Stop me if you've heard this one: Gamemaker releases brilliant work of genius, follows it up next year with the same exact thing.
It happens all the time in the videogame biz -- as soon as a publisher has a breakthrough hit on its hands, you can be sure it'll want another version for next Christmas. And so, here's Rock Band 2, just like clockwork. MTV Games hasn't made any major changes to how the game looks or plays, so if you've spent any time tapping on plastic drums with a room full of virtual band mates recently, you know exactly how this one is going to go down.
But that doesn't mean you don't need Rock Band 2. Oh, quite the contrary: If you're still getting your buddies together every few weekends to play the original, you absolutely must buy Rock Band 2 -- for the new music, but also for the relatively minor but highly desirable improvements MTV has made.
I don't want to seem like I'm diminishing the hard work that developer Harmonix Music Systems has clearly done here. No, the lads from Cambridge did not add new instruments to Rock Band: no keyboards, no sousaphones. No, unlike rival Guitar Hero, there is no new feature as nakedly ambitious as a music-creation mode. What they have done is to refine every feature from top to bottom for Rock Band 2, creating a true version 2.0 product.
But before we get into that, let's assume you have never heard of Rock Band before. Let's assume you have never experienced the joy of playing a music game that lets four players team up, taking lead guitar, bass, drums and vocals. Let's assume you don't know the sheer joy of cooperative music gaming, each player following their own part but contributing to a shared score. You are an incomplete person.
Music games are now one of the biggest genres in the industry, and Rock Band is the best of the bunch. Even though tapping out rhythms on the plastic buttons of fake guitars and drums isn't really playing music, these games are so compelling because they make you feel like a rock star.
The Rock Band 2 disc features about 80 new songs to rock to, spanning a variety of styles. There's AC/DC's "Let There Be Rock" and Metallica's "Battery," sure, but there's also Bob Dylan, Fleetwood Mac and Blondie. There's even "Shackler's Revenge," a track off of Guns N' Roses' vaporware album, Chinese Democracy.
But what if you like your old Rock Band songs better? No matter: By re-upping the license fee with a flat payment of $5, you can export most of your Rock Band songs to your console's hard drive. Rock Band 2 will then pull them straight into the game. All the music you downloaded for the original Rock Band will work seamlessly with Rock Band 2 as well.
One of the welcome upgrades to Rock Band 2 is that the song-selection menu has been dramatically overhauled. Not only is it easier to find the song you want, but the difficulty level of each song is broken down by instrument. So, for example, if you have an expert guitarist playing with a beginning drummer, they'll be able to pick songs that are appropriate for both of them.
The solo game has been more heavily altered. Instead of separate song-by-song single-player challenges for each instrument, everything has been smashed into one mode, called "World Tour." You'll create a band, then take them from garage gigs to superstardom. You could only do this with multiple players in the first game, but the Tour experience is now seamlessly integrated across the entire game. You can begin a tour by yourself, switch instruments midway through, add more players at any time or go online and invite remote players to join your tour.
If you're looking for a single-player experience that's closer to the original's, Rock Band 2 features "Tour Challenges," a series of increasingly difficult groups of songs that challenge you to use specific instruments. And then there's "Battle of the Bands," challenges that Harmonix will constantly update through online delivery. Every day you log in, there will be a new challenge, and your scores will be compared to every other band's.
But all of these new features are really just iterations on a theme, the same songs wrapped in different packaging. What grabs me most is the "Drum Trainer" feature. These aren't songs. This is Harmonix's attempt to turn Rock Band drummers into actual drummers by teaching them a variety of different beats. There are about 75 different drum beats that you can play on an infinite loop, and you can adjust the tempo on each. Master these, and you'll be building real skills that transfer onto real drum sets. A "Fill Trainer" even teaches you cool little riffs to play when it's time for a drum solo.
You can play Rock Band 2 with Rock Band or Guitar Hero instrument controllers, but a new guitar and drums have been released specifically for this game. Both new input devices are wireless, which is especially welcome with the drum controller, which also sports a metal-reinforced kick pedal and bouncier, quieter drum pads this time around.
If this is one of those unfortunate game reviews that reads just like a list of features, that's as much Rock Band 2's fault as it is mine. Rock Band 2 is a massive bullet-point list of new features, each of which makes playing the game a little bit more fun, a little bit less annoying. MTV has played it very safe: It has not broken anything, but neither has it taken any great risks to add any feature that is mind-blowingly new, the way it did when it added drumming and vocals to Guitar Hero in the first place.
