Rock Band - Impressions...

webdanzer · Post by **webdanzer** » Fri Jul 18, 2008 9:38 pm

matthewk wrote:I'm curious, how much is the DLC for Rock Band?

$1 or $2 a song, with discounts if you buy in the larger packs. $2 is the most common price.

Once in a while they toss in a freebie.

Diablo25 · Post by **Diablo25** » Sat Jul 19, 2008 7:42 pm

Quick question about RB2. I see that the game (not the bundle w/ instruments) comes out like a month before the bundle. Will the old 1st gen instruments work with RB2? Seems stupid to release the game a month before any of the new instruments are released.

Naples39 · Post by **Naples39** » Sat Jul 19, 2008 7:56 pm

Diablo25 wrote:Quick question about RB2. I see that the game (not the bundle w/ instruments) comes out like a month before the bundle. Will the old 1st gen instruments work with RB2? Seems stupid to release the game a month before any of the new instruments are released.

RB1 instruments will definitely work with RB2. It has been that way for all GH games and they'd be crazy to change that now. The only question for me is if the separately purchasable cymbals for the RB2 drum set can be attached to the RB1 drumset.

Diablo25 · Post by **Diablo25** » Sat Jul 19, 2008 8:00 pm

Naples39 wrote:
Diablo25 wrote:Quick question about RB2. I see that the game (not the bundle w/ instruments) comes out like a month before the bundle. Will the old 1st gen instruments work with RB2? Seems stupid to release the game a month before any of the new instruments are released.
RB1 instruments will definitely work with RB2. It has been that way for all GH games and they'd be crazy to change that now. The only question for me is if the separately purchasable cymbals for the RB2 drum set can be attached to the RB1 drumset.

Thanks Naples. I figured it had to be that way.

Post by **ScoopBrady** » Fri Aug 01, 2008 4:34 pm

Two good weeks on the DLC front for my taste. This week I was pleased as punch to dl Scars on Broadway and Testament. The follow up this week is 2 tracks by System of a Down.

vader29 · Post by **vader29** » Wed Aug 06, 2008 6:16 pm

I only downloaded Toxicity this week, fun song but holy epileptic seizures when the middle of the song starts flashing the black and white backgrounds.

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Fri Aug 08, 2008 9:18 am

anyone try the Who pack yet on drums? I am wondering how difficult the songs are?

I had a blast playing thru "The Cars". That debut album was outstanding.
The drums were pretty simple for the most part...but still lots of fun to play and hear those songs again.

Naples39 · Post by **Naples39** » Fri Aug 08, 2008 5:47 pm

More metal next week;

"Runnin’ Wild" by Airbourne
"Clouds Over California" by DevilDriver
"Constant Motion" by Dream Theater
"My Curse" by Killswitch Engage
"Aesthetics Of Hate" by Machine Head
"Sleepwalker" by Megadeth

Each track available for $1 for a limited time.

After previewing those on youtube, some of that stuff makes my ears bleed, but I can't resist picking up Runnin' Wild.

Naples39 · Post by **Naples39** » Fri Aug 08, 2008 5:51 pm

JackB1 wrote:anyone try the Who pack yet on drums? I am wondering how difficult the songs are?

*cough*cough*

webdanzer wrote:The Who pack is simply fantastic...

...although I think I just picked up another bunch I may never beat on expert drums!

Naples39 wrote:<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/7HSQP8j7T9w&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed>

You should also check out any individual tracks you are interested in on youtube.

Teal · Post by **Teal** » Fri Aug 08, 2008 9:10 pm

Naples39 wrote: I can't resist picking up Runnin' Wild.

I love Airbourne...classic sounding arena rock. Wish they'd put in 'Too Much, Too Young, Too Fast' as well...

Naples39 · Post by **Naples39** » Sat Aug 09, 2008 4:51 pm

Teal wrote:I love Airbourne...classic sounding arena rock. Wish they'd put in 'Too Much, Too Young, Too Fast' as well...

