Pulitzer Laureate Posts: 902 Joined: 21 Jul 2008 | So, a few yonks ago and forsaking my christmas present from the unforgiving soul that is nested inside the empty corpse that I sometimes have to call "mum" but other's I just call her "slave" I got Rock Band, a game I had indeed been waiting for some time, and indeed, was very happy when I got. I had played Guitar Hero on a friends 360, and I thought it would be a good idea to get those friends around and pretend we were something we aren't, which we usually do when playing Dungeons and Dragons, but nevermind what I just said, it's too nerdy. At any rate, I got my friends around to play what was meant to be the revolution of musical videogaming, and the results were rather positive. Not to imply that most of our initial acts where catastrophic beyond Chernobylism, (mostly due to the singer(and usually due to the singer). My first (and major surprise) was that after asking the shopkeeper about a week before buying it, the guy with a personality said that I could get the instruments with the game in the same pack, and finding the moment of buying it that I would have to pay for them separately. Just my luck, I guess, but something Harmonix did very poorly. Making people pay 70 euros more for something they are barely going to use is NOT a good pricing strategy. Funnily enough, their sales weren't that verymuch decreased as I'm given to understand.At any rate, after reaching the safety house, and opening the so long awaited box of magic candy, I found that there were only 3 instruments. Believe me, I searched for quite a while, but it seems that Harmonix decided it would be a good idea NOT to include a bass guitar in the pack. I understand the fact that Harmonix wants to sell more to expand their reign of terror, but that is no good reason to not pack in an extra guitar and adding the price to the bundle. It makes perfect sense that you'd want to have the full ensemble of friends you have preinvited playing the game you've waited so long for. But it doesn't, you don't get to, and you're left crying your socks off. At any rate, my I say the hardware was indeed quite functional. The gutiar is so full of gimmicks, but actually useful gimmicks (except the pickup changer, we all know that is just pure gimmick) which actually merge realy well with the overall functionality of the guitar. The fact that it is also bigger helps enhance the realism, and the lower fret buttons can be quite useful at times to perform a completely worthless freak out. Indeed, the hardware is a rather competent piece of art. The drums, even though I am given to understand break with astounding ease, have given me a flawless performance all along my short career with them, and I don't see them breaking any time soon. The microphone, I really can't praise. It's a damn microphone, you can't make it much better. You can say that the Lips' microphone set has shiny lights and fancy motion detecting, but who gives a damn about that game.
At any rate, once my friends had stopped mucking around with the box believing to be Solid Snake (That box is huge, I swear) and we managed to get the drums up and running (The first time it feels like building something from the godforsaken depths of Ikea), we started playing. It truly felt nice, holding a properly sized guitar and having my friends playing alongisde with me, instead of what we usually did in Guitar Hero, where 2 of us tried an impossible song whilst the other 2 sit and laughed whilst flicking peanuts at our fret hands. So it felt great knowing they would have something in their hands to substitute the peanuts. Unfortunately, since all we had ever played was guitar, it meant that the guitarist would always get decent scores and the other 2 would just sit there trying to survive. It is truly interesting how they have made the drums hard to play for newcomers, whilst guitar is actually pretty easy. Ok, some songs further on seem hellspawned, but drumming, or should I say in the hardest difficulty levels, spazzing, seems a little too overhyped. The drummer seems, all of a sudden a much more important figure in the band, and in my band, only the guitarist can be allowed to be awesome (aka me). In short, playing as a group can be as frustrating with pathetic losers as can be orgasmically good with professionals at their instrument of choice (please take no remark of the previous statement if you drum like a monkey with a flying saucer attached to your head). Also, it can be quite frustrating that your companions have ABSOLUTELY no sense of synchronization to activate the star power at the same time, both in the case of activating it when not needed, and not doing so when you yell at them at the top of your voice. In shorter, the game has been more staisfying for me when played by my own.
And indeed it was. The core gameplay has barely suffered any changes except, of course, if we bear in mind that the circular gem notes have been replaced with Arkanoid bars, and that the notes are incredibly unforgiving at times. Apart of that, the gameplay is exactly the same as Guitar Hero. You hit notes, usue the star power, get a score, try to improve that score. There is nothing wrong with the system, and it's surprising to see how I still play it actively even so long after buying it without actually getting bored. The songs are still challenging enough for me to try and improve every time more, ad even if they weren't, the master track recordings is so stunning it really deserves a mention. True hymns of rock such as Run to the Hills, Reptilia, Won't Get fooled again. Anything you care to mention. Every tier you unlock at least one or two popular names in the world of rock, and a new pleasant surprise. In short, the Rock Band tracklist is pure master, and so are the songs which are weekly uploaded, but of course you gotta pay for those, and my mum's credit card is in permanent blank, as so is mine, so I won't talk about those further than they give me the feeling that they're trying to make up for lackings of the game.
In all honesty, yes, I find the game lacking in many aspects (which I understand some are solve in RB 2, but that won't make RB win any points in my book) like the possibility to play the main world tour online or band duels. What I'm trying to state is that the game doesn't really offer that much if we have to bear in mind it's original price. Don't get me wrong, the game gets the category of awesome in many aspects. But the economical situation the whole world is in should make Harmonix think twice before they decide to raise the prices so that only spoilt brats can get them (I place myself in that category :D) and not send their parents into ruin for a mere want.
So, summing up, grab some friends, grab your favourite instrument, and start rocking, BUT remember you'll be homeless once you finished, because you've sold your house, your car and your soul to get that game. |
On the Record Posts: 6532 Joined: 8 Nov 2008 | Oh boy wow. I like smaller paragraphs.
