Today saw the release of Harmonix and MTV Games’ Rock Band 2 for Xbox 360 (sorry other platforms, you’re just going to have to wait!), and I spent several hours with the title–with of course some friends–to really get to know the game. Rock Band 2 starts out much the same as Rock Band 1 (even to the point of having a remarkably similar intro sequence set in what appears to be the same desert), and aside from new items such as an improved calibration utility and access to the new “Challenges” in multiplayer it never really diverges from the first game in any significant ways.
Rock Band 2 obviously works fine with Rock Band 1 instruments, though I did notice that my guitar had significant difficulty in activating Energy, a problem I’ve never had with it in Rock Band 1. Drums appeared to work fine as well, as all three of those playing the game consistently scored in the high 80′s to high 90′s in all the songs we tried, including those in day 1′s various challenges. I’m actually looking forward to trading up to Guitar Hero World Tour instruments next month now that we know all the instruments will be compatible, as the Rock Band instruments, while nice in the larger guitar sizes, have never really lived up to the quality of Red Octane’s instruments.
Beyond the 84 on disk and 20 downloadable free tracks provided by Harmonix, it’s also possible to export 55 of your Rock Band 1 tracks for use, and this operation is easy and seemless to achieve as long as you’re willing to spend the 400 MS Points ($5) required. While sort of a shame that you have to pay to transfer songs you already own, we can thank the music industry’s greed for that extra squeeze. Fortunately at only $5 for 55 songs you’re paying just under 10 cents per song, making the fee more of an annoyance than a true obstacle. Imported songs work great and are easily accessible just like they always were in Rock Band 1, and if you want to delete individual songs from your hard drive you can do so. Be forewarned, you’ll need 1.52GB of free space. I had to delete a few demos to free up enough.
I’ll continue to post more impressions as we progress through the game and unlock more features, but at this point I believe it’s safe to call Rock Band 2 what it is: a superbly priced track pack for Rock Band 1, and given what you get for the price it’s definitely worth a buy if you have the first game. If you don’t have the first game, I’d recommend waiting for the Special Edition bundle to come out for Rock Band 2 (or get Guitar Hero World Tour’s bundle, as the instruments are compatible across both games) and then snag RB1 on the cheap via gamefly or some other used source (or hell, just rent or borrow the disk). All you need is the disk and five bucks to score those 55 songs, making it a bargain even if you’re starting with RB2.
