Anyone familiar with the many installments of the popular Guitar Hero series understands the problems that plague music-beat video games that establish a critically acclaimed franchise and a wide, devoted fan base.
Players (and not just the obsessive, beer-bellied ones with muttonchops who live and breathe for Megadeth) typically want more features than those the developers have given them. They grumble of the unfairness of having to wait until the game's next version is released to get these augmentations; and, when said game's next version finally does issue forth, this brutal cycle begins anew as fans kvetch that Version Now is simply Version Then with a few subtle modifications.
Such a jaded gamer's argument could be and has been made about the Xbox 360's "Rock Band 2," the two-week-old lovechild of publisher MTV Games and the hip ex-"Guitar Hero" development guys at Harmonix Music Systems.
Try to make this argument on any typical red-eyed, red-blooded and Red Bull-powered college campus in America, however, and the words will likely be drowned out by booming Overdriven power chords, brassy open hi-hats, pulsating funkadelic bass grooves, tinny oddball cowbells and the throaty unpolished caterwauling of gallant young men taking a shot at Bon Jovi's "Livin' On a Prayer."
"Forget 'Twister' or beer pong or whatever people used to do at parties," said the tech gurus of G4's X-Play in an online review. And, while I would not be so bold as to encourage Dartmouth students to replace their bacchanalian Friday nights with marathons of carpel tunnel and calf cramps, it is with zeal that I endorse immersion in the sleek, user-friendly world of the latest edition of Rock Band.
First and foremost, let me attest to the game's musical quality. In three words, with no pun intended -- it utterly rocks.
It's rather cliched to say that there is something in "Rock Band 2" for everyone, but there are truly few rock-influenced genres that the game has left unpixelated.
The largest categories spotlighted are "Pop Rock" and "Alternative Rock," as these genres house the widest variety of artists: newcomers to the series like Alanis Morissette, Duran Duran, Fleetwood Mac, Blondie, The Who and Elvis Costello are certainly welcome, and returning groups like the Smashing Pumpkins, the Foo Fighters and the Red Hot Chili Peppers will no doubt make longtime fans of either "Rock Band" or "Guitar Hero" very happy.
Also making secondary appearances are fan favorites like Nirvana, the Beastie Boys and Jane's Addiction. Meanwhile, the niche sensibilities of the new-wave, indie-rock and progressive rock genres are well served by groups like Squeeze, Devo and Dinosaur, Jr. Even Joan Jett shows up for the first time since "I Love Rock and Roll" was listed as the opening track of "Guitar Hero I."
"Although I would personally have preferred to see more classic stuff like the Stones, the Beatles and Queen, the set list pleases me," Mark Wilson '09 said. "I can appreciate its diversity," he added.
It should be understood that, excepting the extraordinary set list, Harmonix's sophomore effort is not as much an overhaul of their original, earth-shattering concept as it is a long-overdue tweaking of certain aggravating aspects of gameplay that undermined the first "Rock Band." Still, grizzled, veteran rockers should not scoff at these mostly minor fixes -- this collection of small changes seamlessly coalesces to create an innovative game that feels lovingly polished by perfectionist hands.
Logistically, the best alterations range from the simple and commonsensical, such as players' newfound freedom to change the name of their band after its formation and to even make a band logo; to the unexpected, such as the ability to acquire a grassroots street team to attract new fans or a money-minded manager; to the downright brilliant, such as the much-anticipated flexibility to move user-created characters to and from different instruments within the band, so that guitarists painstakingly user-made to resemble Jimi Hendrix can forego the six-string and actually step up to the mic with an uncomplicated reshuffling of the band's default roster.
Further enhancing line-up functionality is the freshly introduced feature of a one-person Band Tour. Previously, if only one band member was physically present during a real-world session, users could neither perform gigs with their original group mates nor earn fans for the band as a whole; they would instead have to settle for solo-artist performances with the accompaniment of musicians randomly produced by the game. Thankfully, however, "Rock Band 2" subscribes to no such preposterousness. If even the group's bassist, for instance, is the only human-controlled character, special venues, songs and instruments can be unlocked for the band as a whole.
Many more spectacular new features make Rock Band, Jr. worth its $60 Xbox asking price, chief among them the game's improved peripheral sensitivity, its useful and highly rewarding practice mode "Drum Trainer" and its overdue godsend of a "No Fail" option.
Dexterous fret tricks are now easier to execute than ever; it seems the game's infuriating habit of randomly narrowing and widening the window of use for hammer-ons and pull-offs has been eliminated thanks to some hard work in the Harmonix labs.
"They made singing a lot easier, too," said Cody Ruegger '10, who has been a fan of "Rock Band" for over a year and most enjoys leading his band, The Jagerbombs, as vocalist. "That is great, since it needed to be easier," he said.
The game is also noticeably more lenient in its assessment of spoken word sections than was its predecessor.
"Drum Trainer" can yield surprisingly quick results, as well, allowing players to bone up on their percussion prowess much in the same way that "Practice Mode" has for years allowed the guitarists and bassists of both "Rock Band" and "Guitar Hero" to rehearse their shredding and perfect their solos.
Under the tutelage of "Drum Trainer," whose tempo and difficulty can be adjusted with the click of an arrow on the D-Pad, users can both develop a muscle memory for typical beat progressions and improve their Overdrive free-form fills by practicing patterns specially designed to emphasize either note structure or specific elements of the drum kit, such as the toms, snares or cymbals.
If players are patient enough, eventually the trainer will school them in the nuances of every beat and fill pattern in the game, from the easy and handy "Balladier" fill to the advanced and wholly bombastic beats of "Pirates?" and "OMG Pirates!"
Thanks to "Drum Trainer," future Ringo Starrs and Joey Kramers will be exposed to a slew of musical genres, from the hard-hitting kicks of the "Fast Punk" fill to the jazzy pop of the "Detroit, Swing City" beat.
The other new feature of "Rock Band 2" -- the incredible "No Fail" mode -- does exactly what its title implies. Likely inspired by a similar feature recently unveiled in Nintendo's "Wii Music," even novices who struggle to maintain snail-paced basslines on "Rock Band 2"'s softest settings can rock out beside their show-off friends who can blister through riffs by Jethro Tull and Metallica on "Expert." Add to this the vestigial gameplay element that allows players to play the same song at the same time on different difficulty settings, and "Rock Band 2" is better than ever at fostering cooperative spirit and keeping the party going.
"Rock Band isn't anti-social like most videogames," agreed Wilson, who observed many people playing the game in Alpha Theta over rush weekend. "I can play it and have fun with other people."
The game is also just as rich as the original "Rock Band" in terms of character customization: Piercings, tattoos, ripped stockings, chains, chokers, bandanas, animal masks, Tina Fey glasses and jelly bracelets accentuate characters who can be any height, weight and skin tone imaginable in addition to possessing any of dozens of hair styles and eye colors. Leather tuxedos, marching-band jackets and titanium-plated armor are bound to complete any rocker's look.
"My band had a lot of fun with character creation," said Richard Prutzer '09, the guitarist of The Jagerbombs. "We made this sassy girl from New York named Rita and she was definitely the heart and soul of the group."
Yet more advancements loom on the scrolling and color-coded horizon of music-beat video games: The Wii, PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3 are set to release their versions of "Rock Band 2" later this year, and the Harmonix Special Edition bundle (which contains all the instruments, save the bass) will be released in six days. And Neversoft, the minds behind "Guitar Hero III," are already planning a "Guitar Hero" installment that features percussion and vocal peripherals. Competition much?
