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Rock Band (PlayStation 3)

Manufacturer: MTV Part number: 15870

CNET Editor rating:
4.5 stars Spectacular
Average user rating: 4.5 stars out of 11 reviews

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Gamespot editors' review

Rock Band (PlayStation 3)

price range: $58.99 - $179.99

Reviewed by: Alex Navarro
Reviewed on: 11/20/2007
Released on: 11/20/2007

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Rock Band is every wannabe musician's dream. A game that takes the four key instruments one needs to make a band a rock band (guitar, bass, drums, vocals), and builds a highly playable and intensely addictive game around them. To a degree, developer Harmonix got a head start on the process of creating Rock Band when it developed the first two Guitar Hero games, but whereas those games were all about the decidedly solo act of severe simulated shredding, Rock Band goes in an entirely different direction. The solo play has taken a backseat to cooperative multiplayer. This game is all about the act of performance as a band, getting a group of four people together and working together to get the highest score bonuses possible as a group, all while fake guitaring and realistically singing and drumming your way through more than 40 different licensed rock hits. The steep $170 price tag for the game and bundled hardware might prove to be a barrier for entry for some, and in addition, the hardware itself comes with a few flaws. But if you're willing to make the investment, Rock Band is a guaranteed good time for any music lover, and one of the best party games you'll ever play.

Get some friends, shove some fake instruments into their hands, and prepare to rock.

In a sense, Rock Band is a little like three distinct games built into one. First, there's the guitar game, which lets you play approximately the same sort of game as Guitar Hero on guitar and bass, but with a few key differences. For one, the guitar itself is built quite differently from the Guitar Hero guitars. It's bigger, with a longer neck, and its body feels more solid. The fret buttons are larger, and are flush against the neck of the guitar, and there is a second set of narrower fret buttons all the way down the neck that you can tap on for solos. The guitar even comes with a built-in effects switcher, which puts effects like echo, flange, and wah-wah over the in-game guitar track. The only difference between guitars in the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game is the fact that people who buy the 360 version get a wired guitar, whereas PS3 owners get a wireless one. On the flip side, PS3 owners don't get a USB hub to connect all the instruments to, whereas 360 owners do. That shouldn't be an issue if you have an older PS3, but if you have a newer one with the two USB ports, you'll need to buy one of those hubs separately. It's also worth noting that you only get one guitar with the bundle on either platform, but if you own a Guitar Hero guitar for the 360, you can use it with the 360 version of Rock Band.

The actual guitar gameplay isn't much different from Guitar Hero, with you strumming along and periodically tilting the guitar to engage "overdrive" (the game's equivalent of star power), but a couple of neat twists do add some flavor. For one thing, solos are given their own scoring section in each song, and the game tracks the percentage of notes hit during a solo. The higher the percentage, the higher the score bonus you get at the end of the solo.

The guitar game is of good quality, though a couple of things about it might drive a few longtime Guitar Hero fans batty. For one, the difficulty of the game is a good deal less challenging than what the hardcore Guitar Hero fan base is probably accustomed to at this point. The goal with Rock Band seems to be more about bringing in newcomers, so as a result, the difficulty level sits somewhere between Guitar Hero and Guitar Hero II overall. Not a bad thing if Guitar Hero III gave you conniption fits, but potentially less exciting for some of the hardcore guitar gamers out there. Also of note is that the note charts for guitar are handled a bit differently, with notes that can be pulled off via hammer-ons and pull-offs appearing as half-sized notes on the chart. It's not quite as easy to see these notes as in, say, Guitar Hero III, so you might end up screwing up a few solos until you get used to this new methodology.

Lastly is the guitar itself. It's a good guitar, but it does some things differently than the standard GH model guitars. The strummer doesn't click when you strum up or down, and the fret buttons seem a bit less forgiving in terms of timing in solos and other, tougher sections. It's not that it's bad or wrong--it's just different, and it takes some getting used to. Also, you're not going to get a ton of mileage out of things like the second set of buttons and the effects switch. Most people will probably forget the switch is even there until they accidentally turn on wah-wah, and sliding down to the second button set is a bit vexing to do just as you're about to head straight into a solo, since it takes a while to get accustomed both to the smaller buttons and to finding exactly where they are on the neck without staring at the guitar for a few seconds. Fake-guitar virtuosos will probably dig it, but most people will likely stick to the standard method.

