Spring Break
'Rock Band 2' as great as the original
John Bailey
Issue date: 9/23/08 Section: Focus
The horizons of the tracklist have expanded greatly since the first game, and by that I mean they put "Chop Suey" on there. I hate most of the indie rock tracks, but there are plenty of them, and my friends with poor taste all think they're great, so fine. And the 89 or so tracks that ship on the disc are almost irrelevant anyway, since there are hundreds more online, along with the tracklist from the first game, which can be imported with a few minutes of time and a $5 purchase.
After you're done being pissed off that this game once again suckered you out of more of your money, you can also find the Battle of the Bands online - but it's not quite as fantastic as it sounds, since you really just play with your regular band against a bunch of randomly chosen scores. To be fair, the particular "battles" have plenty of variety - some require particular instruments while others grade on values other than star score - and they cycle several times a week, but if you want to know if it's actually a worthwhile feature, you should really just take a look at the questionnaire again. There's also the online World Tour feature, but if you're a UConn student and you've got "Rock Band" in your room, you really have no excuse for not having real, live people in your band whenever you play.
The instruments, like the rest of the game, are the same, only better: the guitar has a nice faux-wood finish and an improved hefty feeling, along with quieter buttons and a more solid strum bar. The drums are quieter - which your neighbors will thank you for - and more responsive, now being able to actually register notes faster than eighths (making "Run To The Hills" on Expert now playable). However, if you've already got all the instruments, there really isn't any reason to justify buying a new set, unless you've got a bunch of extra money and it's too hot for a bonfire.
So, should you buy it? Do you like "Rock Band?" Do you like fun? Do you like "Chop Suey?" This is "Rock Band," and it's more fun than "Rock Band" used to be. You really don't need to know any more.
After you're done being pissed off that this game once again suckered you out of more of your money, you can also find the Battle of the Bands online - but it's not quite as fantastic as it sounds, since you really just play with your regular band against a bunch of randomly chosen scores. To be fair, the particular "battles" have plenty of variety - some require particular instruments while others grade on values other than star score - and they cycle several times a week, but if you want to know if it's actually a worthwhile feature, you should really just take a look at the questionnaire again. There's also the online World Tour feature, but if you're a UConn student and you've got "Rock Band" in your room, you really have no excuse for not having real, live people in your band whenever you play.
The instruments, like the rest of the game, are the same, only better: the guitar has a nice faux-wood finish and an improved hefty feeling, along with quieter buttons and a more solid strum bar. The drums are quieter - which your neighbors will thank you for - and more responsive, now being able to actually register notes faster than eighths (making "Run To The Hills" on Expert now playable). However, if you've already got all the instruments, there really isn't any reason to justify buying a new set, unless you've got a bunch of extra money and it's too hot for a bonfire.
So, should you buy it? Do you like "Rock Band?" Do you like fun? Do you like "Chop Suey?" This is "Rock Band," and it's more fun than "Rock Band" used to be. You really don't need to know any more.
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