So, after over a year of chomping at the bit, the wait for Rock Band is over. I picked the full instrument pack up last night and gave it all a bit of whirl. I’m not going to review the game because it’s ancient, and there are plenty of reviews on the net. Besides, the sequel is out in North America.
Still, my first experience with each of the instruments has been interesting, and has reflections on the talent (or lack thereof) that I have for each instrument.
Guitar
This is the easiest one to look at because I’ve played a lot of Guitar Hero. I can’t hammer out “Psychobilly Freakout” on Expert or anything, but I’ve got a good handle on this instrument. Overall things are comporable between the two, though I think I prefer the GH guitar controller, and I’m finding Rock Band to be a lot less forgiving about timing.
Drums
If I ever wanted proof that I’m not very co-ordinated, here it is. Wow, I can just about eke out basic high-hat, snare, kick rhythms but need to concentrate because I can’t pick the changes to save my life, and then waste easily four bars recovering from my mistakes.
Still, the drums are a lot of fun, and I can see myself improving after practice.
Vocals
Despite being a singer in real life (though desperately out of practice), I actually have the most trouble with the microphone. Flip complained that Sing-star is difficult for her because the mic doesn’t pick up head voice. So far, I haven’t had that experience, but I’m thinking of buying a cheap mic stand if it becomes a problem for her. Hopefully that will help by allowing the mic to pick up the sound projection from her head because she’s able to stand back from it.
It’s also difficult if the song isn’t pitched for your voice because you can’t adjust the key to suit you, but that’s often the case with karaoke setups.
So far, the biggest challenge is singing a song you don’t know, and in these early stages of the campaign, there aren’t many songs that either of us know. I know there’s plenty of DLC (which I’m looking forward to), and I haven’t even unlocked all the pre-loaded songs yet, so I’m not that fussed.
Song selection
So that brings me to the tracks available. You can’t talk about a music-based rhythm game without discussing the tracks. As mentioned, I don’t know the majority of the tracks I have access to just yet, but looking at the pre-loaded track list, I’m definitely looking forward to a heap of them (not including the ones I already have access to):
- “Are You Gonna Be My Girl” – Jet
- “Ballroom Blitz” – Sweet
- “Black Hole Sun”- Soundgarden
- “Enter Sandman” – Metallica
- “Epic” – Faith No More
- “Highway Star” – Deep Purple
- “Run to the Hills” – Iron Maiden
- “When You Were Young” – The Killers
- “Won’t Get Fooled Again” – The Who
And then there’s the downloadable content. I’m not sure where to begin, since there’s a year’s worth of downloading to do. I probably won’t go near those right away, since I should get my value out of the original set.