Next there's the singing game, which closely emulates the mechanics of Karaoke Revolution and SingStar, but, again, with a couple of specific differences. You sing along as the lyrics display on the screen, trying to match your vocal pitch to the meter that moves up and down with the original vocal track. The key thing about singing is that the number of sections where a singer actually gets to do his or her thing is somewhat limited. But even those down moments aren't left for pure silence. Sometimes the vocal area of the screen will turn yellow, indicating for you to "make some noise," which then engages overdrive. There are also sections where you can simply tap the microphone to the rhythm of the song to get a tambourine or cowbell section going.

If you've ever played a Karaoke Revolution game, the singing mechanics should be immediately familiar.

Beyond these wrinkles, the core of the vocal game design is to just sing, sing, sing...and occasionally rap. If there is any complaint to be made about the vocals, it's that it doesn't leave a lot of room for interpretation. On the higher difficulty settings, the game is extremely intent on you hitting the mapped pitches as closely as possible, even in situations where it seems like the mapped pitches aren't quite exact to what the original vocalist is doing. The same goes for the timing of each word. In some songs vocalists will trail off, but you can't really do that and still get the max score, which makes the vocals feel a bit robotic. Still, most vocal pieces are quite fun regardless, and in a nice touch to help middling vocalists everywhere, you can adjust the original vocal track volume via the controller as you play, so you can use it for as much or as little of a guide as you prefer.

Finally there are the drums, easily the most intense and enjoyable instrument of the bunch. The kit consists of a collection of four color-coded pads and a kick pedal, along with a pair of drum sticks. There's really no reference point for the drums portion of the game except for, well, real drums. You hit the pads in time as you would with a realistic drum kit, and on expert, the game practically maps out each song's drum part note for note. Make no mistake: When you are playing on expert, you are playing the drums. If you can do well on expert, you can probably pull out a decent beat on a real drum set at will. The good news for novices is that easy difficulty does a pretty good job of easing you into the act of drumming. The number of notes is much more limited, kick pedal usage is rare, and drum fills are eased back quite a bit.

Speaking of fills, one really cool thing about the drum portion of the game is that it allows for some improvisation. The way the drums handle overdrive is to give you some blocked-out sections where you can just bust out any kind of drum fill you want. The pads act as a snare, two tom-toms, and a crash cymbal. Go nuts, but just be sure you hit the last crash cymbal note at the end of the fill, at which point you will engage overdrive.

If there is any issue to be taken with the game's hardware, it's its reliability. For instance, one of our pre-release kick pedals from the drum kit, which is made up of a somewhat thin piece of plastic hooked into a spring underneath it, actually snapped in half during a particularly heated rendition of The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again." The other pedals we used for testing held up despite some extreme thrashing, but all the same, our suggestion is that if you've got a Mr. Heavyfoot in your band, tell them to go shoeless and ease up on the pedal slammage a smidge. Another issue is the USB microphone. One of our retail boxes came with a broken mic that cut in and out and wouldn't register our vocals properly. Any supported USB headset mic will apparently work in a pinch on the PS3, and the standard Xbox 360 headset works on there as well, but regardless, that's still a concerning issue. At least EA seems to be aware of potential hardware issues, as a big flyer inside the box explains the 60 day hardware warranty that comes with the game and directs you to an EA Web site. You might want to keep that URL handy if you run into any issues.

Those are all the technicals of the instrumental gameplay, but none of that quite emphasizes how excellent the game is at emulating the act of band play. By themselves, each instrument is basically fun, but when you get four people together playing at once, something spectacular emerges. Part of it is the way in which scoring has been designed for cooperative play. Overdrive can be turned on by anyone, but the more people you have in overdrive at once, the higher the score bonuses. By the same token, if one person in your band fails out of a song, another can simply engage overdrive (provided enough is stored up at that point) and come to the rescue, bringing the player back into the fold. But it goes beyond even the scoring mechanics. There's just something intangibly brilliant about the way having everyone play together feels. For instance, because the drums emulate the real-life instrument so closely, having a good drummer is paramount for success. If your drummer gets off beat, it can badly screw everyone up. Along the same lines, when your drummer is in a solid groove and the rest of the band is able to lock into that groove, the feeling that you're actually performing a song as opposed to simulating one is palpable, and it is quite the exhilarating feeling.

