He's not what you'd call a glamorous man
Got one thing that's easily understood
He's the one they call Dr. Feelgood
- 'Dr. Feelgood' by Mötley Crüe
See what I did there? That's quality right there.
Anyway, welcome to Authorservice! I'm going to be reviewing 'Rock Band 2', my current favourite game and series.
Rock Band 2's gameplay is really nothing new. However, the songs are different, the layout has been re-done (And lemme tell you, it looks beautiful in my opinion) and there's of course a whole setlist of new songs. Those are the real attraction to tell the truth. I mean, there're some new features (Like a drum trainer) and there's no Solo or Band play. (They've been merged together so people can drop in and out when they like) But really, we've all come for the new songs.
To tell the complete truth, I can't really say a lot about this game. Sure, I've got enough for an almost legitimate review, but it probably won't be as much as the first one. Oh well.
The (Sexy) New Look
http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/885/885168/rock-band-2-tba-20080629094115965_640w.jpg
Damn, that's awesome.
I can't tell if there's too much that's different with the first one, but I do believe it looks a lot better. However, the song menu? There's a pretty drastic difference there.
http://cache.kotaku.com/assets/images/kotaku/2008/07/rock_band_2_tracks.jpg
Sorry for the terrible quality, this is the only 360 song menu I could get from Google Image Search.
Damn. Now THAT is smexy. While I do like the other one, this one is sleek, well-organised, and you can easily go to another section by holding a button and choosing. I think it's an excellent new layout. Also, you can change how it's organised. Want it in alphabetical order? You've got it! There are many different ways it can be arranged. The best part? You can create your own setlist! No more having to play one song, rifling through the list and then playing the next. Now you can simply make your own setlist. It can be as long as you want it to be - Well, until you use up all the songs of course. - and in any order. I find that to be an great new addition.
Sing Us A Song, You're The Rock Band Man
The songs... Are awesome. The choices are excellent, and most of them are well-placed in terms of difficulty. What do I mean by most of them? I'll explain.
First of all let me just say: Why So What'cha Want? It's not the most varied Beastie Boys song. I think Fight For Your Right (To Party) needs to be in one of these games.
Anyway, let me explain.
You've got two songs. PDA by Interpol and The Middle by Jimmy Eat World. Here are the difficulty ranks for PDA: (http://www.rockband.com/songs/pda)
GUITAR:
***
VOCALS:
***
DRUMS:
***
BASS:
**
OK then. You know what the band difficulty is? FIRST. TIER. (That's what 0 Stars means.) And that's not even the stupidest part. Let's look at The Middle: (http://www.rockband.com/songs/themiddle)
GUITAR:
***
VOCALS:
***
DRUMS:
***
BASS:
**
It's the same difficulty tiers as PDA. What band rating is it? THIRD TIER. These are the exact same tiers as PDA, but for some reason The Middle is two tiers higher. Reason? No f'ing idea.
Despite my moaning though, they're good selections. (Although Ramblin' Man? Easy song in GH World Tour, One of the 'hardest' in Rock Band 2. Strange, just... Strange.) Excellent songs, and usually some of the best by the band.
And now onto my personal picks for songs. This won't be in the same style as before, so don't worry. I'm just picking my favourites for each instrument.
Singing
http://www.rockband.com/images/rb2-cover-art/comeoutandplay-comeoutandplay_keep.png
Come Out and Play (Keep 'em Separated) by The Offspring
This song is terrifically fun for singing. I was pretty hyped to see it on there, as I had always played around with The Offspring's Greatest Hits and Come Out and Play was a favourite of mine from the album. There's a great mix of talky parts and singing, and I just generally enjoy the song.
http://www.rockband.com/images/rb2-cover-art/carryonwaywardson-carryonwaywardson_keep.png
Carry On Wayward Son by Kansas
Not all that hard, but maybe that's just because I only really play on Easy. Either way, a great, epic song that never fails to please my picky nature. And lemme tell you, I'm REALLY picky.
http://www.rockband.com/images/rb2-cover-art/letthereberock-letthereberock_keep.png
Let There Be Rock by AC/DC
Hell yes. Just... Hell yes. This is the song that Rock Band 2 was advertised with. The first AC/DC song to be in a rhythm game (As far as I know) and it's Bon Scott. He was awesome. This one's extremely fun, especially if you make really big hand movements and gestures like a real priest. Except today's sermon is ROCK.
(Trying to stop this from being overly long, so let's move on.)
Guitar
http://www.rockband.com/images/rb2-cover-art/aceofspades-aceofspades_keep.png
Ace Of Spades '08 by Motörhead (Quality.)
THIS is the Ace of Spades. While I think the original is the best, admit it, it's awesome to be able to play the closest thing to it. The riff is the classic that almost anyone knows, and the solo is pretty much intact. Oh, and freaking AWESOME.
