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Xbox 360 | Simulation | Rock Band

Boxart for Rock Band
Rock Band 96 screen shots
  • GRAPHICS: 4.75
  • SOUND: 5.00
  • CONTROL: 4.75
  • FUN FACTOR 5.00
  • AVG USER SCORE 4.6
  • AVG CRITIC SCORE 5.0
Winner of the GamePro Editor's Choice Award

Review: GamePro Reviews Rock Band (page 2 of 5)

Review by The Gamepros | 11/19/2007 | 14:45:07 PM PST

On Lead Vocals: Chris Morell

Karaoke requires a certain kind of determination. Most people love to sing--who doesn't have a rock-star dream of belting one on stage--though they usually prefer to keep it confined to cars and showers.

Being embarrassed at a crowded Karaoke bar isn't on everyone's to-do list but Rock Band helps out wanna-be vocalists by making them just another part of the band. Sure, everyone will notice if you sound like a monkey that just got its tonsils removed but your band mates will be too caught up with their axes and drums to notice that you sing like Scott Stapp. Plus, the software does a perfectly sufficient job of tracking pitch, so even the worst warbler will still be half-way successful.

It's not always easy, though as most songs are trying on 'Hard' and unbelievably difficult on 'Expert.' But unless you have terminal stage fright, singing in Rock Band is almost always a good time.

On Lead Guitar: Travis Moses

Now that drums and vocals have been brought into the mix, the lead guitarist takes a backseat to the new hotness. Since Rock Band is a party game focused on the collaboration of four different instruments, the track list is skewed as such, so don't expect every song to have a spotlight solo. In fact, if you are thinking about purchasing Rock Band solely for the guitar portion of the game you had better think twice--Guitar Hero III is your game.

The reasoning behind this is that although the more-authentic looking Rock Band guitar controller has some fancy new features such as an effects switch and additional buttons higher on the neck for solos, the hardware just isn't that great. The whole guitar feels extremely flimsy, the strum bar offers almost no tactile feedback, and because of the flat button layout it's difficult to get your finger placement right. I've actually found myself playing Rock Band with the Guitar Hero X-plorer controller, which is the worst GH guitar but is still better than Rock Band's.


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