Good job though. |
So, a few yonks ago and forsaking my christmas present from the unforgiving soul that is nested inside the empty corpse that I sometimes have to call "mum" but other's I just call her "slave" I got Rock Band, a game I had indeed been waiting for some time, and indeed, was very happy when I got. I had played Guitar Hero on a friends 360, and I thought it would be a good idea to get those friends around and pretend we were something we aren't, which we usually do when playing Dungeons and Dragons, but nevermind what I just said, it's too nerdy. At any rate, I got my friends around to play what was meant to be the revolution of musical videogaming, and the results were rather positive. Not to imply that most of our initial acts where catastrophic beyond Chernobylism, (mostly due to the singer(and usually due to the singer). My first (and major surprise) was that after asking the shopkeeper about a week before buying it, the guy with a personality said that I could get the instruments with the game in the same pack, and finding the moment of buying it that I would have to pay for them separately. Just my luck, I guess, but something Harmonix did very poorly. Making people pay 70 euros more for something they are barely going to use is NOT a good pricing strategy. Funnily enough, their sales weren't that verymuch decreased as I'm given to understand.At any rate, after reaching the safety house, and opening the so long awaited box of magic candy, I found that there were only 3 instruments. Believe me, I searched for quite a while, but it seems that Harmonix decided it would be a good idea NOT to include a bass guitar in the pack. I understand the fact that Harmonix wants to sell more to expand their reign of terror, but that is no good reason to not pack in an extra guitar and adding the price to the bundle. It makes perfect sense that you'd want to have the full ensemble of friends you have preinvited playing the game you've waited so long for. But it doesn't, you don't get to, and you're left crying your socks off. At any rate, my I say the hardware was indeed quite functional. The gutiar is so full of gimmicks, but actually useful gimmicks (except the pickup changer, we all know that is just pure gimmick) which actually merge realy well with the overall functionality of the guitar. The fact that it is also bigger helps enhance the realism, and the lower fret buttons can be quite useful at times to perform a completely worthless freak out. Indeed, the hardware is a rather competent piece of art. The drums, even though I am given to understand break with astounding ease, have given me a flawless performance all along my short career with them, and I don't see them breaking any time soon. The microphone, I really can't praise. It's a damn microphone, you can't make it much better. You can say that the Lips' microphone set has shiny lights and fancy motion detecting, but who gives a damn about that game.
At any rate, once my friends had stopped mucking around with the box believing to be Solid Snake (That box is huge, I swear) and we managed to get the drums up and running (The first time it feels like building something from the godforsaken depths of Ikea), we started playing. It truly felt nice, holding a properly sized guitar and having my friends playing alongisde with me, instead of what we usually did in Guitar Hero, where 2 of us tried an impossible song whilst the other 2 sit and laughed whilst flicking peanuts at our fret hands. So it felt great knowing they would have something in their hands to substitute the peanuts. Unfortunately, since all we had ever played was guitar, it meant that the guitarist would always get decent scores and the other 2 would just sit there trying to survive. It is truly interesting how they have made the drums hard to play for newcomers, whilst guitar is actually pretty easy. Ok, some songs further on seem hellspawned, but drumming, or should I say in the hardest difficulty levels, spazzing, seems a little too overhyped. The drummer seems, all of a sudden a much more important figure in the band, and in my band, only the guitarist can be allowed to be awesome (aka me). In short, playing as a group can be as frustrating with pathetic losers as can be orgasmically good with professionals at their instrument of choice (please take no remark of the previous statement if you drum like a monkey with a flying saucer attached to your head). Also, it can be quite frustrating that your companions have ABSOLUTELY no sense of synchronization to activate the star power at the same time, both in the case of activating it when not needed, and not doing so when you yell at them at the top of your voice. In shorter, the game has been more staisfying for me when played by my own.
And indeed it was. The core gameplay has barely suffered any changes except, of course, if we bear in mind that the circular gem notes have been replaced with Arkanoid bars, and that the notes are incredibly unforgiving at times. Apart of that, the gameplay is exactly the same as Guitar Hero. You hit notes, usue the star power, get a score, try to improve that score. There is nothing wrong with the system, and it's surprising to see how I still play it actively even so long after buying it without actually getting bored. The songs are still challenging enough for me to try and improve every time more, ad even if they weren't, the master track recordings is so stunning it really deserves a mention. True hymns of rock such as Run to the Hills, Reptilia, Won't Get fooled again. Anything you care to mention. Every tier you unlock at least one or two popular names in the world of rock, and a new pleasant surprise. In short, the Rock Band tracklist is pure master, and so are the songs which are weekly uploaded, but of course you gotta pay for those, and my mum's credit card is in permanent blank, as so is mine, so I won't talk about those further than they give me the feeling that they're trying to make up for lackings of the game.
In all honesty, yes, I find the game lacking in many aspects (which I understand some are solve in RB 2, but that won't make RB win any points in my book) like the possibility to play the main world tour online or band duels. What I'm trying to state is that the game doesn't really offer that much if we have to bear in mind it's original price. Don't get me wrong, the game gets the category of awesome in many aspects. But the economical situation the whole world is in should make Harmonix think twice before they decide to raise the prices so that only spoilt brats can get them (I place myself in that category :D) and not send their parents into ruin for a mere want.
So, summing up, grab some friends, grab your favourite instrument, and start rocking, BUT remember you'll be homeless once you finished, because you've sold your house, your car and your soul to get that game.