That song was just announced for GH: World Tour today.

webdanzer · Post by **webdanzer** » Wed Aug 20, 2008 10:21 am

I didn't care for the Pixies stuff when I first heard it, but after playing it for a while, I love it, making it the first time that Rock Band has 'sold' me on a band. (Yeah, call me a heretic or whatever, but I somehow 'missed' the Pixies in high school.

)

Anyone else 'discover' any good groups through RB?

XXXIV · Post by **XXXIV** » Wed Aug 20, 2008 11:27 am

webdanzer wrote:
Anyone else 'discover' any good groups through RB?

Weezer...good stuff!

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Fri Aug 22, 2008 5:02 pm

Fellas,

For those of you who have owned the game for a while, I'm curious of following:

Do you guys use mainly the drums or guitar with this game? I pretty much think I know the answer (drums?).

When you do play it, are you mostly playing solo or with a friend/family member/online?

If you're playing it solo, is it an enjoyable single player experience?

I saw that the drumset is $80, but does anyone know if that includes the game as well? With everything it's still $170, as it really hasn't dropped in price all that much.

I see RB 2 is priced at $190! Am I better off waiting for RB2 and just getting the drum set as the quality might be improved?

That's all I got. Thanks!

Brando70 · Post by **Brando70** » Fri Aug 22, 2008 5:18 pm

I have played both guitar and drums, all solo. I would play with others but I don't know any game players where I now live and I don't really care to play this online.

I think the solo game is plenty of fun. You miss out on some of the band tour fun (I dipped into it by playing bass and singing at the same time). But there's plenty of fun to be had on both guitar and drums, especially with the incredible amount of DLC available.

I prefer the drums because they mimic the actual instrument more, but the guitar is plenty of fun. Guitar is easier than Guitar Hero, which might be a good thing if you find GH a little too challenging.

It's been money well spent. I probably logged more time on this game than any game in the last 10 years. And in RB2, they've added bass to the tour option.

Also, I would probably wait and get the RB2 peripherals.

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Fri Aug 22, 2008 5:37 pm

I end up playing the guitar more than drums just because the minute I drag out the drums my kids want to play them

I never played any of the GH games so maybe I played guitar more than most because it was so new to me.

I think it is the best party game ever, but when you take the leap to bust out fake plastic guitars and drums they had better be cool friends or family.

It really is a great game for the family. We let the kids play the instruments but don't clue them into the fact that we unplug them (love that RB2 supposedly has a "no fail" option). My 5 1/2 year old can at least understand the concept and play a wee bit of drums if the parts are easy. My wife loves to sing.

I would wait for RB2 though since it's not far away and looks like an upgrade. If you do get RB1 look at Costco if you have a membership. I think it's discounted by close to $25.

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Fri Aug 22, 2008 8:07 pm

Thanks guys!

Diablo25 · Post by **Diablo25** » Sat Aug 23, 2008 7:07 pm

Sport, I am mainly a drum guy but I ended up liking the guitar way more than I thought. That being said, I'll be sticking with my RB1 guitar and just getting the new drums for RB2. I actually preordered them about a week ago

Supposedly they are made MUCH better than the originals, have a cymbal add-on...and they are more quiet.

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Sat Aug 23, 2008 7:14 pm

Diablo25 wrote:Sport, I am mainly a drum guy but I ended up liking the guitar way more than I thought. That being said, I'll be sticking with my RB1 guitar and just getting the new drums for RB2. I actually preordered them about a week ago Supposedly they are made MUCH better than the originals, have a cymbal add-on...and they are more quiet.

What's tempting are the prices I see on Craigslist. I've seen the full set including the game for $100 or less. But, then I get worried that the quality of the instruments might be poor since it's used. But it sounds better than $190.

I do think I want the full set instead of just one instrument over the other. My guitar skills are average, but more than one person has said the guitar is a lot more forgiving with RB than GH, which I've played.

MizzouRah · Post by **MizzouRah** » Sat Aug 23, 2008 10:00 pm

I like singing the best.. lol.. really... especially with all the songs I've bought from XBL.

