Ok first things first. No I am not trying to make humorous reviews anymore cause I am just bad at thinking up funny things in a restricted period of time. I am going for a more serious and informative review now and hopefully they turn out better.
Graphics:
Last year Rock Band had much better graphics than its major foe Guitar Hero and it didn't go for a major cartoon like look which made a a little refreshing seeing as for over 3 years now Guitar Hero has done cartoon. This year I am not so sure. The graphics in Rock Band 2 are almost identical to what we saw last year. They do have 2 or 3 new animations here and there but overall it will be a very hard task to see the difference from last years Rock Band and this years Rock Band. The notes do look just a little bit more shiney and the lighting is still great but for those looking for something new, you have to wait for Guitar Hero World Tour.
Gameplay:
The Rock Band series excells at everything that is fun in a game of this sort. Those who don't know, Rock Band is all about playing about your friends as a full band. Drums, Guitar, Bass and Microphone. The last Rock Band only had 58 songs off the disc and a few of them were not the real artist but this year we get 84 amazing songs all from the real artist. The songs are un agruably better than what we saw last year but there seems as if Harmonix is getting in to making the game Metel Band as there are A LOT of heavy metal songs this time around. The lack of a lot of heavy metal songs is really what made last years Rock Band songlist so great but while this setlist has more songs that I want to play, they could loosen up on the metal a little. Rock Band also allows for a lot of downloadable songs. At the moment there are over 300 songs to download, 20 Free songs coming out in november and the ability to export all of the songs you love from Rock Band 1 as well. There are a lot of songs to say the least and the song list is just going to keep growing until there are no more songs in the world.
Sound:
This is where Rock Band and Guitar Hero need to be great at. If there is even ONE major sound glitch, its down the drain for these games. Thankfully, there isn't anything that stands out enough to ruin the game here. There are minor issues with long held notes as sometimes when you let go of the frets all sound will cut off for a second but that has only happened to me once and shouldn't pose much of a problem
Appeal:
Rock Band is fun yes, when played with friends. When going solo it can lose its appel if you only have the 84 that come with the game but as it is I have 164 songs so it isn't much of a problem for me but I can see it being a bit of an issue with just the disc songs. The Downloadable Content will always mean that you will never get bored if you are able to shell over the cash but most people wont be able to.
OVERALL:
Rock Band 2 is something special. When playing as a band, there is just some sort of a feeling that runs up your spine. Still, the lack of graphics update and over crowding of metal songs leaves this game a little bit short of expectations. Yes, Rock Band 2 is better. But it you own Rock Band and are hoping for a huge update, get ready to be dissapointed. Never the less this is a must own for any 360 owner and is right now the greatest music rythmn game of all time.
Graphics: 7
Gameplay: 9
Sound: 9
Appeal: 8
SCORE: 8
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Rock Band 2 Review, How does Rock Band so for its 2nd time?
