Two games in a year. Very old-school EA, eh? This one must be noticeably different to the last one for them to put it out so soon after rather than just flood the Marketplace with DLC then, right? Yeah, about that…
Eight months on and little has changed in the world of Rock Band, at least not to the casual observer. In action, you’d be forgiven for losing track of which version you were playing – characters and wardrobes, while broader in scope than they were before, still use the exact same stock parts and clothes as in the last game and after World Tour’s wonderful character creation tool, seeing the same few identikit faces is disappointing.
But as ever, Rock Band’s focus is the music itself with everything else playing second fiddle to the eclectic track list and the thrill of playing along with it. There are over 80 tracks on the disc alone, with existing Rock Band DLC and even the original’s set list (after exporting them) all quickly adding up to a mind-boggling number of songs. There’s a surprising amount of crossover between this and Guitar Hero, with many of Activision’s game’s more enjoyable tracks also appearing here. But where GH has an obvious European focus with a handful of foreign language tunes, Rock Band seems almost xenophobic by comparison with its incredibly US-friendly selection of songs. Still, if it means we get to play tracks by Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Guns ‘N’ Roses, Alice In Chains and the like, you won’t hear us complaining. Elsewhere, the tunes veer from genre to genre – Beck to Dylan, Tenacious D to Jethro Tull, AC/DC to Talking Heads – seemingly on a whim but still, the whole set manages to hang together far better than GH’s tunes do, thanks in no small part to the themed sets of Tour mode.
This is where you’ll notice the biggest changes to Rock Band’s already excellent formula and although you’re still just jumping from venue to venue, playing increasingly difficult songs to score hordes of fans and rake in the cash, things here aren’t quite so familiar as they first appear. For one, solo careers as they once were have been axed – Tour mode now plays the role of both single and multiplayer careers, which negates the RB1 problem of playing to the end of career on your own then having your first random set in Band Tour throw up something absolutely ridiculous that laughs at you as you all fail. Challenges are also new and inventive and as well as a set of unique sets just off the main Tour menu that will really test your skills, you’ll come across some decidedly odd requests as you rise to fame. The first game would sometimes offer things like benefit gigs to earn more fans but no cash and this sequel builds on this, leading to situations like DW reps coming to your shows (which gives you the option to switch out the last song of the set for a tougher drum track to impress them) or film makers coming to you with video requests, which even then have their own unique sets for each shoot.
Online integration impresses too, with Harmonix throwing down the gauntlet on a regular basis and new sets popping up all over the map on which bands around the world can try to outrock one another. Full bands have the best score potential on most of these, although it’s not always based purely on points – the bass contest running at the time of writing, for instance, is based on highest note streak for a solo bassist and many, many more challenges like this are promised.
As ever though, all this is just the icing on the fun cake that is the feeling of being in some way responsible for the great tunes travelling from speakers to ears. With the decline of split-screen multiplayer, this remains the pinnacle of local multiplayer gaming and with the ability to save band mates that flunk out (which was sadly absent from Guitar Hero), Rock Band is the most social game of its ilk.
With a hundred songs in RB2’s catalogue (once you download the 20 free bonus tracks) and the ability to rip RB1s tunes (just rent or borrow it, if needs be) as well as another 300+ DLC tracks, there can be little doubt that Harmonix’s effort trumps the new GH in terms of choice and scope. Activision will always be playing catch-up to keep up with the head start EA had in getting DLC out and since a music game may only be as interesting to you as the tracks featured in it, more options obviously equates to more fun. Rock Band is back, better than ever and ready to blow you away with a ridiculous amount of superb tunes. Let it.
