Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

20 to 40 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Great multiplayer"

When Guitar Hero 1 first came out I wasn't so sure about it. However, I was pleasantly surprised at how fun it was to play music tracks on a controller designed as a guitar. It quickly become addictive and I found myself hoping an awesome band game would come out. If you want the best band experience, then check this game out.

Story:
There is no story here. All you are doing is creating a band to play big gigs for fans, money, and stardom.

Graphics and Presentation:
It looks a little cartoony, but awesome. The venues are the best venues I have ever seen. The presentation is very good. The band plays and moves like a real band. And the characters move in harmony with the music. The crowd sings along and there are crazy light shows.

Gameplay:
Excellent! I like the customization feature of this game. You can change the colors of everything you buy, create your own cool logos by using layers of different art, and create a little story line for your band. People even went as far as creating celebs and video game characters! You can put a band together online and jam. You have some neat options. You can really go on a world tour with 3 other band mates online, complete a variety of challenges, and play against other bands. What's not to love?

And those who are musical artists can actually create their own music and make it public. If I am not mistaken I think people can actually make money off of it or at least get noticed. You may have to pay more expenses to do it. If you got the skillz to pay the bills, then go for it.

All of the tracks are remastered. Very few of them are covers this time around.

The lead guitar plays the same as other guitar games. Lead plays many solos and unleashes the power of rock when the rock meter is full by lifting the guitar up. When you begin using the rock power you triple your score.

When using the mic you have to stay within the lines. To unleash the power of a full rock meter you must yell when a psychedelic design appears on your screen. You also will find yourself occasionally switching from singing to playing different kinds of hand instruments.

Bass plays the same as the lead guitar; however the bass has very few solos. The bass player's job is to keep the rhythm. This is the easiest instrument to play.

The drums play like the drums. You have your drums and the foot pedal. Hand and foot coordination is very important here, because you have to play notes and hit long bar notes with the foot pedal at the same time. If you are not a seasoned drummer, then you are going to need a lot of practice. You can activate the power of rock by hitting special freestyle notes and hitting the big green bar note on the far right hand side. If you don't hit the big green bar note, then you will not activate the power of rock. You will know the freestyle notes when you see it. You can't miss it.

To save band mates who go down during the song use the power of rock. There is a three strike rule for each player, so be careful. And remember, to avoid near fails by using the power of rock to lift up your buddies before they fail.

DLC:
Two words, crazy large. There are a loooot of tracks. If you plan on buying a large set, then make sure you have the hard drive to do it. It will take an hour or two to cycle through all of those songs.

Final Thoughts:
I am not much of a music person. I am African American; however I don't stick to one genre. I listen to a little of the following genres: old school hip-hop, rock, blues, alternative, and R&B music. I get more of a kick out of instrumentals and video game instrumentals due to variety and creativity.

I surprised myself, because there are quite a large number of tracks that I recognized on this game and the new music from bands I knew nothing about I enjoyed. Rock Band 2 really was money well spent for a good time.

The only negative I noticed was the fact that nailing notes is less forgiving than guitar hero games. I only say this, because doing tough solos on guitar hero is actually easier for me. Maybe it is just because I am not an expert player, however I am able to play all of the tracks on hard and some on expert.