It's more than enough to make Rock Band 2 worth a purchase, but I'll still have my eyes open for the next big thing in music games.
WIRED Drum trainer mode, seamless World Tour, awesome new music
TIRED A refinement, not a big step forward
$60, MTV Games
Rating: 
Read Game|Life's game ratings guide.
Images courtesy MTV Games
See also:
- How-To Wiki: Cheat at Rock Band 2
- Rumor: MTV Planning Rock Band Reality Show
- Guitar Hero, Rock Band and the Rock 'n' Roll Money Machine
- Review: Whether Solo or With Friends, Rock Band the Ultimate Music Game
- A Glimpse Into Harmonix's Punk-Rock Design Process
- Guitar Hero: Gateway Drug to Six-String Bliss
Preemptive strike against people who will jump up and down saying, "play a real instrument". I like playing fake drums and pretending to be a rock star and so does my wife and friends. I have a job and don't want to be a real drummer. It's a game and is meant to be fun. You want to join the military, wear armor and kill real people?
UK release date anyone?
*silence*
No? What's that...? We've only had Rock band for three months or so? Well, yes... we realise that but we thought... Oh... right.... Ok then, we'll all go back to our cupboard under the stairs, sorry to have bothered you....
I really want to leave a massively long train of expletives here signifying my feelings for Harmonix and EA, but, like them towards the UK (seemingly at least) I just can't be bothered.
Funny how suddenly when EA is ditributing the game there are no new features, just an updated track list and some slight polish on features... Fifa, Madden etal anyone?
Or am I being a bit harsh due to my currently jaded point of view?
At least it's cheap in the US compared to EU.
Mr. Kohler, has there been any confirmation of whether the Wii version of this will work with the Guitar Hero instruments? (Or whether the Wii version will not be shit this time?)
According to every published report, the Wii version will not be any different, at least when it comes to the instruments. GH guitars and RB guitars (and drums, etc.) should be fine in RB2. The issue, of course, is that it's the Wii version, the toned-down "almost all the features" version.
Dirkus, that's not an EA thing. While I'll agree that Madden et al get minor upgrades, there's not really too much to change in something like RB. If you play GH1 and compare it to GH3, there are hardly any changes. Some new modes, yes, but the core concept of the game is identical, and that was before EA had a thing to do with it.
Bigger issues: Some songs just don't fit the RB mold. Songs like Beastie Boys' "What'cha Want?" are fine and all, but they're boring as shit to play through. They've also managed to make some songs way harder on plastic guitar than on real guitar. "Lump" is a good example of that, as is The Lybians "Welcome to the Neighborhood" (not to mention that that song is pretty pathetic by musical standards).
Also, what happened to the mix on Lump? The last verse drops the drum track and cranks the bass track. Then at the chorus, it's back to normal.
These aren't showstoppers by any means, but they certainly stand out in an otherwise polished presentation.
My understanding for the Wii version is that Rock Band 2 Wii will work on Rock Band Wii instruments. However Rock Band 2 Wii nor Rock Band Wii will work with the Guitar Hero III guitar nor Guitar Hero World Tour instruments. For the Wii, the Guitar Hero controllers incorporate the Wiimotes while the Rock Band ones connect via USB. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
They used to say "Those who cannot do teach" ... now I say "Those who cannot rock play shitty video games." Whether it's pretending to be a rock star or a mass-murdering orc, you are all losers. Put down the controller, give you kids a turn at playing and go outside for some fresh air losers!
This is a better site for playing guitar: http://www.iPlayGuitar.com
Much better than a video game. At least, it was last time I was on it.
Oh noes! Some anonymous jackass on the intertubes thinks I'm a loser!
Really, frig, you are posting on the gaming blog on a technology website, complaining about game players. Brilliant. Perhaps you should head over to the Autopia blog after this one and tell them to ride bikes and jog more.
@frigante: No. We want them to stay inside. We dont want them outdoors. Dont disturb them, let them play. And their bratty kids too.
get off my lawn!
Since the author made such a big deal of the new song list, I take it they won't be releasing Rock Band 2 songs for download to be played on Rock Band 1?
Um, can someone please release the first Rock Band in Australia? Oh you've been so busy making Rock Band 2 that you just never got around to it?
