Rock Band!

[neil#2]

Anyone played Rock Band at all yet. It came out today. I don't have an X-Box 360 or PS3 so I'll have to wait until it comes out for PS2.

 

 

[Necromancer]

my son played a demo at a vid store and said it sucks. Very cheaply made he said. That's all I got about it though.

[EveryNerveAware]

QUOTE (Necromancer @ Nov 20 2007, 11:20 PM)

my son played a demo at a vid store and said it sucks. Very cheaply made he said. That's all I got about it though.

Saw a display at Wal-Mart the other day, but didn't check it out since it was X360 and I'd be buying the PS3 version.

 

Will be reading the reviews before I purchase though...

 

[Pags]

I just came back from my friend's house up the street and played it. I sat at the drums and he had the guitar. I f'ing loved it. I didn't want to come back and start work. I wanted to play it all day. He was just trying to hook up the microphones when I left.

 

What I liked a lot about this, is that they leave you these 'open' spots in the songs to do whatever you want. That was cool. I'm working like a fiend now to try and finish up early so I can go back and play more.

[Mustard Death]

I played a demo at Best Buy and didn't like it. The guitar controller was really shitty, nowhere near as good as Guitar Hero. It could've been that the one I used was damaged, seeing as how it was a public display and all, but if the guitar was working normally, it sucked.

 

And the drums are even worse... I was thinking it would at least SORT OF resemble, you know... actual drums. But no, it's just some playschool looking bullshit with four colour coded drum pads. Oh well.

 

Guitar Hero III, on the other hand, was pretty good. Not as good of a tracklist as II, but it has F.C.P.R.E.M.I.X., which is fantastic.

[apetersvt]

My buddy got one yesterday and I played for a little while.

 

I had played Tom Sawyer on drums at the demo at Best Buy. I think I hit over 95%.

 

My first stab at the real thing at drums I got booed of the stage (55%). On difference is that there is a bass pedal in the real version. I had a hard time hitting the notes at the right time. You can be in the right beat but off a little bit and thus miss like 15 notes in a row without even realizing it. I think the song was Gimme Shelter.

 

It'll take some practice obviously. I'm planning on another stab at it Friday night.

[J0N]

Reviews say its one of the best games ever

Will sure as hell be awesome to play - the lyric department might get abit annoying though

[Godeater2112]

I really really love and trust this site for their reviews - and here is what they have to say about Rock Band:

 

 

http://arstechnica.com/reviews/games/rock-band-review.ars

 

I've had this bad-daddy on pre-order for MONTHS but at the very last second they decided not to release it in Canada for another month although our release date was supposed to be the 20th just like the States.

 

I broke down and bought the PS3 bundle on eBay because I have a "release party" scheduled this weekend. I won't receive the game until tomorrow and cannot wait to try it out. First song I want to try (if I don't have to unlock it first) is TOM SAWYER! (of course).

 

At least I can say I'll be one of the very first in all of Canada to get it - although it did cost me a pretty penny. Expedited international shipping on a 24 pound box of that shape is BRUTAL.

[EveryNerveAware]

QUOTE (Godeater2112 @ Nov 21 2007, 12:42 PM)

I really really love and trust this site for their reviews - and here is what they have to say about Rock Band: http://arstechnica.com/reviews/games/rock-band-review.ars I've had this bad-daddy on pre-order for MONTHS but at the very last second they decided not to release it in Canada for another month although our release date was supposed to be the 20th just like the States. I broke down and bought the PS3 bundle on eBay because I have a "release party" scheduled this weekend.  I won't receive the game until tomorrow and cannot wait to try it out.  First song I want to try (if I don't have to unlock it first) is TOM SAWYER! (of course). At least I can say I'll be one of the very first in all of Canada to get it - although it did cost me a pretty penny.  Expedited international shipping on a 24 pound box of that shape is BRUTAL.

Let us know how it plays... very interested to hear your take since I've heard both good and bad reviews.

 

[Godeater2112]

QUOTE (EveryNerveAware @ Nov 21 2007, 01:44 PM)

QUOTE (Godeater2112 @ Nov 21 2007, 12:42 PM) I really really love and trust this site for their reviews - and here is what they have to say about Rock Band: http://arstechnica.com/reviews/games/rock-band-review.ars I've had this bad-daddy on pre-order for MONTHS but at the very last second they decided not to release it in Canada for another month although our release date was supposed to be the 20th just like the States. I broke down and bought the PS3 bundle on eBay because I have a "release party" scheduled this weekend.  I won't receive the game until tomorrow and cannot wait to try it out.  First song I want to try (if I don't have to unlock it first) is TOM SAWYER! (of course). At least I can say I'll be one of the very first in all of Canada to get it - although it did cost me a pretty penny.  Expedited international shipping on a 24 pound box of that shape is BRUTAL. Let us know how it plays... very interested to hear your take since I've heard both good and bad reviews.   It's bound to wind up better for me than Guitar Hero 3. My bundle has a screwed up twitchy guitar that cuts out and misses notes and they've been sold out and haven't received ANY new since the day it went on sale... so I am still waiting to return that.     Lucky I have a modded PS2 so downloaded the game for that console to tide me over. Shitty graphics (PS@ version I mean) but some great songs and playability - although it gets deadly hard deadly FAST. I finished all the other GHs on Expert but can't finish GH3 on hard. :co Stupid Raining Blood by Slayer - can't even get to the last tier!

