 | Rock Band 2 |
| List Price: | $29.99 |
| Price: | $28.52 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details |
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Product Description
Rock Band 2 SOFTWARE ONLY PS3
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #503 in Video Games
- Brand: MTV Games
- Model: 014633191110
- Published on: 2008-10
- Released on: 2008-10-19
- ESRB Rating: Teen
- Platform: PlayStation 3
- Format: CD-ROM
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: .59" h x 5.43" w x 6.76" l, .28 pounds
Features
- Local and global online modes
- Online World Tour mode fuses Solo Tour and Band World Tour modes with opportunity gigs, challenges, cities, venues and hirable staff
- Tour Challenges - mini-campaigns focused on the best songs by instrument, decade, genre, etc
- Battle of the Bands mode - go head to head against other bands in constantly refreshed contests (internet connection required)
- Quickplay - with prefab or customized characters that can play on any instrument. Make customizable set lists and organize your song lists in different categories
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Continue Your Rock and Roll Fantasy
Rock Band 2 lets you and your friends take your band on an even more expansive and immersive world tour - in person or online - and continue your rock and roll fantasy.
Harmonix, deliver Rock Band 2, the next step to the platform that lets audiences of all ages interact with music in an all-new way. Rock Band 2 lets players vicariously jam out as some of the best guitarists, bassists, drummers and singers of all time.
Featuring a track list with more than 100 on-disc and downloadable tracks from some of the most hallowed bands of the rock pantheon, Rock Band 2 by challenges rockers to master lead guitar, bass guitar, drums and vocals.
  | Key Features
Track List
|  Grab the Mic View larger image  Rock the Songs View larger image  Give the Crowd a Show View larger image |
Customer Reviews
Making a Great Game Better
I've been playing this for 5 days now, after a year of playing RB1. To give credit where it's due, it looks like the team at Harmonix read every angry, outraged post about the first Rock Band and then addressed the problems.
Gameplay:
-Bands no longer have a leader that must be present in order for the band to play. Any member of the band can play solo, and any character can play any instrument.
-You can now create an entire band and have them play with you ALL the time, giving you control over the look of it. You never need to have a random character model stand in. The might seem like a small thing but it makes a big difference. I don't know how many times my friends and I played, 3 of us looking like the Beatles, only to have some chick wrapped up like a mummy playing bass.
-You can be more in-depth in fleshing out your band, including designing a logo for them.
Drums
-First of all the drums are wireless, which in itself is a big improvement. They have a rubberized coating on the pad now which cuts the noise from striking them in half, and that's more a dull thud than the sharp, obnoxious crack of the old drums. The bass pedal has been beefed up and should stand up to adult usage. I see some users complaining about tech problems with the drums, but mine have thus far been flawless.
-Guitar
This is a huge improvement over the RB1 guitar. The start button has been put in a recess, making it much harder to accidentally pause the game while playing. The tilt sensor for going into overdrive works perfectly, the buttons are easier to use and the overall construction is sturdier. Best of all, it's wireless receiver has a USB port that you can plug the drums into, making it so that two instruments take up only one USB port on the console. This means that you can play as a full 4-person band without needing anything extra for your PS3. Again, a little thing that makes a big difference.
All the songs you downloaded for RB1 can be played on this game, and for a small fee you can also migrate all the songs from the RB1 disc onto your drive to be used with RB2. I think it's great that you don't have to leave any songs behind.
Bottom line: if you have RB1 you should definitely buy at least this game, even if you want to keep your old instruments. The expansion to your song library alone is well worth the price. But if you have the money to spend I think the improved instruments are worth buying.
RB2 on the Wii delivers! Best game on Wii yet.
I managed to get my hands on Rock Band 2 a bit early, and spent the entirety of the evening playing. What a drastic improvement over Rock Band 1 on the Wii! This is identical to the Xbox 360/ PS3 versions of the game, and I was even more impressed than I anticipated. I was having a blast before I even had a chance to play a single note: The character creator tool was such a blast! You create a band and members, and then you hit the road. It was a really satisfying experience! This is really the first time that a Wii game has been truly competitive with other Next-Gen console games.