The hardware the game comes with is all fun to play with, though there are some reliability concerns.

The game's song list goes a long way toward making that multiplayer even more enjoyable. Though the game includes only 45 licensed songs (along with 13 bonus tracks from lesser-known bands), many of these 45 are big-name tracks that are immediately recognizable and span multiple rock genres. Alternative rock fans will find such '90s delights as Weezer's "Say It Ain't So," Smashing Pumpkins' "Cherub Rock," and Nirvana's "In Bloom." Modern rockers will find The Killers' "When You Were Young," Foo Fighters' "Learn to Fly," and Yeah Yeah Yeahs' "Maps." Classic rock fans will delight in being able to rock their way through Black Sabbath's "Paranoid," The Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter," and KISS's "Detroit Rock City." Other, less specifically denominational yet altogether awesome songs include The Ramones' "Blitzkrieg Bop," Rush's "Tom Sawyer," and Metallica's "Enter Sandman."

The vast majority of these songs are original tracks from the artists, with only a few covers scattered throughout the tracklist. Only a few of the covers really stick out much. The Geddy Lee on "Tom Sawyer" is a bit overblown, and the singer of Mountain's "Mississippi Queen" is a bit odd sounding as well. But by and large, the covers blend in nicely, and whoever did the vocals for Steven Tyler and Bruce Dickinson on the Aerosmith and Iron Maiden songs respectively deserve some kind of vocalist soundalike merit badge.

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User reviews

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Average user rating: 4.5 stars out of 11 reviews
My rating: 0 stars

Showing opinion 1 to 10 out of 11

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9 stars

Simply AWESOME

by ameer43 on June 23, 2008

Pros: Its a must have.

Cons: Some songs aren't the greatest. (yes I am fishing here)

Summary: This game is perfect for parties and those that just want to rock out. My wife was the one who insisted on buying this. We had a few friends come ...

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Summary: This game is perfect for parties and those that just want to rock out. My wife was the one who insisted on buying this. We had a few friends come over to try it out. One said it didn't look exciting but refused to give up the drums after his second time playing it.

As for the songs, I've played guitar hero a few times, and I thought it had some better songs (Pearl Jam, RATM, GnR...) but it is still a better game play (cause of the drums, and the ability to sing into a mic).

I highly recommend this game. You wont be disappointed.

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1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
9 stars

Rock n' Roll dreams meets Reality

by Gamegirl15 on June 7, 2008

Pros: You and your friends will feel that you are a real band,Playlist is an all you can eat buffet

Cons: Some songs are not so enjoyable

Summary: Take it like this:Rock Band is awesome!From the presentation to the gameplay,everything rocks!The introduction of the drums opens a new world of gameplay,is challenging and ...

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Summary: Take it like this:Rock Band is awesome!From the presentation to the gameplay,everything rocks!The introduction of the drums opens a new world of gameplay,is challenging and realistic.The guitar's buttons are perfect for those hammer-ons presented in some songs.Rock Band's gameplay is innovative.No other game gives you the chance to play four instruments at the same time.If you play alone is cool,but playing with friends is exciting and fantastic.Customazing your character is addictive,because there's a big variety of outfits and extras.Other thing,the camera tecniques are so cool,that you can feel that you're in stage.Online play is welcome too!Also,stay tuned with Playstation Network to buy new songs through the next months.

Alright,that was the good stuff in the game.Sadly,it's time to talk about the not-so good stuff.Some songs in the playlists will make you feel sick(take Tom Sawyer for an example).I mean that some songs are not so fun to play because they're are too long and/or turned-off.The drums are too loud,that you'll be bothered by the words "Shut Up!" coming from your mom's mouth.But,Rock Band's is so cool,that is worth paying the expensive price.