[TheRocinanteKid]

I'd rather form a real band.

[Pags]

QUOTE (TheRocinanteKid @ Nov 21 2007, 02:28 PM)

I'd rather form a real band.

Go ahead then.

[TheRocinanteKid]

QUOTE (paganoman @ Nov 21 2007, 08:37 PM)

QUOTE (TheRocinanteKid @ Nov 21 2007, 02:28 PM) I'd rather form a real band. Go ahead then. Nobody around here shares my influences.

[Godeater2112]

QUOTE (TheRocinanteKid @ Nov 21 2007, 03:44 PM)

QUOTE (paganoman @ Nov 21 2007, 08:37 PM) QUOTE (TheRocinanteKid @ Nov 21 2007, 02:28 PM) I'd rather form a real band. Go ahead then. Nobody around here shares my influences. Dunno if you are knocking this sort of game or not - lots of people DO knock it and say "Guhhhhh why don't you play real guitar loser" or whatever...   I play an ass load of guitar and have been in bands (although not for a long time now). Thing is as with lots of people not all my friends can play guitar and jam along with me, and not many of my buddies or girlfriend are drummers, bass players etcetera. But when we DO get together to share some laughs and drinks - it is AMAZING fun to all take turns playing Guitar Hero or something together.   Maybe you should try it - you might get addicted to it like you'd never imagine.

[TheRocinanteKid]

QUOTE (Godeater2112 @ Nov 21 2007, 09:58 PM)

QUOTE (TheRocinanteKid @ Nov 21 2007, 03:44 PM) QUOTE (paganoman @ Nov 21 2007, 08:37 PM) QUOTE (TheRocinanteKid @ Nov 21 2007, 02:28 PM) I'd rather form a real band. Go ahead then. Nobody around here shares my influences. Dunno if you are knocking this sort of game or not - lots of people DO knock it and say "Guhhhhh why don't you play real guitar loser" or whatever...   I play an ass load of guitar and have been in bands (although not for a long time now). Thing is as with lots of people not all my friends can play guitar and jam along with me, and not many of my buddies or girlfriend are drummers, bass players etcetera. But when we DO get together to share some laughs and drinks - it is AMAZING fun to all take turns playing Guitar Hero or something together.   Maybe you should try it - you might get addicted to it like you'd never imagine.   Nah. I think it could be fun. I've played on the origina Guitar Hero and thought it was fun. But at the same time it's no substitute. There is no feeling like playing with a real band and knowing you're good at it rather than knowing you're good at a computerised version.   So it's cool with me just I know what I'd prefer. Plus I'm bitter because I haven't played with a band for ages now.

[Godeater2112]

We're lucky we have the skills to play.

 

For those that do not - it's tough to beat the jubilant looks on their faces as they play these games. Sometimes it reminds me of people having a dream that they really can play. Pretty neat-o.

 

[deadwing2112]

I played the demo at best buy and thought it was pretty fun. The guitar controller seemed a little hard to get used because the frets are a little different. But overall it felt great. Drums weren't as bad as I thought they would be.

[nimagraven]

For those saying the guitar seems cheaply made - you may be correct:

 

http://kotaku.com/gaming/buyer-beware/rock...ling-325595.php

[Godeater2112]

Okay here is my mini review after playing for a *BIT* last night anyways. I'll also say that I have had terribly shitty luck lately with video game controller problems... don't even get me started about how I am still waiting to get my Guitar Hero 3 controller replaced because it is defective.

 

Okay so bad news first. For me at least and others in Canada the bad news is pretty bad. Our release date here was slated to be the same as the USA - November 20th but much to the shock of fans here who had pre-ordered the game months ago it never showed up and there was no statement from the company that they could not meet the release date. That kinda sucks for everyone that was pumped up about the hype surrounding this game and especially sucked for me who had a release party lined up for this weekend, including a few people driving here from out of town.

 

Anyways I was resourceful enough and have more money than brains I thought *ding ding* it sucks but why not bite the bullet and order a US copy off eBay and have it shipped up here since I had substantial plans for the game this weekend. So I did. I'm not complaining it was my choice but between eBay price for a hot item like this, and international shipping on a big ass 24 pound box... let's just say I paid a premium to get this game.

