Product Description

Requires a drum, microphone or guitar controller to play (Rock Band instruments sold separately)

Developed by Harmonix, developers of the blockbuster Guitar Hero franchise, Rock Band is an all-new platform for gamers to experience music, giving players the chance to rock in the shoes of the biggest guitarists, bassists, drummers and singers of all time - as a solo superstar or as part of a hard rocking band. Rock Band delivers the most authentic music game ever - by challenging rockers to master lead guitar, bass guitar, drums and vocals. Built on unprecedented deals with top record labels and music publishers, the music featured in Rock Band spans all genres of rock and includes many master recordings from legendary artists.

• Rock Out Your Way! Players can beat on drums, sing along, groove as a bassist and shred riffs as guitarists (using a licensed replica of the legendary Fender Stratocaster) - either in single-player career mode leading a band, in multiplayer as part of the band, or against each other - in person or online!
• Unrivaled Song Library! Major record labels and leading music publishers have signed on to provide unrivaled access to master recordings and legendary rock artists - from punk, metal and alternative to classic and southern rock of the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and 2000s.
• Fully Customisable! Form your own band, create and customise your own rocker, and then travel on a fast rise to fame around the world in a quest for rock 'n' roll glory!
• Rock 'n' Roll Never Dies! Supports downloadable content for never-ending challenges.
• Multiplayer Gameplay! Play together in your living room or across the world! Rock Band offers deep online functionality, allowing players to rock together whether they're in Rhode Island or Reykjavik.
• Rock Band ships with 40 of the most epic rock acts ever (with downloadable songs an

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #371 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Electronic Arts
• Released on: 2008-09-12
• Platform: Nintendo Wii

Amazon.co.uk
Time to release your inner rock star! Dive into Rock Band's challenging and addicting game modes and rock out to your favorite tunes. Put together a band, play in it, and tour for fame and fortune- all while learning to master lead/bass guitar, drums and vocals. Major record labels and leading music publishers have signed on to provide unrivaled access to master recordings and legendary rock artists - from punk, metal and alternative to classic and southern rock - including many master recordings from legendary artists, including acts like Metallica, Bon Jovi, Stone Temple Pilots and the Ramones! Learn to play songs spanning all genres of rock and with access to new downloadable content, it's a new concert experience every time! Play together in your living room or across the world - Rock Band offers deep online functionality, allowing players to rock together whether they're in Rhode Island or Reykjavik. Band mates can fail out of a song for poor performance, but the band still plays on. Rescue your failing mate by busting out signature moves and blistering solos to wow the crowd with showmanship. Boost your bonus! Earn bonus points for your band during Rock Band's Unison Phrase opportunities if everyone plays perfectly

Customer Reviews

For those about to rock... prepare to spend big!
WARNING: You cannot play the Wii version of Rock Band with the Guitar Hero III guitar. Only the Rock Band guitar (Wii edition), and drums for that matter (Wii edition), are compatible (both of which you will have to acquire separately - or together, along with a mic and USB hub, in the Instrument Set if you can afford it!).

And now for the review (or just pros/cons!)...

*****NEGATIVES*****
- It's a cut-down version. Unlike the 360 and PS3 iterations of Rock Band there's no character creation, no world tour mode (the career mode), no online multiplayer, and no downloadable content (although there are additional 20-song disc-based Track Packs instead - albeit only 1 so far).
- It's expensive... and to not get at least 1 guitar, the drums, and a mic is basically limiting the (absolutely brilliant) experience as a multi-player.
- 'Guitar Hero: World Tour' is coming out in November, will have better drums (with raised symbols - woo!), will let you use your GH:III guitar, support online multi-player as well as downloadable content, and *hopefully* won't cost as much (although some retailers are already taking pre-orders for the Instrument Set + the game for £149.99).
- If you're only likely to play it with a guitar and don't buy anything else it's just going to seem like a slightly different looking Guitar Hero (well, because it is! More so than the 360/PS3 versions as well, since there is no world tour single player mode).

*****POSITIVES*****
- Despite the omissions the single player is still great with just the guitar.
- The drums are awesome and offer a fresh twist to the experience (at least until Guitar Hero World Tour appears!). Be prepared to get some noise-reducing drum pads though - the noise can detract from the gameplay if you don't (or can't) have the sound high.
- Singing is alright too! It's thankfully a lot more forgiving and a heck of a lot less embarrassing to murder songs on this than something like SingStar or run-of-the-mill karaoke. Even if you're tone-death and can't sing for toffee it's easy to enjoy.
- The song selection is superior to Guitar Hero III, and arguably more contemporary.
- Multi-player has the potential to be the most fun you have ever had with a videogame and friends/family. This is not an outrageous claim either! With a full 4-player band setup (or 3 player, minus 1 guitar) and the right mix of people this can be absolutely brilliant fun - it really is one of the best party/social games available. Even when faced with complete newcomers to the genre (like your parents!) this can easily entertain just about everyone who has ever liked rock music and is open-minded enough to try!

*****SUMMARY*****
If you also have a 360 and/or PS3 and want Rock Band with all the bells and whistles (and by that I mean features not peripherals) then obviously you are better off getting that respective version. The Wii iteration is more limited but still immensely fun as both a single and multi-player.

As with all versions of Rock Band though, the enjoyment this game is going to offer you is largely relative to how much you're willing to shell out on it. Get just a guitar and you're essentially not even getting half of the game, and although there are differences it's more of the same if you're already well versed in Guitar Hero - so you're basically spending £85-ish (game + guitar) for a new roster of songs (for this, taking into consideration the price, I'd rate it 4-star for fun / 3-stars overall). Get just the drums and you're all but guaranteed to have a blast but you have to ask yourself if the £95-ish (game + drums) is worth it (this time, 4-stars for fun / 4-stars overall). Naturally if you're unlikely to be able to play multi-player with others in person you're a bit stuck to do anything else but the aforementioned options. In this case if you're strapped for cash you may as well wait for 'Guitar Hero: World Tour'.

If, however, you have a set of like-minded friends or family and can afford to go the whole hog and get at least 1 guitar, the drums, and a mic (the instrument set) - setting you back £130-ish - then the investment, while undoubtedly steep, can feel totally worth it as the co-op experience is utterly superb. This is where the game becomes 5-stars for fun / 5-stars overall! Suffice to say, if you love Guitar Hero, and have friends/family who are receptive to it (if they don't already love it too!), then this is the only way to go.

The required spend is practically as much as the Wii itself but bare in mind that even when 'Guitar Hero: World Tour' hits in November the Rock Band Wii standard instrument set and game is likely to fetch an average of at least £80+ pre-owned so if you decide to sell up and move on you will be able to recoup most of the money. It should also be noted that the Rock Band peripherals will be compatible with 'Guitar Hero: World Tour', although unfortunately you won't get the full experience out of using them (i.e. the new features of the new peripherals).

I guess the best advice is that if you can share the cost between a few people who are likely to be interested in this game then do it! If it's friends, you could meet up and play together and share the instruments in turn for single player if you each have a copy of the game. Not ideal, but it's a lot better than one or more of you needlessly buying the whole lot each!

It's Rocking
Brilliant game but beware, it doesn't work with Guitar Hero peripherals, you have to use the rockband ones.

games good, drums are horrible!
Ive been looking forward to playing the drums on the wii, but I'm disapointed with the rock band drums. They are white plastic and look horrible!!! ok they play alright and the game is good, but they are so horrible looking. my guitar hero guitar wont work with it and im not forking out 60 quid just to get another guitar. maybe I should have held out for guitar hero world tour??