Rock Band RULEZ!

Rock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games, and distributed by Electronic Arts Partners. The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions were released in the United States on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version will be released in North America on December 18, 2007. The game will be available in Canada on December 17, 2007, and will be released in Europe in early 2008.

Rock Band allows players to perform in virtual “bands” by providing up to four players with the ability to play three different instrument-based peripherals (a guitar peripheral for guitar and bass guitar sequences, a drum peripheral, and a microphone). These instruments are used to simulate the playing of rock music by hitting scrolling notes on-screen. Players using next-gen consoles can interact through both online and offline multiplayer capabilities. In addition to the songs shipping on the game disc, potentially hundreds of new tracks will be made available as downloadable content. The European version will include localized content for the different countries in the region, both downloadable and on disc.

Gameplay

Reusing many gameplay elements from the popular Guitar Hero series, Rock Band players use peripherals modeled after musical instruments to simulate the performance of rock music. Players must play these instruments in time with musical “notes” as they scroll towards them on the screen. Rock Band expands upon the Guitar Hero series, in that it offers gameplay for drums and vocals, in addition to lead and bass guitars. The game features independent single-player campaigns for three of the instruments (lead guitar, drums, and voice) called “Solo Tour Mode,” as well as a band campaign for multiple players called “Band World Tour.” Players can create and customize their own in-game rock stars, complete with adjustable hair, body type, clothing, tattoos, and onstage movements, as well as their band’s logo. Multiplayer modes (except for Band World Tour) support any combination of 2-4 online and local players for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions; the PlayStation 2 version will support any combination of 2-4 local players, but will not support online gameplay.

On-screen, Game Informer describes the game as a combination of the Guitar Hero and Karaoke Revolution gameplay elements. Instead of a single guitar neck (as there is in Guitar Hero), there are three vertically scrolling sections along the bottom of the screen, one each for lead guitar, drums, and bass. For lead guitar and bass, the colored notes correspond to the fret buttons on the guitar controller. For the drums, the colored notes correspond to the drum pads, while the orange horizontal line note represents the bass drum. Along the top of the screen is the vocals display, which scrolls horizontally, similar to Karaoke Revolution. The lyrics display beneath green bars, which represent the pitch of the individual vocal elements. The remainder of the screen is used to display the band’s characters as they perform.

Within the main co-operative mode, all players earn points towards a common score, though score multipliers and “Overdrive” (the equivalent of Guitar Hero’s “Star Power”) are tracked separately for each player. The bass guitar player can raise his/her multiplier to 6x, as opposed to the traditional 4x, because as noted by a GameSpot preview, “bass can get a little dry sometimes.” Overdrive is collected during special portions of a song by successfully playing all white notes within that section (and for guitarists, by also using the whammy bar to extract Overdrive from white sustained notes). Once the meter is filled halfway, players can deploy their Overdrive. In solo play, deploying Overdrive will double the player’s score multiplier. However, in band play, activating Overdrive increases the band’s score multiplier. Deploying Overdrive also results in the “Band Meter” (which tracks how well each player is doing) changing more dramatically. This allows players to strategically use Overdrive to raise the Band Meter and pass portions of a song they otherwise might have failed. Additionally, players can now deploy Overdrive independently of each other (previous Guitar Hero games required players in Co-Operative mode to deploy Star Power simultaneously), as well as collect additional Overdrive while it is deployed and draining (previous Guitar Hero games hid additional Star Power sections while it was deployed).

If a player does not play well enough and falls to the bottom of the Band Meter, they will fail out of the song and their instrument will be muted from the audio mix. However, any active player can activate their Overdrive to bring failed players back into the song. Special portions of songs are labeled as “Unison Phrases”; if players can play their parts perfectly in these sections, the band will be rewarded with a score bonus. Select songs will end with a special “Big Rock Ending,” which gives the players a chance to freestyle and earn extra points.

Players with multiple copies of the same instrument can compete against each other in the “Tug of War” (much like Guitar Hero’s “Face-off,” in which players trade playing sections of a song to move a meter in their favor) and “Score Duel” (much like Guitar Hero II’s “Pro Face-off,” in which each player plays the song in its entirety to earn points). Other multiplayer modes include “Head-to-Head Play” and “Band Quick Play.” Also included in Rock Band are “Tutorial Mode” and “Practice Mode,” which allows players to practice songs for each instrument. For players who want to experience an all-day concert atmosphere, the “Endless Setlist” mode involves playing the entire setlist from start to finish without having the chance to back out.

