Bargain Bin Gaming- Episode 26: Rock Band

rock-band-cover-croppedFor years, games like “Frequency,” “Taiko Drum Master,” “Guitar Hero” and “Karaoke Revolution” were stalwarts in the rhythm/music genre that turned the average Joe into everything from a fret-burning madman or a future American Idol. However, despite the brevity and deep gameplay options those games had, gamers were always left with one question: when will everything be put together in one package? Finally, that question has an answer: “Rock Band.” However, despite the fact that the game is arguably the epitome of what a music and party game should be, there are noticeable little problems that take away from the overall fun.

For instance, while the game’s single player mode has various levels of difficulty, the multiplayer mode, or Band World Tour doesn’t and forces novice gamers to turn up the difficulty to advance in the game. While a series like “Guitar Hero” is known for its extreme and sometimes punishing difficulty, the purpose of “Rock Band” is obviously to get a bunch of gamers in one room for some casual gaming. By forcing gamers to raise the difficulty level in order to advance, the game almost alienates the casual gamer that just wants to enjoy the game with friends. Despite this however, anyone comfortable with playing games like “Guitar Hero” or “Karaoke Revolution” on the hardest difficulty shouldn’t have a problem advancing in the game.

Despite that, the biggest problem with the World Tour Mode is its rigidness. Once a band is formed, the band leader has to play the instrument they started the band with, while the other members of the band are free to create other characters on the same gamertag and play other instruments. What this does is force one gamer to play through the extremely long mode using the same instrument. Why EA would do something like that is shocking and has taken away from an otherwise strong gameplay mode.

However, aside from that, the biggest problem the game has is its uneven difficulty. For instance, the guitar portion of the game is extremely easy up until the highest difficulty setting and the bass portion of the game is an entire breeze. However, the singing portion of the game could be a disaster for anyone that’s never sang before and the drumming portion is insane. Having a few people in your camp that actually know how to sing or play the drums is a definite must for anyone serious about beating this game. Sure, novices can still play through the multiplayer part of the game on easy, but don’t think for one second about finishing the game.

With that being said, “Rock Band” really caters specifically to the “Guitar Hero” fan who wanted something different. The gameplay while using every instrument has an extremely similar feel to GH and has a luster and polish only a small amount of multiplayer titles can claim as their own. Scoring unison bonuses with a bunch of friends in multiplayer is an absolute blast and the feel of the instruments is spot on. Despite the feeling from many players that the guitar prepackaged with the game isn’t as solid as the wireless one prepackaged in “Guitar Hero III” [which is absolutely true], it is still a more than functional peripheral that gets the job done. The drum set and microphone are also extremely solid and do a great job of making the gamer feel like their actually performing.

With all the positives in this game, it’s easy to forget about the uneven difficulty and the small problems with the multiplayer modes. Despite those problems, “Rock Band” is still a must-own title for any wannabe musician that has dreamed of being under the spotlight. It’s just not perfect.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13821 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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