Rock Band 2 is just an outstanding game with great potential and very interesting gameplay that creates a great bundle.
Rock Band 2 has created a very stable sequel by keeping it to the bear necessities. You got your basic modes, the basic character design, basic everything. However, everything is very polished and makes the experience one of a kind compare to its competitors like Guitar Hero. Since Rock Band has a short but pioneer history in its own market, Rock Band 2 has also took risky steps into making this sequel probably the most inspiring games of all time by gamers.
To start things off, the setlist is almost completely perfect. You have your alternative songs like Everlong made by Foo Fighters to the dark and musty metal songs like Peace Sells from Megadeth. You can also import almost all of your songs from Rock Band 1 into Rock Band 2, however not all the songs can be compatible for Rock Band 2 because of licensing. Back to the setlist, there are 84 songs in the bundle, including 20 songs that are being released after Rock Band 2's release date. Now 84 is a great number, and here why that may become a problem for players. Not all songs are fun to play in the game, which is a bummer for some more experienced players, but Rock Band 2's fixed the problem for that. There is a system now where all songs have a guitar, drum, vocal, bass, and band rating for each song , so players can now have a head's up on a particular song.
Now the difficulty has risen significantly in this new installment. The guitar has been overhauled by new notes such has two note hammer-ons and pull-offs. This makes songs like Bodhisattva very difficult because not only do you have to be good on timing the hammer-ons and pull-offs, but you have to be very good at hitting two buttons now. The bass remains the same on its philosophy of using the six times multiplier because of its easy difficulty for experienced guitar players, yet its very hard for songs like Panic Attack that is almost identical to the guitar's difficult note chart. The drums have added drum solos that are a nice mixed to the songs, and vocals can now take it easy on the dreaded talky-talky phrases.
The graphics have improved, and the characters are ever so more fluent in their movement. Rock Band 2 improves of Rock Band 1's motion cap used by live performances, and more are added to mix. The stages and crowds are superb as ever. They have great influences in the atmosphere that surrounds them, and creates a great setting for the game. However, the game didn't add much for this category, which I am disappointed because it doesn't influence the gameplay at all.
Since Xbox Live is a very important part to any rocker that wants his or her name on the street, Rock Band 2 does show some great and impressive online features. There are multiple modes for online, Band Quickplay, Score Duel, Tug of War, and Tour. Band Quickplay is just for players to just start up matchmaking game, which may take a while because you are trying to find specific players with specific instruments, however you can just start up a song by taking turns. Score Duel is just a duel on who can get the better score, and Tug of War is a game where a each player takes a specific turn on the note chart to get the highest score. Lastly is the best because now players can take their rock star fantasies with their friends online, Tour Mode. This is great because now player have to ability to meet each other online to conquer the world by earning money and fans together. No more trying to get the band all together under the same roof anymore. And as a plus, your character can play multiple instruments and bands rather than just sticking to one for each. Don't like playing with your current band, then quit like a real rocker would.
Rock Band 2 is just an outstanding game with great potential and very interesting gameplay that creates a great bundle. The Rock Band library is now over 500 songs now, and there is a great online community ready to bust the doors down. Harmonix has done them a great job in developing this game, and I hope a continuous encore next year.
Gameplay:
*****
Graphics:
****0
Sound:
*****
Replay Value:
*****
9 out of 10