... And that's about it.
Drums
http://www.rockband.com/images/rb2-cover-art/spoonman-spoonman_keep.png
Spoonman by Soundgarden
Soundgarden were excellency. Superunknown was excellency. Spoonman was not excellency. Spoonman was GODLY. It's a GODLY song for drums especially. What did you always want to do when you thought about drumming in Rock Band? You wanted to pound on those things. Don't lie, admit it, that's what we all wanted to do. Well Spoonman is close to that. The drumming is powerful and sometime repetitious (At the best parts) and it just has the elements of an instantly classic setlist addition for RB drummers.
http://www.rockband.com/images/rb2-cover-art/downwiththesickness-downwiththesickness_keep.png
Down With The Sickness by Disturbed
I'm not a big Disturbed fan. Stricken was in Guitar Hero III and I pretty much hated it, mainly because it was a complete ***** to 5*, even on Medium. But this song is pretty damn fun. The drumming 'riff' is hard to master, but once you do, you feel pretty cool doing it. Being able to pound out the awesomeness. Great riff. Also fun to sing, if only for the 'OOH WAH AH AH AH' at the start. I love that noise.
http://ak.buy.com/db_assets/prod_lrg_images/715/60308715.jpg
NOTE: Sorry for the large cover, this is one of the smallest ones I could find. Stupid Google Image Search.
Smooth by Santana ft. Rob Thomas
Pfft. I wish. Oh god do I wish...
Bass
I... Next to NEVER play Bass. And from what I've played, there isn't much to say.
New Features = Fun Time?
There are several new features in Rock Band 2, and I know someone will bring them up if I don't include them.
First there's the Drum Trainer. It's what it says. You play a load of different drum beats and see if you can get 100% on different BPMs. Pretty simple. If you can master these you're apparently set to become a real drummer. Also a Fill Trainer, which is just your fill training. Eh... I prefer the classic. (Classic = Basically just the thing where you hit all of them in a row and then do a R/G for a finish.)
Then there's No Fail mode. If you can't guess what this is, I'd recommend going back to Primary School. You can't fail basically. You also can't save, get in the high scores, or do much else other than play.
I do believe that's all there is for Rock Band 2. I'm leaving out DLC but as I have said, I CANNOT GET DLC. I WISH I COULD. SERIOUSLY, THAT STUFF LOOKS AWESOME.
This is Jonathan Hexley/Dr. Feelgood signing out.
Got one thing that's easily understood
He's the one they call Dr. Feelgood
- 'Dr. Feelgood' by Mötley Crüe
See what I did there? That's quality right there.
Anyway, welcome to Authorservice! I'm going to be reviewing 'Rock Band 2', my current favourite game and series.
Rock Band 2's gameplay is really nothing new. However, the songs are different, the layout has been re-done (And lemme tell you, it looks beautiful in my opinion) and there's of course a whole setlist of new songs. Those are the real attraction to tell the truth. I mean, there're some new features (Like a drum trainer) and there's no Solo or Band play. (They've been merged together so people can drop in and out when they like) But really, we've all come for the new songs.
To tell the complete truth, I can't really say a lot about this game. Sure, I've got enough for an almost legitimate review, but it probably won't be as much as the first one. Oh well.
The (Sexy) New Look
http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/885/885168/rock-band-2-tba-20080629094115965_640w.jpg
Damn, that's awesome.
I can't tell if there's too much that's different with the first one, but I do believe it looks a lot better. However, the song menu? There's a pretty drastic difference there.
http://cache.kotaku.com/assets/images/kotaku/2008/07/rock_band_2_tracks.jpg
Sorry for the terrible quality, this is the only 360 song menu I could get from Google Image Search.
Damn. Now THAT is smexy. While I do like the other one, this one is sleek, well-organised, and you can easily go to another section by holding a button and choosing. I think it's an excellent new layout. Also, you can change how it's organised. Want it in alphabetical order? You've got it! There are many different ways it can be arranged. The best part? You can create your own setlist! No more having to play one song, rifling through the list and then playing the next. Now you can simply make your own setlist. It can be as long as you want it to be - Well, until you use up all the songs of course. - and in any order. I find that to be an great new addition.
Sing Us A Song, You're The Rock Band Man
The songs... Are awesome. The choices are excellent, and most of them are well-placed in terms of difficulty. What do I mean by most of them? I'll explain.
First of all let me just say: Why So What'cha Want? It's not the most varied Beastie Boys song. I think Fight For Your Right (To Party) needs to be in one of these games.
Anyway, let me explain.
