The quickest way to describe Rock Band 2 is that, in a perfect world, it’s the game Rock Band would’ve been the first time around. That’s great news for the game’s jillions of rabid fans, but it’s also vaguely disappointing for anyone looking for the kind of create-your-own-song innovation that Guitar Hero: Rock Band — sorry, Guitar Hero: World Tour — is cooking up. But Alex Rigopulos, Harmonix’s president and CEO, is hardly hanging his head: “We accomplished much of what we wanted to in the first Rock Band, but there were a lot of ideas that are important and dear to us that we couldn’t. We’ve made great strides in the sequel, and the team’s incredibly proud.”
After playing it for a couple hours, we can see why. Starting from the top, Rock Band 2 throws down 70 new songs (see sidebar on page 28), and all of them will be masters. Harmonix PR coordinator John Drake promises much more genre variety in the lineup, adding that “if you love pop punk, you’ll be getting some action.” Uhh…guilty as charged!
Some other small but vital details: Yes, you will get to play through a solo bass career this time around. Quickplay now has a make-a-setlist option, and all the old clothing and venues return to action (along with heaps of new ones, of course). High-fives all around for that, but we’re also pleased to hear that the game will add new drop-down menus that simplify finding and sorting songs, and that every downloadable song you’ve bought (or will buy) works in both games. Plus, you can turn on a no-fail option “for when Grandma comes over to play,” laughs Drake.
On to bigger stuff! In World Tour mode, you can now play as one character who can jump onto any of the instruments. Bands are no longer tied to the leader; you can fire any or all members and restart bands with anyone because band ownership resides with your gamertag. And oh yeah, your band can finally now assemble over Xbox Live for online play all the way through the Tour.
When we asked about the possibility of a Pro Tools–alike ability to create your own songs, Drake had only this to say: “We want it to be for everyone, not just the hardcore. We want to empower a lot of fans. We’re musicians, so we definitely want to do it.”
So yeah, while no beans were spilled there, he did part with a bunch of dirt on the new Battle of the Bands mode. While you don’t compete live against another band (which is…well, weak!), you do compete for position on both a global leaderboard and a Friends-list leaderboard. And if you sign in to find your band’s been beaten, you can get right to reclaiming your throne. These sessions should feel sorta-live while you’re playing them because a seesaw-like meter hangs in the middle of the screen, updating you constantly on how you’re doing against the band you’ve chosen to battle. And each week Harmonix will offer new challenges to tackle, such as longest streak on a song.
We admit it: we’re secretly hoping that Rock Band 2 has a little more under its hood that Harmonix isn’t telling us just yet. But even if that doesn’t pan out, there’s enough love here to get us back onstage for an encore.
