"For a more detailed background I suggest reading Giant Bomb's previews among other information pertaining to this title as my reviews are geared more to gamers who pretty much already know the gist of the game and just want to look into other perspectives on the positives and negatives of the game in question. When it comes to reviews in general I do not believe that any one opinion or rating of any single person or organization is the be all and end all judgment of any given game, instead I feel they should be sifted through in moderation and simply be used as a starting point.. not a concrete outlook that might skew any reader's own unique gaming experience if/when they decide to try the game for themselves. That's why I consider my reviews to be closer to simple recommendations based on my own experience alone(devoid of reading other opinions beforehand, only my ending statement discusses possible outside perspectives).. and me just enjoying the game for what it is and not overanalyzing just for sake of being critical. Basically, I call it how I see it without an agenda behind it.."
Intro - Let's cut right to the chase.. if your going into Rock Band 2 expecting any major changes to the RB formula your going to be disappointed. BUT that doesn't necessarily mean that Rock Band 2 is not an absolute must buy for any fan of music games.
Positives - Consider RB 2 to be the ultimate refinement of the original Rock Band experience.. the menu screens, song store, and player modes are far more streamlined and more enjoyable to use. The solo tour has indeed been scrapped.. but it won't be missed due to finally being able to play tour mode with a single musician. On top of that, the varying degrees of challenges and better implementation of downloaded tracks further enhance the tour mode as a whole.
The new song store is a far prettier version of the Rock Band section of XBOX Live. Players are now able to filter tracks into new releases, singles and albums.. not to mention are able to view album art and preview the song before downloads making the entire track purchasing process more appealing.
Lastly, the biggest refinement concerns online play. Between being able to enter top scores in various "Battle of the Bands" online competitions to being able to mix and match others players into an online tour mode.. the most glaring deficiency of the original game has been improved upon.
Negatives - In terms of new player and instrument customization options.. RB 2 leaves plenty to be desired. Besides a handful of new band animations, lighting effects and stages.. don't expect anything drastically different this time around.
Overall - Harmonix took their big risk "last" year with the original.. so in my opinion, a game with the scope of the Rock Band franchise is allowed an iteration to clean up some loose ends. At the end of the day.. I don't really understand what naysayers were really expecting to have changed so suddenly(especially in this genre).. between it being less than a year after the original and obviously it being only the second iteration of the series.. critics should really wait until RB 3 to have a stroke about the lack of any radically new updates. As it stands right now.. the Guitar Hero franchise with World Tour is the one that needs to prove itself.
As I mentioned, it's "Rock band 2" NOT "Rock band 3".. the heat will be on Harmonix to come up with some new goodies next time around, but they have earned some slack for bringing the genre to were it is today in a span of only a year. Bottomline.. the vastly improved interface, the far superior and immense downloadable RB track library(500-range as of the holiday season beetwen disc and downloaded songs, all current & future RB game compatibility to boot) and fun online play is more than suffice for any fan of the genre until next year. Simply put.. Rock Band 2 is the best musical instrument game to date.
Intro - Let's cut right to the chase.. if your going into Rock Band 2 expecting any major changes to the RB formula your going to be disappointed. BUT that doesn't necessarily mean that Rock Band 2 is not an absolute must buy for any fan of music games.
Positives - Consider RB 2 to be the ultimate refinement of the original Rock Band experience.. the menu screens, song store, and player modes are far more streamlined and more enjoyable to use. The solo tour has indeed been scrapped.. but it won't be missed due to finally being able to play tour mode with a single musician. On top of that, the varying degrees of challenges and better implementation of downloaded tracks further enhance the tour mode as a whole.
The new song store is a far prettier version of the Rock Band section of XBOX Live. Players are now able to filter tracks into new releases, singles and albums.. not to mention are able to view album art and preview the song before downloads making the entire track purchasing process more appealing.
Lastly, the biggest refinement concerns online play. Between being able to enter top scores in various "Battle of the Bands" online competitions to being able to mix and match others players into an online tour mode.. the most glaring deficiency of the original game has been improved upon.
Negatives - In terms of new player and instrument customization options.. RB 2 leaves plenty to be desired. Besides a handful of new band animations, lighting effects and stages.. don't expect anything drastically different this time around.
Overall - Harmonix took their big risk "last" year with the original.. so in my opinion, a game with the scope of the Rock Band franchise is allowed an iteration to clean up some loose ends. At the end of the day.. I don't really understand what naysayers were really expecting to have changed so suddenly(especially in this genre).. between it being less than a year after the original and obviously it being only the second iteration of the series.. critics should really wait until RB 3 to have a stroke about the lack of any radically new updates. As it stands right now.. the Guitar Hero franchise with World Tour is the one that needs to prove itself.
As I mentioned, it's "Rock band 2" NOT "Rock band 3".. the heat will be on Harmonix to come up with some new goodies next time around, but they have earned some slack for bringing the genre to were it is today in a span of only a year. Bottomline.. the vastly improved interface, the far superior and immense downloadable RB track library(500-range as of the holiday season beetwen disc and downloaded songs, all current & future RB game compatibility to boot) and fun online play is more than suffice for any fan of the genre until next year. Simply put.. Rock Band 2 is the best musical instrument game to date.