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9 stars

The best party game of all time period. Fun and Challenging for everyone.

by leonard243 on April 21, 2008

Pros: Fun to play, works for everyone at all ages

Cons: A little expensive, didnt set up very well with my ps3*(might need usb hub), guitar hero guitar doesnt work with it.

Summary: This too overpriced but this game delivers on all levels and is out right one of the best games for 3 or more people. Also cool and easy way to ...

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Summary: This too overpriced but this game delivers on all levels and is out right one of the best games for 3 or more people. Also cool and easy way to get new songs.

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10 stars

Worth Every Penny!

by Granix69 on March 9, 2008

Pros: Great hardware set-up...easy for beginners.

Cons: Needs to buy a second guitar.

Summary: This has to be one of the best ways I have spent 150 bucks for as long as I can remember. Although it does not come with a second guitar ...

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Summary: This has to be one of the best ways I have spent 150 bucks for as long as I can remember. Although it does not come with a second guitar to complete the Rock Band Ideal set-up, I will have no problem investing in that purchase. The kids and I blew a whole weekend playing this. I read several rave reviews on this and thought...How great can it be? Well it is all that. Fun, Fun, Fun.

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10 stars

Friggen' Awesome!

by warnergt--2008 on January 12, 2008

Pros: Tons of multiplayer fun

Cons: Wish we could get a second guitar (for bass) but I understand that they are due to arrive at the end of January 2008.

Summary: This is the best video game ever. Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) started this type of game where the dance steps slide down the screen. Guitar Hero took it to the ...

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Summary: This is the best video game ever. Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) started this type of game where the dance steps slide down the screen. Guitar Hero took it to the next level by applying that interface to the guitar. Rock Band takes it to the next level by adding drums, vocals and bass.

We played this game two days straight after Christmas when we set it up. All our friends who came over were playing it all night long. Do you know somebody who will never sing? This game brings out the most timid singers (including myself). You just can't help it. It is sooo much fun.

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10 stars

Party game of the new millenium

by Billcameron on December 31, 2007

Pros: Fun to play alone, but better with a group. Lots of songs to choose from. All levels (from novices to experts) of players can join.

Cons: Very addictive. I now suffer from delusions of grandeur.

Summary: Wow! What great fun! Everyone who I have made play with me ends up absolutely loving it! Great, short tutorials help new players get going. There are several songs to ...

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Summary: Wow! What great fun! Everyone who I have made play with me ends up absolutely loving it! Great, short tutorials help new players get going. There are several songs to choose from, with more available for download at about $2 a pop. You really feel like you are rocking out a sold out arena when you start to get your rhythm.
I am taking to this to a New Year's Eve party tonight just to keep the rocking going!
Whoooooooooooo!

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9 stars

Do you wanna rock?

by chuckin_chad on December 31, 2007

Pros: Song Selection, World Tour Mode

Cons: See description

Summary: Don't play an instrument? Or, don't have enough friends who play instruments to form a band? Your problem is solved, kinda. This game is really fun, this from ...

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Summary: Don't play an instrument? Or, don't have enough friends who play instruments to form a band? Your problem is solved, kinda. This game is really fun, this from the perspective of a mostly nongamer. I've been a fan of the Guitar Hero line of games and kareoke is always good for a laugh so when this game came out it was a must seeing how the drums were going to be a part of it.

I purchased Guitar Hero 3 for the PS3 a few weeks earlier and had been playing that up until this came out, since then I really haven't gone back. The GH3 guitar is not as responsive as the RB guitar IMO, also the RB guitar has a few more options which are nice - there are 5 smaller fret buttons close to the strum button that can be used during a RB guitar solo without strumming, there is a switch to modify the sound coming from the guitar in solos and power ups, and the way they designed the fret buttons makes it easier to hold down a fret with your thumb (if that might help your playing style).

The drums are a great addition to guitar hero experience. For the most part they are fun, but I have two small complaints - unless you play your game at high volumes your drums will drown out the sountrack of the game with their sound (which is not very attractive and is very uniform across the set), the other complaint is the game doesn't make it very easy to play the drums on the Easy level - all the drums, including the foot pedal, are used in the Easy level. Whereas when playing guitar not all fret buttons are used until you get to the Hard level. This may throw off the rythmicly challenged or the not so coordinated. Also if all buttons are used on Easy, just imagine the challenge in Medium and Hard. I'd be interested in a trained drummers experience with the Hard level. These are minor complaints.

