April 25th, 2008

Rock Band

First of all, I have to give you a warning - if you can't stand loud music, then you should move to another article. Anyway, playing the Rock Band game could help you get started with the rock genre, and have a lot of fun at the same time, so it's your choice, in the end. To make things clear, I am crazy about rock music, but I am not limited to it, so writing about a game involving a lot of great hits of the genre is going to be a very pleasant experience for me, I hope at least as much as your experience of playing Rock Band. These being said, let's move on and see what's so special about this game, shall we?

Rock Band

Some voices even claimed that Rock Band was the best game of 2007, but I am not the one to judge that. Anyway, considering the fact that Rock Band has been developed by Harmonix, the company responsible for the successful Guitar Hero and Karaoke Revolution franchises, this game also promises to turn a party from listening to music and dancing into a full rock show, where you can live out your fantasies by playing the guitar, bass, drums and vocals.

If you didn't manage to figure it out already, I have to tell you that Rock Band doesn't simply come as a game in a box. No way! For about $170, you can get a special bundle including the game, a guitar controller, a drum controller and a USB microphone. These being said, it's obvious what can happen with them...

Rock Band is not a game to play by yourself. This is something YOU MUST play with your friends - decide who's the best with each instrument, grab the mike, and prepare to re-create hits from Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter" and Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" to Metallica's "Enter Sandman"!

Obviously, beginners won't be able to play their parts at first sight, and that's why the game also comes with three solo campaigns for the guitar, drums and vocals, each with nine tiers of five songs that increase in difficulty as you go along.

Once the team is ready, you can try Rock Band's marquee mode, Band World Tour. This way, you can create custom characters, choose a home town, and then start playing gigs as a band, from single songs to entire custom setlists, mystery setlists, or even marathons which require you to play 5 songs or more, up to all 58 songs included in the game, all in a single session(the Endless Setlist).

Rock Band is more than just a game - if you want to get into music, it may be a very good way to get started without a human teacher, especially for drummers. Considering this and all the above, I can say this game is a bargain, but if you don't believe me, no problem - you can always check other Rock Band reviews and see I am not the only one who's crazy about it!