You've got two songs. PDA by Interpol and The Middle by Jimmy Eat World. Here are the difficulty ranks for PDA: (http://www.rockband.com/songs/pda)
GUITAR:
***
VOCALS:
***
DRUMS:
***
BASS:
**
OK then. You know what the band difficulty is? FIRST. TIER. (That's what 0 Stars means.) And that's not even the stupidest part. Let's look at The Middle: (http://www.rockband.com/songs/themiddle)
GUITAR:
***
VOCALS:
***
DRUMS:
***
BASS:
**
It's the same difficulty tiers as PDA. What band rating is it? THIRD TIER. These are the exact same tiers as PDA, but for some reason The Middle is two tiers higher. Reason? No f'ing idea.
Despite my moaning though, they're good selections. (Although Ramblin' Man? Easy song in GH World Tour, One of the 'hardest' in Rock Band 2. Strange, just... Strange.) Excellent songs, and usually some of the best by the band.
And now onto my personal picks for songs. This won't be in the same style as before, so don't worry. I'm just picking my favourites for each instrument.
Singing
http://www.rockband.com/images/rb2-cover-art/comeoutandplay-comeoutandplay_keep.png
Come Out and Play (Keep 'em Separated) by The Offspring
This song is terrifically fun for singing. I was pretty hyped to see it on there, as I had always played around with The Offspring's Greatest Hits and Come Out and Play was a favourite of mine from the album. There's a great mix of talky parts and singing, and I just generally enjoy the song.
http://www.rockband.com/images/rb2-cover-art/carryonwaywardson-carryonwaywardson_keep.png
Carry On Wayward Son by Kansas
Not all that hard, but maybe that's just because I only really play on Easy. Either way, a great, epic song that never fails to please my picky nature. And lemme tell you, I'm REALLY picky.
http://www.rockband.com/images/rb2-cover-art/letthereberock-letthereberock_keep.png
Let There Be Rock by AC/DC
Hell yes. Just... Hell yes. This is the song that Rock Band 2 was advertised with. The first AC/DC song to be in a rhythm game (As far as I know) and it's Bon Scott. He was awesome. This one's extremely fun, especially if you make really big hand movements and gestures like a real priest. Except today's sermon is ROCK.
(Trying to stop this from being overly long, so let's move on.)
Guitar
http://www.rockband.com/images/rb2-cover-art/aceofspades-aceofspades_keep.png
Ace Of Spades '08 by Motörhead (Quality.)
THIS is the Ace of Spades. While I think the original is the best, admit it, it's awesome to be able to play the closest thing to it. The riff is the classic that almost anyone knows, and the solo is pretty much intact. Oh, and freaking AWESOME.
... And that's about it.
Drums
http://www.rockband.com/images/rb2-cover-art/spoonman-spoonman_keep.png
Spoonman by Soundgarden
Soundgarden were excellency. Superunknown was excellency. Spoonman was not excellency. Spoonman was GODLY. It's a GODLY song for drums especially. What did you always want to do when you thought about drumming in Rock Band? You wanted to pound on those things. Don't lie, admit it, that's what we all wanted to do. Well Spoonman is close to that. The drumming is powerful and sometime repetitious (At the best parts) and it just has the elements of an instantly classic setlist addition for RB drummers.
http://www.rockband.com/images/rb2-cover-art/downwiththesickness-downwiththesickness_keep.png
Down With The Sickness by Disturbed
I'm not a big Disturbed fan. Stricken was in Guitar Hero III and I pretty much hated it, mainly because it was a complete ***** to 5*, even on Medium. But this song is pretty damn fun. The drumming 'riff' is hard to master, but once you do, you feel pretty cool doing it. Being able to pound out the awesomeness. Great riff. Also fun to sing, if only for the 'OOH WAH AH AH AH' at the start. I love that noise.
http://ak.buy.com/db_assets/prod_lrg_images/715/60308715.jpg
NOTE: Sorry for the large cover, this is one of the smallest ones I could find. Stupid Google Image Search.
Smooth by Santana ft. Rob Thomas
Pfft. I wish. Oh god do I wish...
Bass
I... Next to NEVER play Bass. And from what I've played, there isn't much to say.
New Features = Fun Time?
There are several new features in Rock Band 2, and I know someone will bring them up if I don't include them.
First there's the Drum Trainer. It's what it says. You play a load of different drum beats and see if you can get 100% on different BPMs. Pretty simple. If you can master these you're apparently set to become a real drummer. Also a Fill Trainer, which is just your fill training. Eh... I prefer the classic. (Classic = Basically just the thing where you hit all of them in a row and then do a R/G for a finish.)
Then there's No Fail mode. If you can't guess what this is, I'd recommend going back to Primary School. You can't fail basically. You also can't save, get in the high scores, or do much else other than play.
I do believe that's all there is for Rock Band 2. I'm leaving out DLC but as I have said, I CANNOT GET DLC. I WISH I COULD. SERIOUSLY, THAT STUFF LOOKS AWESOME.
This is Jonathan Hexley/Dr. Feelgood signing out.
