We had the chance to sit down with the folks at Harmonix for a hands on presentation and demo of the upcoming Rock Band 2. As the spokesperson for Harmonix stated, their goal for the Rock Band franchise was to first revolutionize the genre with the first title, and then to perfect their work with its sequel. The new features included in the game that we have seen to day clearly show that Harmonix is trying to give its fans what they want with this game.
Hit the break for our evaluation, and check our Official E3 site later tonight for some exclusive video coverage.
One thing that stood out was the instruments themselves. Everything from the guitars to the drums have been re-imagined to make the game that much more immersive to the player. The guitar peripheral will be available in two different designs, and both the fret buttons and strum bar have been given a “softer” feel, making it seem like you are playing an actual instrument rather than a plastic controller.
The drum set will have a few symbol expansions, and can also be made into a functional electronic drum set with the purchase of a drum brain attachment from Ion, a company that manufactures actual professional percussion instruments. This equipment will cost around $275, however, considering that other drum sets cost upwards of $500 this may prove to be a cost-efficient alternative for aspiring musicians. The game itself will also include a tutorial on how to actually play the drums outside of the traditional Rock Band gameplay.
In addition, XBox 360 and PS3 owners will be able to not only play downloaded Rock Band tracks in the sequel, but also store all of the songs on the actual disc on their hard drive and play them within Rock Band 2. Unfortunately, due to lack of storage space, it looks like Wii owners will have to just swap discs if they wish to go back and play any previous songs.
Harmonix also discussed some additions and enhancements to existing game modes from Rock Band that will make the overall experience even more enjoyable. In free play mode, players will now be able to create set lists of songs which will then play in order instead of having to manually select what they would like to play next in-between songs. Battle of the Bands, a new feature that offers daily challenges will also be available on the 360 and PS3 via XBox Live and the PSN. No word yet on whether or not this feature will be available on the Wii version.
Finally, Harmonix discussed the impressive library of songs that will be available to 360 and PS3 users. For both of these consoles, Rock Band 2 will feature a total of over 500 songs that will be available by this holiday season. This includes songs on both game discs and downloadable content. Once again, Wii owners will be out of luck in this regard, but it there is always the potential that this content will be released on expansion pack discs.
Overall the game is shaping up to be a fantastic title, and a very worthy successor to the first game.
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