Rock Band 3 (Wii) Review
I was always quite partial to the Rock Band series, more so than the Guitar Hero series following Guitar Hero 2. This probably makes a lot of sense when you consider all those games had the same developer. There’s one major difference though: Rock Band just feels right for those who want to be musically inclined, and this is particularly true with Rock Band 3, the latest addition to the Rock Band series. Despite having only three main instalments in the base series, Rock Band consistently introduces new and exciting functionality to the genre in an effort to keep it fresh, although one must ask when it becomes “too much” and when it would just be a bit more practical to actually go and learn an instrument.
Rock Band has, first and foremost, always been about the music – and players will have many ways to indulge in this hobby with the release of Rock Band 3. Not only are all the modes you’d expect actually returning, but several new modes for those who are looking to further their own abilities are also included. Despite these new additions, the game still plays like you’d expect a music rhythm game to play, but surprisingly, the emphasis is not on the higher levels of play like you’d expect. The thing that I mostly drew from Rock Band 3 is that it’s a package that is really dependent on the player’s [b]own perceptions[/b] of the rewards it will bring. If you’re really into music games and want to put a lot of time into it (and money if you need new instruments), you’ll really get a lot out of the package. But if you want to just play guitar as you always do on other games, then there’s not a whole lot more for you here besides some new songs.
Graphically speaking, the game still looks pretty good and the artistic direction is the same as previous titles. Clothing and hair looks much better than you would expect in a video game, and the countless amounts of customisation options all look great and suit their “themes” or “inspiration” well. That being said, putting all these great elements together really results in an ugly looking game – and although this is a music game where graphics aren’t particularly integral, it is still pretty disappointing to see a developer not able to get the best out of the system after what I would consider considerable experience with the console.
Rock Band 3 is largely still mechanically similar to the previous games in the series. Notes scroll down, players hit certain notes when they hit the bottom of the screen, and music plays as a subsequent result. The system is very simple and to be frank, if it’s not broken, why even attempt to fix it? What Rock Band 3 does do is introduce several new features that utilise not only already existing instruments but also introduces new ones. There is now a Pro Mode available for every song from Rock Band 3 onwards that utilises a much more specific and, well, realistic chart for players to play music. Unfortunately, the guitars required for this mode are relatively expensive and were unavailable to us so we weren’t able to try out this mode for guitar, drums or bass.
Similarly, players can also create their own band and fulfil career goals (similar to achievements) to gain fame, fans and increase their notoriety in the industry. The game also features a rather cleverly put together road trip mode, in which your band must perform set lists but with certain goals in mind. One example of this is when the crowd consisted of many very strict music critics, so accuracy had to be kept above a certain level – while another was just a bunch of adrenaline junkies who wanted Overdrive (the equivalent of Star Power, a score multiplier) to be activated as many times as possible. These mini-goals within goals are well done and add a bit of interest to the game’s single player functionality instead of just playing 80-something songs and then just finishing.
Rock Band 3 also features a rather intuitive system in which the game’s “sign in” systems are always active, meaning that players can switch between instruments and stay assigned to their profiles without having to restart controllers or restart their console. This system extends to difficulty changes which can occur without interrupting other players’ songs (except in some more extreme circumstances). This is an extremely useful feature that I am quite surprised hasn’t been implemented sooner in either of the previous games and really streamlines the functions of the game.
Finally, and probably more importantly, the implementation of keyboard to some songs is very welcome. The keyboard allows for both simple and Pro modes of play while also being able to be used as a rather funky keytar akin to Lady GaGa or Muse. The implementation of the Keyboard is largely pretty well done. It supports both simplified play and Pro play. During simplified play, the game only uses about five of the white keys, while Pro mode opens up the whole keyboard to play and this is, in my opinion, much more challenging and interesting to play with. Keyboard play, despite being incredibly underwhelming, is almost just like playing the real thing so there’s a lot of fulfilment just from playing a few consecutive notes the right way. The game also includes a very comprehensive training mode that helped a lot to get my “groove” with the keyboard. Not all the songs include Keyboard support, however, though around about 60 of the 90 included do, which is good. Future DLC should include the support as well.
Of course, Rock Band 3 also supports the harmony system that the previously released The Beatles: Rock Band also utilised, which essentially gives players the ability to play with up to seven players on different instruments in the newly included “All Instruments” mode, allowing up to three players to provide vocals for a specific song. Similarly, a no-fail mode is also included from Rock Band 2 which is much more suited to players who are a little less musically gifted but still want to have a bit of fun in the process too.
The soundtrack is still well put together, however, and features a broad range of tracks from varying decades. This eclectic mix from such a wide range of artists is a welcome addition, especially when all of them are essentially master recordings. Probably the best thing about Rock Band’s appeal is that even if you aren’t a fan of most of the songs, your previously downloaded Rock Band DLC will still work with Rock Band 3 and future downloadable content will also work. This quickly increases the potential library of songs from the 90-something included on the disc to about 2000 – which is pretty impressive.
All in all, Rock Band 3 is a very well put together package that not only features the best versatility and variety designed to appeal to everyone but also crams a lot of functionality that increases the likelihood of players playing the game by themselves, something a lot of music games don’t properly do. That being said, I feel as though it’s hard to recommend Rock Band 3 to anyone without also recommending the purchasing of one of the new PRO instruments or the keyboard, otherwise this becomes just another music game. Still, I can safely say Rock Band 3 is the best in the genre so far.
Graphics 7.0
The presentation and character modelling in Rock Band 3 are top notch.
Gameplay 9.0
With so many different ways to play for people of all experience levels, Rock Band 3 is one of the most accessible music rhythm packages available yet. Introduction of yet another instrument is welcome too, featuring great use in both simple and pro modes.
Sound 9.0
The soundtrack in Rock Band 3 is a great mix of both classic and newer songs from not only the rock genre but also a few contemporary pop ones too. A large majority are original master recordings too.
Tilt 8.0
This can go up or down depending on how much Rock Band stuff youve already bought. The more instruments you have and/or the more songs you already have, the more youre going to get out of the package. With at least 80 songs available without considering DLC, this is a filled-to-the-brim package.
Value 9.9
Having grown tired of the guitars that weve been playing around with since the original Guitar Hero hit the stage, I really appreciated and enjoyed the keyboard peripheral. The new gameplay modes and menu design really made everything run oh-so-smoothly when a group of us were together to play a song.
