Rock Band 2 Comparison Against The Original

[Kelly]

Well, it took me forever, but I finally finished going through everything I wanted to do so it's time for a comparison.

Okay, first off there is the engine. I don't really play guitar very much any more, but the hammer-ons are a lot easier to see and hit. Over all the hammer-on chords are pretty cool but it's just a waste of time because they only work about half the time. Bass is still boring. Vocals are so much more awesome, they have a lot more catchy on disc songs and the new DLC is pretty wicked. Drums is just so much more awesome, I will do a review on the new drum set once I get it, but it's wireless so it's automatically better.

Second off is the setlist. On Rock Band, I refused to play band quickplay with anyone that didn't have any DLC because I hated like all the on game songs. But on Rock Band 2, they have a way better setlist. Including some of my personal favorites: Master Exploder by Tenacious D, Chop Suey! by System of a Down, Battery by Metallica, and Uncontrollable Urge by DEVO.

Thirdly is the tour mode. It isn't very different from the Rock Band tour. But One problem I find, they took out the solo play where you play all the songs in the game instead of having to go through the tour mode. I really liked the single player mode in Rock Band but I guess they are just trying to make it more of a social experience.

Lastly is the Drum Trainer. This is probably one of the best additions to any rhythm games ever in existence. There are three different modes in the trainer: Beat Trainer, Fill Trainer, and Free Style Mode. Beat Trainer is a good thing if you don't have any rhythm, but I find it annoying trying to do the 8th high hats at 200 BPM. The Fill Trainer is probably the most fun, from my point of view. It basically suggests what to do during the fills in basic and regular beats. Free Style Mode I find boring, but it's a good idea in theory. You just jam out on the drums. You can play a song over the 360 and just jam out or do an accurate cover. But the reason I don't like it is because you only have 4 pads and they are all automatically assigned to drums/symbols. Red is a Snare Yellow is a High Hat Blue is a Tom and Green is a Crash Symbol. So if a song you really want to play has any other drums then those, then you don't get to play them or they won't sound accurate. I know I'm probably the only one who cares but it's my review, if you have a different POV then do your own review.

Over All, it's a really good game. Not too much has changed but there is enough for a good sequel. Oh and you can port the songs from Rock Band on to your hard drive, I have done it and gave away my Rock Band disc to one of my friends cause I will never have a reason to put it back in.

After Christmas I will do a review of World Tour, but I'm gonna need some time for it.

[Lloyd]

I've been playing World Tour for past few weeks and I love it. Matt and I are working on a GH tournament in December. We should have screenshots and hopefully videos of the event on here shortly after.