My wife is the drummer of the house and my kids play the guitars, of which the wireless guitar from GH III is our favorite.

Speaking of family games, this game has been played the most, closely followed by Mario Cart on the Wii. Oh.. and it's quite fun having friends over, having a few drinks and playing rock band all night. It sounds soooo good coming through my big stereo speakers!

Naples39 · Post by **Naples39** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 1:16 pm

Bizarre news of the day--

New free download on Rock Band today.

"Charlene (I'm Right Behind You)" by Stephen and the Colberts

Vids

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Sat Sep 13, 2008 4:28 pm

IGN Review

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/909/909663p1.html

Diablo25 · Post by **Diablo25** » Sun Sep 14, 2008 10:07 am

My preorder of RB2 and the new drums was shipped and I will have them on Monday so I will post impressions. Looking forward to the new songs...IGN raves that RB2's soundtrack is a ton better than RB1.

webdanzer · Post by **webdanzer** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 10:22 am

Maybe I haven't played long enough to figure it out yet, but speaking from a single-player perspective, Rock Band 2 kinda seems all over the place. Gone is the simple 'progress through the tiers to unlock the songs' setup, and the process seems to be kind of spread through the various other modes now. (Tour, Challenges, etc.) It's also kind of hard to see how well you are doing, as scores are kept for individual instruments in some places, but for overall scores in others. Some places show what level you beat a song on, but some don't. You can see stars in some areas, but not others. It's kinda bewildering, and I feel inclined to blame EA for infusing the game with their typical labyrinthine menu and interface structure.

It seems really hard to view the songs in a way that would help you structure how you play against them, or at least how *I* do.

I also wish the unlocking portion of the game was a bit more straightforward. It seems like you can unlock new songs in many ways, but no one 'best' way. For example, I've opened things up by playing venues in tour, taking on challenges, and doing some of the online contests. A good amount has opened up for me, but I've also played some songs 3 times already!!

I guess I'm saying I really miss seeing the songs simply laid out in front of me by difficulty, and going through them up the ladder until all are unlocked, while being able to quickly see how well I did on each one. (By Stars, Score, and difficulty level) All this new stuff is great, but I'm actually kinda shocked that they removed the 'traditional' way to play the 1p game.

fanatic · Post by **fanatic** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 10:29 am

webdanzer wrote:Maybe I haven't played long enough to figure it out yet, but speaking from a single-player perspective, Rock Band 2 kinda seems all over the place. Gone is the simple 'progress through the tiers to unlock the songs' setup, and the process seems to be kind of spread through the various other modes now. (Tour, Challenges, etc.) It's also kind of hard to see how well you are doing, as scores are kept for individual instruments in some places, but for overall scores in others. Some places show what level you beat a song on, but some don't. You can see stars in some areas, but not others. It's kinda bewildering, and I feel inclined to blame EA for infusing the game with their typical labyrinthine menu and interface structure.

It seems really hard to view the songs in a way that would help you structure how you play against them, or at least how *I* do.

I also wish the unlocking portion of the game was a bit more straightforward. It seems like you can unlock new songs in many ways, but no one 'best' way. For example, I've opened things up by playing venues in tour, taking on challenges, and doing some of the online contests. A good amount has opened up for me, but I've also played some songs 3 times already!!

I guess I'm saying I really miss seeing the songs simply laid out in front of me by difficulty, and going through them up the ladder until all are unlocked, while being able to quickly see how well I did on each one. (By Stars, Score, and difficulty level) All this new stuff is great, but I'm actually kinda shocked that they removed the 'traditional' way to play the 1p game.

Thanks for the impressions...

I've only played RB1 about 5-6 times at a friend's house, but even then I remember wondering why we were playing the same songs over and over again. I also prefer the more straightforward unlocking structure you hoped for.

On the other hand, I'm not one to track high scores, etc..so I guess I'll grind through the unlocking stage.

RB2 definitely has the edge on GH in terms of set lists, so I'm just waiting to see how the instruments turn out. If GH instruments (which look amazing) play RB2 songs with no real difference in quality/control, then I'll probably go that route.