Rock Band impressions / Pile of Crap

[NPYYZ]

I finally got to play Rock band last night at a Christmas party. I was able to spend a couple hours with the game, alone and playing with a full band, here are my thoughts.

I've been playing drums since 1976. I'm a very good drummer. I can pretty much play any song, any style of music, with no problem. I've toured with bands, I've done studio work, I made a living as a professional drummer , and now I continue to play and record original music in my basement studio.

When I sat down behind the Rock Band drum kit, which in my opinion is a cheap piece of crap, it instantly became clear to me that I had to not play the songs the way they are actually played, because what comes up on the screen and what is actually being played in the song is at times way different. I started out on hard, 1st song Mississippi Queen, the first thing I noticed was a lot of the kick drum parts were left out, WTF? So I stopped and change to expert, thinking that this time it would be just as it is in real life with all the beats. Nope again a lot of things were missing, the kick drum parts were wrong, the hi-hat part was very inconsistent in most of the songs I played, and the fills were a total joke. Oh and the feel of the kick pedal was terrible, it felt nothing like a real kick pedal, and the material the pads are made out of is awful. That constant clicking sound is very annoying. Some nice quiet rubber pads would have been a no brainer one would think. Who ever created the design for the drum kit is an idiot. The kit feels akward, there should have been a hi-hat included instead of using one of the pads if they wanted to make an attempt at giving the drums a real feel. I could have come up with a much more realistic feeling kit then this for the same money. When you play the guitar you feel like you're playing a guitar, but playing this so called drum kit is nothing like playing a real drum kit. To bad , I wanted to like this game, and my reason for buying it would have been for the drums, but the drum part of this game sucks, for real drummers anyway.

One more thing, The guitat Hero games and equipment are much better then Rock Band. The whole feel of Rock band was cheap to me. Guitar Hero feels polished and professional. Maybe they will get it right if there's a Rock Band 2. I give Rock Band a 2 out 0f 10.

[The Milk Man 09]

The drum kit is like a cheap electronic drum kit, and as for the drumming I can do the drumming part on hard or expert but the kick pedal screws me over because it is just uncomfortable, I cant stand the angle at all I wish they gave you more than two options of how far way to put it. I still think the drum kit was better made than the guitars. if you twist the top and hold the bottom you can actually torque the thing. it really felt to me like if I were to drop it it would break. Also they have a micro switch problem that GH has never had. If I do pick this game up I am only going to get the drum kit because I already have a guitar.

Also depending on who you play it with it can be annoying to play anything but career because people may argue over which song to play.

[BiffCo]

As a fellow drummer, I would agree with you NPYYZ. In fact, as a guitarist, that's the one thing I've noticed about Guitar Hero/Rock Band. You pretty much have to throw out any knowledge of said instrument in order to somewhat enjoy the game. I was able to try Rock Band over at a friends house today and while it was novel, I would much rather be jamming with some friends with real instruments.

With that said, I'm getting Guitar Hero III for the holidays. I have the most fun playing on Medium/Hard. I looked at Rock Band but am glad I decided not to pick it up. Give me my real set any day of Rock Band.

-Brad

[Serren]

I think the reasons you guys dislike the "play" controllers is that you both can actually play "real" instruments. I can play a little guitar and that is it. I cant even tune without the help of electronic tuning device. So for me, playing these band sim games is really fun, and also challenging enough to keep me focused. I think there are millions that will never have the skills, talent or opportunity to play live on a stage. So we rock out in our homes!

[BiffCo]

I hear you Serren, but the least they could have done was made the drums seem more like actual drums than the what it is now. It looks like a couple of Roland pads I used to have when I was in my first band. They were used for electronic sounds.

I could see the appeal to people who can't play the real deal. But then again, I think one has to argue that Rock Band/Guitar Hero is actually more difficult than the real thing!

-Brad

[The Milk Man 09]

Yea when you play the real instrument you actually have to elan and know what you are going to play instead of following the notes on a screen which is the way 80 percent of people play the games.