Regarding Rock Band 2 songs, when buying songs are $2 each, you're better off just buying Rock Band 2 for $60 and getting $160 worth of songs.
How is it, that a game exactly the same same as its predecessor, receives a 9 out of 10. Is Rock band 7 going to get a 9 as well? You may as well not play the next one and just transpose the score from rock band 2. FYI you fat piece of loser blog writer CK, Play magazine (I hear magazines are a few steps up the journalism ladder more than blog writters) Gave the new star wars game awesome reviews.
As stated in the RB FAQs, there is no "Rock Band 1" songs or "Rock Band 2" songs - only ROCK BAND songs. So I guess if there is a RB 3, the songs will work there, too. Genius!
@Hondurasa
.
Still bitter that "The Force Unleashed" blows, huh?
I began rhythm/music games with Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Wii. If only Rock Band would compete head-to-head on the Wii with Guitar Hero via a guitar only bundle with either Rock Band or Rock Band 2 (or better yet both), then I would be buying Rock Band.
"FYI you fat piece of loser blog writer CK, Play magazine (I hear magazines are a few steps up the journalism ladder more than blog writters) Gave the new star wars game awesome reviews."
Yeah, it's a good thing that Chris' reviews and features don't appear in Wired's actual magazine - which is, I think, just a little bit more prestigious than Play?
Oh, wait, they DO? Sorry, kid, time to move along. My god, where do you people keep cropping up from?
Guitar Hero fans, buy Rock Band 2. Sure you don't have the music creation mode, but seriously, does that matter? Making a guitar/drum track isn't fun...Rock Band 2 has a beter setlist, backwords-compatable DLC (Only Death Magnetic for World Tour, and no-one wants that..) Rock Band redefined the Rythem game series. Honestly, World Tour doesn't have good music...aside from the songs already licensed with Harmoix..BYOB, Eye of the Tiger, ect. Even if you don't buy DLC, Rock Band is much better.
Rock Band (v1) is due out in Australia in a couple of months.
At that rate, we should get Rock Band (v2) when... the bloke with the pitchfork and the fur coat shows up.
@Dirkus
Your worried about the UK only having it for 3 months...
Australia?
WE DONT EVEN HAVE IT!
Screw this game.... GTWT FTW!
ESPECIALLY WII!
have you guys played RB2 through a decent surround system? how can you not love it when the crowd starts to sing the song with you? if you play well enough, that is.
@johnathan....you are correct about the non-compatibility of the WII GH3 guitar with any of the WII RB games. if you own a WII only and must have these music games, go for it. but if you can play them on either XBOX or PS3 platforms do that, downloadable content makes these games soooo much more fun for huge music fans
If have to agree with Mr. Kohler to a point everything that he has described about the game is absolutely correct! But it's the simple changes that a game makes that is the most impressive!!
I have to say this new addition is amazing!!!! I can't say one bad thing about this game except maybe that you can complete a lot of the songs on expert 95-97 percent and still not even get five stars which is kinda stupid, so the game realies heavily on note streaks, but other than that, i'm a converted hard core rock band lover!!!!!lol...
I have always believed the guitar hero series was the best and rightfully so...i still love guitar hero, but if you look at all of rock band has done, they are starting to own the video game music genre, they were the first to develop the band feature with different instuments, and the first to develop all the new features in rock band 2. Now i really don't know how they get the songs lists created, and who creates them, but to me it looks a whole lot like guitar hero is trying to keep up and copy. World tour is coming out with a band set, and there songs list has a bunch of the same music??!! To me that's not original at all!! Yeah you can make your own music and share them across xbox live, hey very cool, i do kinda like that idea, but i mean really? I can't make music, hell i'm sure a lot of people don't. I don't know about any other new features that guitar hero world tour will have but right now they have a lot of work to do!!
I love the fact now that i can play as if i was in a band and do the world tour, no one i knew was as good as me, or wanted to ever play a lot like i did, so the only thing i could do in the original rock band is just play songs, that's it!! Now i can do the world tour, challenges, band battles, i have just scratched the surface so far and i feel that i've played the hell out of it!! I can't wait to jump into multiplayer and see how that works!!
Sometimes it's the minor changes, especially the several that rock band 2 has made, to impress me, and i'm impressed!!!! Good job harmonix and MTV games!!
We have had rumble since launch
web sites:
can i play the skin flute in this game?