It was my birthday.
I have not looked forward to a birthday since I was a little kid.
This birthday was different however, because by sheer coincidence and some divine star lineup or something, my most anticipated video game ever was scheduled to launch on my birthday.
I went to Gamestop several days earlier, and it had arrived. They let me look at it, smell it, even hold it in my arms, but just like a true birthday present, they would not let me open it, or buy it till Nov. 20th.
Well the day finally arrived, and I was ecstatic, as I bought the huge box of goodness.
My band was already waiting for me when I arrived home, and we began assembly.
With great excitement and anticipation we booted it up.
It took a while to get everything setup right.
There is no hub, just a guitar dongle, and wired mic and drums.
The drums.
The Fender Stratocaster.
The microphone.
We hit a major stumbling block with the Guitar hero 3 Les Paul, which was claimed to work with Rockband, it did not.
It paired it with the mic as if it were a regular controller.
This was a huge issue.
Since EA was not ready to sell stand alone guitars, there was only one option:
Go to Wal-mart and buy another complete set.
Money can buy happiness.
There are advantages to this, we can now have “drum offs” with 2 drum kits, and to be honest, the Fender Statocaster is truly the “Stratavarious” of video game guitars.
What a great peripheral.
This thing is so sweet, words cannot describe it.
What really helps this game, as well as Guitar Hero, is to have a great sound system.
I can't imagine playing this through TV speakers.
Rockband gives a "live feel" to the studio songs, with the "crowd" actually singing the chorus on the popular songs, with their vioice coming from all around you thanks to Dolby Digital support. It feels and sounds like the real thing, as if you were actually on stage performing, not like Guitar hero, which sounds very canned by comparison.
It really is amazing what they have done in that area.
Well at first no one wanted to sing, but we all tried it.
There seems to be a problem with delayed vocals which is rather annoying.
Hopefully I can resolve this issue.
Probably something to do with the optical digital sound processing in my reciever.
The drums are very fun, but tough to get the hang of at first.
After some practice, it became more intuitive, and a whole lot of fun.
The beauty is there are no rules for drumming, just hit the right notes anyway you can, even getting crossed up works fine.
So with all four members jamming away, we played until way past midnight.
Playing “Wanted Dead or Alive” and “Long Time” from Boston were a couple favorites.
The game is a total blast to play, and it is a real band simulation, complete with all the bickering, and arguing associated with a real band.
After some rough moments during setup, (everyone trying to control the screen) we got it worked out, and started to gel as a decent band.
The scenarios that ensued were very realistic and can be related to a real band.
(IE: You Suck!, or, No, I want to play lead on this song, etc)
This aspect is one I had not considered, but it adds to the whole experience in a good way.
Overall I give this game a 9 out of 10, based on preliminary observations.
I dont think I ever had more pure fun with any game of any type in my long life.
This is truely an epic game title, if you ever wanted to be in a Rockband, this is the closest many of us will ever come, and it provides a level of fun never reached in a videogame for me before.
Yeah, Happy Birthday buddy! I'm surprised the B-Day patrol didn't make a thread.........Oh wait, there no B-Day patrol? Then who gave me that ca.....*thud*
Linear Mode