[Causedawg 83]

The only issue I have with the drums is the fact that hitting them is way too loud. The only sound I want to hear is the sound coming from the speakers. Same goes for the strummer on the guitar hero 3 guitar. It drives me nuts how loud it is.

[Joe Sacto]

I've never even picked up a real guitar and the closest I ever got to drums was about 20 ft from Lars Ulrich laying the smack down on his set at a Metallica concert, but I have to say Rock Band is the best multiplayer videogame ever. I got a chance to play the drums at Serren's house and it was the most fun I've had in a multiplayer game.

Here's what I liked...

The drums seem sturdy enough to take punishment and I like how it's built. The spring in the foot pedal was strong enough for me to rest my foot on it and just tap the pedal whenever the line came up on the screen. I was playing medium difficulty and there are alot of parts where you get some serious lessons in hand-eye coordination. It felt so new...same feeling I had when I picked up Guitar Hero for the first time. It's a unique experience for a videogame.

What I didn't like...

I think they should have made the pads a bit larger...I found myself sometimes hitting the edges whenever I had to unleash a flurry of drumbeats. That's probably an issue that will go away though with practice. I definitely did not like the Rock Band guitar. I thought it was too thin and the strum bar was too loose. Also the whammy bar just wasn't tight like the GH3 les paul guitar. Another thing that bothered me was the fact that when I was rockin' I almost fell over the damn wire b/c I'm already used to the wireless GH3. The wire on the drums is not a issue since you have to sit down when playing.

I wasn't planning on buying this game, but as soon as they release the new sets next year that will contain the game and one instrument I will be buying the game/drum kit combo. I plan to buy another GH3 guitar and will just use those for Rock Band sessions.

[Serren]

Yeah, jammin last night was WAY fun! My voice was getting all worn out from singing! I thought it was fun switching instruments around also.

For the price vs fun factor for four people to play music together, I still say that Rock Band is worth the money, despite the few flaws and potential "fakeness" vs the real deal instruments.

Four of us, two guys and two girls each had a blast that very few video games can come close to equaling in terms of fun. Anyone in Northern CA is welcome to come over and give it a go with us!

[Crippler]

LOL. Folks who actually play real instruments need not approach these games as if they are gonna play like the real thing. I made that mistake with Guitar Hero. Nice to see the same holds true for drummers also. I can't play half of the songs in GH on expert, yet I can on a real guitar. That's the way it goes I guess. Can't make it too hard. Gamers won't play.

I guess you'll have to wait for that double kick drum set-up NPYYZ. Place the sensors in your real kit. That would rock. That would be one hell of a mod.

[Wondermonkey]

This is the way I feel about the Covenant Carbine in Halo 3. The real thing handles much differently, and while I can pick off anything on the streets with that thing, in Halo 3, forget it. I'm screwed.

I don't know how they'd really make a game that would be close to actually playing an instrument, because that's a hard demographic to hit.

[The Milk Man 09]

After spending more time with this game I have truely come to enjoy it and I am starting to get good at playing the drums, the only thing that still throws me off is the darn kick pedal it just isn't comfortable to me but I can still bang out 90% on medium now. But after that just the whole notion of being able to play with your friends all at once is tons of fun, guitar hero just cant stack up when it comes to multiplayer.

[AZRaiderH8r]

I finally spent some time with Rock Band, but without the instruments. We've got the game only and played it with our GHIII controller. So far, I think it's a lot of fun. The song selection is great (although that guy butchered Geddy's vocals on "Tom Sawyer," but that's to be expected). But, I was surprised at how much easier it is than GHIII. On GH, medium is the best bet for me; it provides a good challenge but is not frustrating.

On Rock Band, medium is a piece of cake! I have 5 stars on every song so far (about 40 or so), including quite a few that are 100%. It's weird how the difficulty levels are so different between the games.

Can't wait to play it with drums and vocals though!

[Serren]

Yeah, RB is super easy on Easy. My wife refused to move to Med even though she was getting 98-99% on every song. Finally the game said we could not go any further if we were to play on Easy. So now she moved to Med and still does really well.

At least the game has built in mechanisms to push people along.