by: Angela Proto

October 17, 2008

Rock Band 2 is Harmonix and EA's new addition to the rhythm game genre. Rather than feeling like a completely new game, however, Rock Band 2 feels more like an extension of its predecessor, rather than a sequel. Rock Band 2 improves on Rock Band in many ways, but unfortunately also falls short in some aspects.

Once again, players can choose to play guitar, drums, or vocals. Players on guitar may either select lead guitar or bass guitar. The gameplay for each instrument is nearly identical to Rock Band, but there are a few differences in the Rock Band 2 experience. Vocals have been made easier. The game appears more lenient with singing, and now also allows any noise at all during talky parts (with no pitch) to score full credit for the phrase. Players may notice that drums are harder overall. The difficulty increases much earlier than in original Rock Band. Guitar also has received an increase in difficulty, but this increase in number of difficult songs. Rock Band 2 has significantly more difficult songs on guitar than Rock Band had. A new feature to Rock Band 2's guitar is that of hammer-on chords, which may take players some time to get used to. Lastly, Rock Band 2 contains a greater number of songs with bass lines that won't bore you to death. If you love playing bass, you'll be happy to find there are many songs that are actually more fun on bass than on guitar. Whichever instrument you choose to play, you are almost guaranteed to find a song you like, especially since the number of songs available increase every week via Xbox Live Marketplace.

If it's content and variety you are interested in, Rock Band 2 goes above and beyond. To start, Rock Band 2's library can immediately expand by either exporting Rock Band songs from the original game's disc for 400 MS points, or choosing to download any song(s) (mostly 160 MS points per song) from the original Rock Band's online selection. The number of songs you could end up with (at the price of an empty bank account) is staggering.


Even if you decide against DLC and exporting songs, there is still a wealth of songs on disc for you to experience in the two main modes: Quickplay or Tour. Quickplay is just as it sounds: you quickly choose songs and just play. You may create your own setlists to play during Quickplay that can be as long as you want (within reason). During Quickplay, you are randomly assigned a character to represent yourself in-game. On the flip side, Tour mode is all about creating and customizing your own rocker, putting together your own band, earning money and gaining fans.

Tour mode can be played locally or over Xbox Live. Unlike Band World Tour in Rock Band, Tour mode in Rock Band 2 can be completed solo or with band members. Ultimately, you can experience the game whichever way you prefer: by yourself, or (as it clearly was intended) as a band working together as a team. Band play is more emphasized in this sequel, and that mentality of "band over self" can most clearly be observed in the removal of a standard Solo tour, as has been present in not only Rock Band but every Guitar Hero game.

To some, the removal of Solo tour has been a great letdown. No longer is every song listed in tiers waiting to be conquered on that particular instrument and difficulty. Instead there is a mode called Tour Challenges. Each challenge is a set of songs that need to be completed as a group to unlock new challenges. These challenges do include instrument specific challenges that resemble Solo tour, but the major change is that these may be completed as a band. Many players may find this to be a relief, since this eliminates the days of being stuck on a specific song and unable to advance, since now you can use other band members to help you avoid failing out. Another handy feature for struggling players is the ability to quit out during a song and save your progress within that challenge. Thus if you play two of five songs, and find that the third is too difficult for you, you may pause and quit out, with the option to resume that challenge on a lower difficulty. This also means that if you start playing a challenge and run out of time, you can quit and resume later. Tour Challenges are a fun addition to the game, but it seems like leaving out Solo tour was still a poor choice. Luckily, Rock Band 2's World Tour mode is improved enough to make up for it.

World Tour is the mode where you travel from city to city, from venue to venue, from gig to gig, playing setlists of varying length. The major upgrade to this mode in Rock Band 2 is the ability to play online. The 'leader' system of Rock Band has also been improved. In the first game, the leader of your band was tied to a specific character and your band could not play without that character. Now the leader is tied to a gamertag, and even then, band members can choose to play in the band without the leader present (though you may only play individually without a leader). Although Rock Band 2 adds a Battle of the Bands mode, which may be accessed through Tour mode, its title is misleading. Rather than competing head to head in real time against another band, you choose particular challenges to complete and then your scores are ranked against other band.

The lack of head to head battles between bands is the most disappointing thing in Rock Band 2. Or it seems to be at first. That is, until you realize that the majority of character customization has been recycled from the first game. Yes, it makes sense that all of Rock Band's faces and hair and clothes be available in Rock Band 2 so players can recreate their original characters, but it becomes very clear very fast that there simply isn't much new stuff to do with your character. There are few new faces and few new hairstyles, and despite the addition of a lot of clothes, none of it feels particularly special.

Luckily, Rock Band 2 doesn't need an amazing customization system to make it one of the best rhythm game experiences in existence. Rock Band 2 has something for everyone, and makes sure that everyone can enjoy it. This time around, they've included a "No Fail" mode so that entire bands can play Quickplay with inexperienced players, without the stress of worrying about failing out. Rock Band 2, even with its flaws, is the ultimate party game, but has enough depth to also be the ultimate rhythm game of its time. With its ever expanding library that gives everyone at least something they enjoy, as long as you like music and video games, you will like them combined in Rock Band 2.

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If you like rhythm games, you could not possibly dislike Rock Band 2. Even if rhythm games aren't your forte, Rock Band 2 still can act as a great party game to involve anyone of any skill level. Whether you choose to play guitar, drums, or vocals, everyone will be able to find at least something really fun about the game. The improvements in this sequel make it worth all the money you will keep spending on it.

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