The World Tour mode is now available locally or online, and there are also challenges and battle-of-the-bands. There was a "Wii pre-release" battle available for the select few who managed to snag the game early, and I was able to compete head to head with other bands (there were only 3 other bands online since the game was not yet available @ most stores).
There are sure to be plenty of lengthy reviews, so I will just note some of my observations:
*Band Members - once you create your band-mates using the Character Creator, when you play a gig, there they are! I knew this feature was present, but I had no idea how exciting it would be the first time my character (who happens to look JUST LIKE ME!) appeared on stage! It was really satisfying! This feature was really well done. My first order of business was to create characters for my wife and all our friends. Whenever they come over and play from now on, they can use their characters. Also, these characters can be moved around, dropped etc. Also, whenever you select a character to play a gig with your band, they get a "cut", earning that character money which can be used to buy clothes, accessories, instruments, etc. Of course, my wife blew all her money on some designer jeans, some pink driving gloves, and some shoes before she even played one gig! Typical... =)
*Online - Some of the online features haven't been enabled yet, but I was able to play in the online battle of the bands. I was playing during a weather storm, and my internet connection was suffering. I had a hard time checking my email from my computer in fact! But, much to my surprise, the game chugged along, and I didn't see any problems with the online interface. The whole game is played "connected", so you don't have to keep logging on and off if you switch between local and online play. The interface was really polished and well done, unlike other Wii games that seem to tack on the online portion after the fact. A+++.
*Updated instruments - The new guitar and drum look and feel really good. The drums are sturdier, and also the pads are quieter. Other than that, not much of a change here, but I had no complaints about the previous generation of instruments.
*Music - This game seems to have a much more varied mix of music. Much like when I began playing RB1, I only knew a handful of the songs that I initially was able to play. A few of the songs that I initially played were somewhat familiar, but some were way off the radar for me. Still, what I have heard so far is great! As you may already know, there is a Music Store built in the game where you can use Wii points on your system to buy new songs, so there will be no shortage of great music to be played! I was also surprised to see that details about the band and even album art appear on the song selection screen. The interface is really clean and polished; it really doesn't feel like a "game" at all. There is really no end to this games replay value. There are already close to 500 songs available in the DLC catalog (and all of this will come to the Wii shortly), and new songs are added weekly. Guitar Hero: World Tour can't even begin to compete in this area!!!
Do yourself a favor and go buy this game. I loved RB1 on the Wii, and really didn't think I was missing out on much... as it turns out, the additional features in RB2 are really astounding! The solid gameplay of Rock Band 1 is there... the great music game is completely intact. RB2 adds the "Band" experience: Touring, Band-mate selection, losing fans if you quit a "set" prematurely, battle of the bands, never-ending amounts of fresh content to play, expansive leaderboards and band data, even the ability to order posters and figurines of your band!!! Rock Band 2 for the Wii delivers!!
Debating between RB2 and Guitar Hero World Tour as Family Games?
Since I have both games, I'll highlight the differences. First off, I bought this primarily for my kids and I to play together (I have two daughters, 6 and 14 years old).
Since RB2 has no "strum only" mode, its difficulty levels are offset from those on GHWT (so Easy on RB2 is a bit harder than Beginner on GHWT, but easier than Easy on GHWT). Singing is the easiest of the parts to do (so my six year old usually does that), Bass guitar is (for most songs) next easiest, followed by lead guitar, and drumming is the hardest.
RB2 allows you to set up stand-ins for your computer-controlled players, so you can have the same band members when everyone isn't playing (for example, on very difficult songs my youngest will sit out, but I can still select "her" character as the singer, so she still feels like she's participating...also, we generally don't do the drums, but we can have the same character as our drummer, which gives us more of a band feel). There are several other subtle differences like this that give RB2 more of a roleplaying feel than GHWT.
Most importantly for those of us who are challenged in the area of manual dexterity, RB2 has a no-fail mode, which allows you to finish the song even if one of your members totally flubs it. If you're playing this as an occasional party game, or with young kids, that's very helpful.
In general, I'd say if you're more serious, looking primarily for a challenge and focused primarily on playing the guitar, GHWT is what you're looking for. If you're more into the atmosphere of creating a band, looking for a party game and something fun to do together in a family with members of different skill levels, RB2 is a better choice.
If you want to get both games (which I did), get the controllers for Guitar Hero, as they work for both games.
