What’s that you’re listening to?  Freedom Rock.  Well turn it up man! 

Turn it up indeed – the flames under the holiday season that is.  With the arrival of Rock Band the collective powers at EA, Mtv Games and Harmonix are sure to shoot to the top of the charts, the sales charts that is…number one with a bullet.  Probably one of the most anticipated games of the year, Rock Band delivers on almost all its promises, but we wouldn’t expect less from Harmonix – creators of another firestarter you may be familiar with, Guitar Hero.  There’s only one rather large chink in their armor – cheap manufacturing that has left most gamers with at least one bad piece of equipment out of the box, and at $170 retail – that’s no cheap box.  But even faced with what could have been a crippling show stopper – it looks as though the Rock Band will play on!

Let’s Get the Band Back Together

Rock Band is essentially a rhythm game mashup of Guitar Hero II meets SingStar meets Drum Hero.  OK. So Drum Hero never existed until now – but this is the one facet of the game that is truly new to the genre – and the one that will see the most fights erupt over who gets to bang the gong.  The Band is made up of four virtual musicians: Lead Guitar, Bassist, Drummer and Vocalist.  Let’s take a look at how each part fits into the big picture.

The Ace of Bass…or Guitar

Guitarists and bassists both use the same virtual instrument.  The design is very similar to the Guitar Hero axe – so similar in fact that if your X360 Rock Band axe should die – you can use your Guitar Hero II or III model as a replacement.  There are however a few notable differences. Based off the classic Fender Stratocaster body design the guitar includes a ‘pick-up selector’ switch which activates various effects like Flanger or Wah-Wah.  The five colored buttons are neatly integrated into the neck giving less of a Fisher-Price look to the guitar.  Finally – there are some additional buttons up near the top of the neck that can be played without need of ‘strumming’, for those time when you want you want to go all Yngwie on their arse. Rocking these during solos can earn your band additional points – as well as rescue a group member who isn’t pulling their weight.

The premise, whether playing Guitar or Bass is the same as Guitar Hero.  Hit the appropriate buttons on the guitar neck in time with the virtual notes as they stream down the onscreen fretboard.  Difficulty has been tweaked a bit in Rock Band as well making it a bit easier for new players to get on, and stay on, the bandwagon.

Sing Starred!

The vocalist in your group gets to rock the mic – the USB microphone that is.  If you’ve ever played Karaoke Revolution or SingStar - or heck, even taken part in drunken Karaoke at the local Saddle Rack – you know how this one goes.  Grab the mic  and sing along following the pitch indicators on the stave that scrolls horizontally across the top of the screen.  Be sure to match the pitch and duration of the notes for the best scores. 

Rock Band does offer a twist on the genre allowing vocalists to take part in long instrumental sections by playing tambourine or…yep, you guessed it, cowbell; just tap the mic in time with the circular notes on the stave.  Finally – there are the vocal freestyle sections which, like the guitar solos, allow you to earn extra points for just wailing out whatever comes to mind – or rescue a fallen comrade who’s slipped off his/her saddle.

Il Felice Batterista

In my opinion, playing the drums is probably one of the most rewarding experiences Rock Band has to offer.  Not only is it adding something completely new to the genre – aside from the vocals – it’s the only other instrument that plays much like the real deal.  Master Rock Band – and you could actually go join a real band.  Seriously.  Be Warned: If you’ve never played a kit – it will take some time to get used to.

The drums are also the most complex part of the set-up – just like in real life…that’s why the drummer always has his own roadie   The kit includes a base stand with four pads that switch up sounds depending on the song.  Typically one is always the snare, another handles high-hat, and the remainder represent two varying tom tones.  Finally there is a trigger pedal that attaches to the base of the stand for the kick drum. 

Drummers are, again like in real life, the backbone of the band.  The bassist locks to the drummer – so if you’re off – they’re off – and the rest of the band will follow.  So make sure you put your friend with the most rhythm on the throne. 

Drums also offer solo sections in which you can tastefully add a few tom hits to tie the song together – or go all Animal and get crazy with it – especially recommended during the Big Rock Endings at the end of some songs which allow the group to go wild and score mega points.  Just be sure you all hit that last note together or it’s all for naught! 

On a World Tour With Mohammed My Man

At the core of Rock Band is the Band World Tour Mode – essentially Harmonix has taken the little vignettes of your van storming across the states from town to town that tied together the different levels in Guitar Hero and turned it up to 11. You’ll now Tool up your band with up to three of your friends – preferable ones who don’t suck.  Once you’ve chosen a name for your band you’ll choose your hometown and work your way up through the ranks from dirty little dives to top billing in the biggest European stadiums.  Along the way you’ll duel it out for vans, Tour Buses and eventually your very own Jet. 

While you can play solo to beef up your skills – the group play is where it’s at.  Rock Band even keeps track of your progress through Rock Central Servers allowing you to see how your crew stacks up against the competition…worldwide! There are several online multiplayer modes available as well just in case your Bassist needs to phone it in from Amsterdam. 

You Are the FireStarter

Instead of simply being limited to a set of predefined character stereotypes to represent your onscreen persona, Harmonix has pulled out the stops with a complete character creation tool.  Choose your gender, your personality style (Punk, Goth, Metal or Rock – hey, what happened to Country? ), your physique, cut & color (for your hair silly) and get out there – you’re on in six Doug E. Fresh!

Throughout your band’s career you’ll earn money which can be spent on new hairstyles, accessories, clothing, tats and instruments -  cause you can’t just be playing Wembley with those same old torn up jeans from Boston man.  Not only is this feature a lot of fun, it really allows you to reflect more of your personal style in the game as well as show off just how much skrilla your making off the cut at the door.

The only frustrating element here is the lack of support for multi-instrumentalists.  Your onscreen persona gets locked into the instrument you’re playing when created.  So if you decide later you want to switch from drums to bass – you’re out of luck – you’ll need to remake little Johnny Rotten all over again.

Rocking in The (Not So) Free World

Rock Band works well quite simply due to its social approach to gaming 3.0.  No longer do your friends have to watch from the sidelines while you play War Pigs for the umpteenth time – now they can join in and you can all play together.  Somehow – even songs you don’t know become fun since you’re all learning together.  The game is even quite repetitious – just like a real touring band you’ll find yourself playing the same songs ‘night after night’ – but you’ll have fun doing it. More importantly Rock Band rekindles the flame that Guitar Hero lit and manages to draw in the non-gamers in the group as well - that truly rocks! 

The game’s biggest flaw is its cheap peripherals – one of our guitars went bad only two hours out of the box.  We’ve heard worse stories about snapping drum pedals and guitars broken in the box – the horror!  We will give EA a few points however as they are making a strong show in backing up the warranty. They seemed eerily well-prepared for the fallout complete with a customized Rock Band support page ready to process your returns.  There’s even an option for a quick 2-day turn-around so you won’t miss that next gig – well done guys!

If you can afford the $170 bones for the box – hey man, get your mates to split the cost and share one – just like that practice pad – you won’t be disappointed…that is unless your drum set stops working. DOH! But seriously, with downloadable content (DLC) set to stun, (Rock Band will feature three new songs per week!), a deep song list out of the box, and a group experience that outclasses most multiplayer games, Rock Band is the FireStarter of the holiday season. Turn it up to 11 man, and get ready to Rawk!