 

So I get home with the package waiting for me last night - and my eyes are lit up like Kim Jong-il with a fresh plate of juicy warm dog meat in front of him. I set everything up and start testing each controller (1 guitar, 1 drum set, 1 mic) to make sure everything works right.

 

Turns out I have a defective drum kit where on of the drum pads does not work at all. Sort of sucks with games like this if you cant hit that drum pad - you cannot play drums in the game. EA handles the hardware replacements so I call them this morning... and sure enough they would like to but cannot send a replacement to Canada at this time because it has not been released here... international trade laws yaddda yaddaa. The only option would be if I knew someone in the states to go through the hassle of having it shipped to them and then have them ship it here...

 

So that's the baddest part but there is one other bad part too - which isn't entirely the fault of the game I guess. Right now the game sells as a bundle but you cannot buy individual instruments. This means if you really want to rock out with four players you need another guitar controller. With this in mind many people had already bought Guitar Hero 3 recently and were planning to use that controller as the bass in Rock Band. Turns out for PS3 at least this is not the case - the controller in incompatible. So until Rock Band starts selling individual guitars or a third party puts one out that works... or somehow someone provides a patch for the Guitar Hero guitar to work... well no four player Rock Band because no bass guitar. For me this means between my drum issue and no second guitar this four player game has suddenly become a 2 player game.

 

Anyways with those substantial disappointments out of the way, and a couple of brewskis to lower my blood pressure I decided to try the game with what I could use - the guitar and mic.

 

The guitar!

 

Pretty cool little mini version of a Fender strat fully endorsed I guess with a Fender strap and the whole nine yards. My girlfriend was a bit disappointed that it didn't come with STICKERS like Guitar Hero does but... oh well.

 

http://gameinvasion.comcast.net/assets/04/01/05/01/04/asset-43066.jpg

 

Play-wise I was very happy it worked well. Solid connection to the wireless dongle that comes with the game and I had zero problems with any lag, missing notes, flaky signal etcetera that had plagued me on PS3 Guitar Hero. Design wise they could have done a waaaay better job testing this lil axe out. Sure it takes some getting used to but numerous times I would accidentally hit the pause button during play. Also the whammy bar sticks out pretty far which i didn't care for much... the general feel was that there is a lot in the way of your strumming - and this also includes the new pickup switch which I found myself accidentally activating a number of times as well. The pickup switch is so you can actually change some effects while play. The switch allows you to scroll though reverb / wahwah / compression etcetera. I didn't have time to play with this feature much but the difficulty level I was testing anyways it didn't seem to have much impact on either gameplay or sound. Same goes for the new 'mini' fret butons up closer to the body of the guitar. My understanding is that some songs or some difficulty levels you can use these for solos - but I never got to that part of the game yet.

 

Unlike Guitar Hero playing single player guitar seemed a bit empty or lonely or something... also it seemed quite a bit easier so far than GH although I only played around with easy mode thus far. When we later played guitar and vocals simultaneously though it seemed much more awesome with all the extra excitement and stuff going on on the screen.

 

Which brings me to the vocals... I've never played any sort of singing game in my life so I haven't much to compare it to. I've never even done karaoke before. But singing in this game is so much FUN the way it layers your vocals with the actually singing on the track is superb, challenging and fun. I seriously thought I would hate this part and want to pawn it off on someone else all the time I'm not much for singing... but after trying out tracks like Creep by Radiohead I just didn't want to stop - its really engrossing and addictive. Similarly to single player guitar mode - single player vocals did seem a bit lonely also although we only tried one song. Not really the sort of thing I'd try to complete on career mode - but maybe others would love it. Oh yes and the quality of the mic is excellent - feels nice and heavy just like a real mic and it is a good size. Also unlike the guitar it is wired but that didn't seem to pose much of an inconvenience with it nice long cable.

 

Overall game play I'll admit I haven't played enough yet to get the overall feel for it but it seems to have great potential. Unlike Guitar Hero's canned characters Rock Band actually has a character creation component where you can customize the look and feel and style of you musician so that is a nice bonus. Song wise things are much similar to Guitar Hero where you start with one tier of songs and can unlock more by beating them. This seemed very straightforward on solo mode but a little different on multiplayer mode where it seems you need to meet criteria such as winning more fans... building up fame in a certain city... those types of things.