In comparison to GH3 I find the difficulty levels to be slightly easier on RB, which is nice for the non-gamer who doesn't want to put actual practice time into conqueuring the Medium level. You can buy additional songs in the playstation store, a nice option to keep the game alive. I may just have to spring for Weezer's "Buddy Holly" soon.

Unless I'm missing something - I wish it was easier to find strangers to play in a band with. There doens't seem to be any automatic match-up option (I could be wrong though). There is a match-up option in the GH3 game, although it never seemed to hook me up - but maybe no one was trying to at the time. I think you have to get other peoples userID's and add them to your friends list or something like that (this is a small complaint, who has time to be in a real band besides real musicians?).

If you don't get this game, find someone who has it and try it out.

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10 stars

Better then GH3

by cjlehnert on December 28, 2007

Pros: Loads of original recordings, Guitar and Drums are very responsive

Cons: Some of the songs seem to have been picked for a specific instrument

Summary: First off, Rock band is an awesome game. I got it for Christmas and I am completely addicted. I have Guitar Hero 3 and although that is a great game, ...

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Summary: First off, Rock band is an awesome game. I got it for Christmas and I am completely addicted. I have Guitar Hero 3 and although that is a great game, it pales in comparison to Rock Band's guitar portion. With GH3 I had a hard time switching from easy difficulty to medium difficulty. I often felt like the guitar didn't respond quickly enough. (I have calibrated my guitar numerous times) However with Rock Band I've started on the medium difficulty and I am putting really great scores. Sure playing GH3 probably helped me start on medium difficulty with RB but I could never make the jump in difficulty with GH3. Anyway, the guitar controls seem a lot tighter to me and solo and "free-lance" sections with some songs is flat out fun. The drums were the whole reason I wanted this game and they don't disappoint. They are a lot of fun to play and as I played I realized that CNET was right, you don't need to pulverize the kick drum (or any of the drums) to get them to work. As far as the singing is concerned, well...I know for a fact that I can't hold a tune so I haven't tried this yet and will leave it for my wife to try. My only con with this game is that some of the songs seem to cater to one of the instruments. Even on these songs where it seems like one instrument plays a backseat to the other, the song is still a lot of fun to play. So I am not sure if this could even be a con, either way you can not go wrong with this game.

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9 stars

I want more and more!

by carlitosway74 on December 17, 2007

Pros: Great sound, collaborative and just plain fun!

Cons: Inability to hear band member singing when playing from different locations (online play).

Summary: I've got to admit, when I first picked up Guitar Hero I was impressed but when I picked up Rock Band I was blown away and taken by surprise. ...

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Summary: I've got to admit, when I first picked up Guitar Hero I was impressed but when I picked up Rock Band I was blown away and taken by surprise. This game has taken gaming into a new direction, even the Wii has some cool games due to the level of engagement but this game takes the cake. While I wish there were more songs to jam out to, the Sony Online store is slowly releasing more and more popular titles. Don't hesitate to try this game out, just throw yourself into a Rockstar career and see how the big boys play! My only next wish - Dave Matthews Band tracks to really test my drumming skillz. Enjoy and rock on!!!

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7 stars

Most fun multiplayer game I've come across in years

by MarcBate on December 8, 2007

Pros: Band World Tour is very fun, even with just 2

Cons: Solo mode doesn't compare with the sense of accomplishment you get

Summary: I love this game, and assuming you can wait for the PS3 patch to fix guitar compatibility problems using GT3 guitars, I highly recommend it.

Summary: I love this game, and assuming you can wait for the PS3 patch to fix guitar compatibility problems using GT3 guitars, I highly recommend it.

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Specifications

Manufacturer: MTV
Part number: 15870

Product Basic Spec
Platform Playstation 3
ESRB rating Teen -
Genre Music
Number of players 1-4 Players
Connectivity Voice Chat
Sound Dolby Digital 5.1
Resolution 1080i,Widescreen

Game
Developer Harmonix Music Systems
ESRB Teen
Release date 2007-11-20

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Rock Band (PlayStation 3)

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