historically they’re also the team responsible for creating the whole guitar rhythm genre before selling the Guitar Hero franchise to Activision. At the time many wondered what the hell they were thinking giving up on such an established brand that would guarantee them such large future sales. Fast forward almost two years and their decision was a labour of love that is Rock Band. Moving under the MTV games brand and allowing distribution to be done solely by EA has permitted them freedom to create Rock Band as they see fitting and whilst the first game in the series has its share of issues the platform they have created is one of simple genius.
So let’s get into the logistic basics. Rock Band is a multiplayer band title at its core allowing up to four players to form a band across lead guitar, bass guitar, drums and vocals… effectively being equal parts Guitar Hero, Beatmania and SingStar. The guitar parts directly equate to what we’ve seen previously in the Guitar Hero franchise and peripherals from previous games are cross compatible here. Likewise vocals require a USB microphone and track a players pitch and tone identical to what we’ve all seen in the massive SingStar games. The drums are the big addition. Where GHWT has seen fit to produce a drum kit that offers 3 main drum pads and 2 cymbals the original Rock Band drums have four pads not including the bass pedal. Even these differences aside cross compatibility is allowed here and the drum kit will work with GHWT.
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