 

So far Rock Band is also piling on the new songs you can download with 28 new tracks already queued up for release between now and mid December at a cost of course. Imagine waking up one morning and noticing their is a downloadable RUSH pack - it's just a MATTER OF TIME. Holy crap I can't wait to play Malignant Narcism! *fingers crossed*

 

So there you have it! If you can look past my hardware problems - which is somewhat attributed to bad luck - overall the potential for this game in both the "fun" and "things to do" departments is just staggering. While I haven't been able to play the drums yet (and it sounds like I'll be waiting another month ) I've heard from numerous other people that that component is one of the coolest and most challenging aspects of the entire game. I'm sure once people are set up with four working instruments that this will be a major major mainstay in the party game arena for years to come. For those likely to be playing mostly in solo mode - it may turn out to be a bit less exciting or challenging on guitar at least than Guitar Hero is - but there sure as heck is lots to do with solo career modes for every instrument including vocals. If you love Guitar Hero as a party game, I'm sure you'll go bananas over Rock Band - especially once they get their heads out of their arses and get more copies of the games on the shelf, and in Canada.. .and straighten out their hardware issues.

[nimagraven]

Thank you. Very informative for me since it's not out here till 2008.

 

Just be careful with the guitar though, as lots of people are saying if you're a bit rough with it, it has a tendency to play double notes and then eventually just not strum downwards.

 

Good news is that EA have admitted there's a problem and are replacing all defective guitar peripherals!

 

So the drums should be covered too... Well, I dunno, cos you got it off ebay!!

[Godeater2112]

QUOTE (nimagraven @ Nov 23 2007, 01:51 PM)

Thank you. Very informative for me since it's not out here till 2008. Just be careful with the guitar though, as lots of people are saying if you're a bit rough with it, it has a tendency to play double notes and then eventually just not strum downwards. Good news is that EA have admitted there's a problem and are replacing all defective guitar peripherals! So the drums should be covered too... Well, I dunno, cos you got it off ebay!!

You're welcome.

 

EAs support coverage for this is currently outstanding. They will rush deliver you a replacement for free of charge no questions asked so long as you return the original peripheral back to them within 28 days (prepaid).

 

I'd have a new kit on the way already if it wasn't for them not being allowed to ship here until our official release date arrives.

 

Can't wait to get home and play it.... counting down the hours...

 

 

If yourself or any other TRF members get this for PS3 I'd be happy to exchange friend codes or whatever they are called so we can engage in some head-to-head battles online.

[nimagraven]

Unfortunately I don't have a PS3.. Just a 360 and a Wii .. But thanks for the offer. If you have a 360 I'm available for gaming there . (Same tag as my forum name)

 

Damn! It must be murder having to wait till you can send the drums back, lol.. Makes you wonder if you should have just waited till release date anyway!

 

Mind you, I heard there was shortages, so maybe not .

[priest_of_syrinx]

I tried Tom Sawyer on Bass at Best Buy. It kept saying I was missing notes when I was right on and it would drop off a sustained note halfway through even though I was still pressing the button and had the picker-thing down. I don't think I like this game very well...

[EveryNerveAware]

QUOTE (Godeater2112 @ Nov 23 2007, 01:55 PM)

QUOTE (nimagraven @ Nov 23 2007, 01:51 PM) Thank you. Very informative for me since it's not out here till 2008. Just be careful with the guitar though, as lots of people are saying if you're a bit rough with it, it has a tendency to play double notes and then eventually just not strum downwards. Good news is that EA have admitted there's a problem and are replacing all defective guitar peripherals! So the drums should be covered too... Well, I dunno, cos you got it off ebay!! You're welcome.   EAs support coverage for this is currently outstanding. They will rush deliver you a replacement for free of charge no questions asked so long as you return the original peripheral back to them within 28 days (prepaid).   I'd have a new kit on the way already if it wasn't for them not being allowed to ship here until our official release date arrives.   Can't wait to get home and play it.... counting down the hours...     If yourself or any other TRF members get this for PS3 I'd be happy to exchange friend codes or whatever they are called so we can engage in some head-to-head battles online. I just bought Rock Band for the PS3 for my family yesterday for Christmas... so I can't open and play it yet.       I'll take you up on that offer GE... once I get to play the damn thing!     Also bought the GHIII bundle as well... reference the impulse buying thread.

[nimagraven]

QUOTE (priest_of_syrinx @ Nov 28 2007, 04:41 PM)

I tried Tom Sawyer on Bass at Best Buy. It kept saying I was missing notes when I was right on and it would drop off a sustained note halfway through even though I was still pressing the button and had the picker-thing down. I don't think I like this game very well...

That's exactly the problem that Kotaku were talking about in their post.

 

It's something to do with wear and tear on the down strum.. It's unfortunate, but at least EA is doing something about it.

 

If you're into the game, I'd suggest waiting a few months so that they "iron" the problems out of the new shipments.... If they do at all.. Never can tell with EA.. But like I said above, at least they're replacing them.

 

I wouldn't let it put you off though. It will be fixed soon, I'm pretty sure. It's just a victim of the "christmas rush" I guess....... .... I hope .