Band World Tour mode

Band World Tour is the game’s primary multiplayer mode. It allows any combination of 2-4 local players to create a virtual band, play gigs, and tour a virtual representation of the world. Although online play is not supported for Band World Tour, players can use the Band Co-Op Play mode to play together as a band online. In Band World Tour mode, bands can play in 41 different venues spanning 17 cities, including Los Angeles, Boston, New York, Stockholm, and Rome. After creating their own rock characters, the band members will choose a starting city and play a few concerts in small venues at that location until they unlock a van, which will in turn unlock neighboring cities. Eventually, players will unlock tour buses and private jets, which will unlock more cities and different continents. Successful performances will earn the band fans (which are used as a metric of measuring the band’s popularity) and stars (which accumulate based on the success of each individual song performed). Most cities and larger venues require the band to achieve a certain number of fans and stars before they are unlocked. In the process of meeting these requirements, bands will eventually begin to play larger venues in cities they have already visited. Thus, bands will loop around cities multiple times, playing larger venues on each visit. This was intended to mimic the real-life nature of touring for emerging bands. In-game venues are inspired by real-life venues, as well as local art styles from each of the represented cities.

Rather than complete predetermined sets of songs (like in previous releases in the Guitar Hero series), players will complete unique sets of activities at each venue. Some performances consist of single songs, mystery setlists, or specific challenges. Successful performances will earn the band in-game cash (in addition to fans and stars) that can be used to buy merchandise with which players can customize their characters. Players will also be faced with decisions that Harmonix refers to as “risk-versus-reward.” Bands need to choose which sized venue they perform at carefully, as a poor performance at a larger venue poses a greater threat of the band losing fans. For certain performances, bands will be faced with an optional double-or-nothing challenge that will result in a doubled cash reward upon completion, or none at all upon failure. Bands can also choose to perform a benefit concert (earning no in-game money but garnering more fans) or “sell-out” (earning more in-game money but losing fans). Additionally, bands can also hire band managers and roadies, as well as compete for a record deal with a recording label.

Solo Tour modes

Solo Tour is a single-player mode offered for the lead guitar, drum, and microphone peripherals (there is no support for bass). Rather than feature the open-ended gameplay and features of Band World Tour mode, Solo Tour is structured much in the same vein as the career mode in previous Guitar Hero games. Players will complete a predetermined list of songs ordered by difficulty, with each instrument’s setlist ordered differently. Players can use money earned for each performance to purchase merchandise for their in-game character.

Instrument peripherals

The game features special Rock Band-branded guitar controllers modeled after the Fender Stratocaster to be used for the lead and bass guitar gameplay; these are similar to the Guitar Hero controllers. The Stratocaster controller has 5 additional fret buttons of smaller size located further up the neck. These buttons can be used in special solo sections to play all notes as hammer-ons and pull-offs, with no strumming necessary. Additionally, the controller features an effects pickup switch that can toggle between five different effects (none, wah-wah, flange, chorus, and echo). The controller will be offered in both wired and wireless versions. Overdrive for guitarists can be deployed by holding the controller in a vertical position or pressing the “Select” button. Rock Band features a “Lefty Flip” setting, supporting left-handed guitar players; additionally, the strap peg on the Stratocaster controller can be moved to the other arm of the guitar, allowing comfortable use of the strap by lefties. Harmonix has confirmed Guitar Hero guitar controllers and additional third-party controllers are compatible with the game,^[21][18] including the new Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Gibson Les Paul controllers, with the exception of the PlayStation 3 Les Paul peripheral. However, the Rock Band Stratocaster guitar is reportedly not compatible with Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock.

Rock Band’s USB microphone instrument is similar to the model used in the Harmonix-developed Karaoke Revolution games. Xbox 360 users can substitute their console’s headset for a microphone, if they wish. According to an article in Game Informer, “Vocalists sing along to the rock tunes as they always have. Additionally, a phoneme detector will pick up the individual vowels and consonants.” When there are no vocals, the microphone can also be used as a tambourine and cowbell by tapping it or making vocal cues. Overdrive for singers can be deployed by singing in freestyle vocal sections of songs.

The drum controller features four drum pads (each consisting of a rubber-like surface supported by a foam layer underneath) and a kick pedal. The pads have colored rings around the edges that correspond to the notes onscreen, representing, from left to right, the snare drum (red), hi-hat (yellow), tom-tom (blue), and crash cymbal (green). The kick pedal simulates the bass drum. The four pads will commonly change functionality to represent other drums, depending on the requirements of a song. For example, yellow and green will sometimes act as additional toms, and both blue and green can function as ride cymbals. The default pad order can be reversed using the “Lefty Flip” option in the game. Included with the game is a pair of authentic drum sticks. The legs of the drum peripheral can adjust in height or be detached if the player wishes to place it on a table-top, while the kick pedal can be moved laterally. The drum controller also features standard controller buttons in the middle of the peripheral for navigating in-game menus. Drummers can improvise in special “freestyle drum fill” sections of songs, indicated by the columns for each note turning a solid color. Overdrive for drummers can be deployed by hitting the crash cymbal (green note) that appears directly after a freestyle drum fill. Harmonix representatives have suggested, “If you can play the drum parts on hard, you can pretty much play the drums [in reality].”