Rock Band, the wildly popular music game that has been causing a stir across the nation for some time now, has been released by Electronic Arts into the app store. With its near-console quality graphics, varied song selection, and spot-on controls, Rock Band cranks the fun dial to 11.
There are three game modes offered in Rock Band: Quick Play; Word Tour; and a cool Multiplayer mode where players can join friends online or over Bluetooth to rock out a party. All the available tracks are categorized by difficulty level. Some are fairly easy while others take it to a nearly impossible level. Once a song is chosen, it's time to pick up and instrument; Drums, Bass, Guitar, and Vocals are all available. Each song has its own difficulty setting (easy, medium, or hard) which offers increasingly more difficult tapping constraints. Within World Tour mode, players will experience the highs of traveling to Boston, New York, Seattle, Paris, and Moscow. With the exception of Boston, all the venues are locked at first. Leaderboards are available online but a Facebook connection is required. While playing online, two friends can play the same song separately using different instruments. Both scores combine to total the final scoring. Real-time play can be had using Bluetooth, which we found to be a lot more fun. Achievement statistics can always be viewed in the World Tour menu. Fans will gather to see you play as you travel on tour.
Graphically, the game is very impressive, even on the small screen of the iDevice. Bass and guitar require you to tap on pick-shaped spots at the bottom of the screen as notes stream vertically down a fretboard. Band animations play in the upper part of the screen. Tapping as the "notes" cross the target mark will earn you points and keep the song in tune. If you miss notes, the instrument sound will drop out and you'll hear pick scratching noises. Long streaks of successful notes earn multipliers and greater points. Flicking the iDevice at the appropriate time puts you into overdrive. When using drums, you'll still see notes streaming down a fretboard, but you'll be tapping objects that resemble drums at the screen bottom. Missing notes on drums results in drumstick sounds. Vocals are a bit different. You're still required to tap, but the notes stream horizontally across the screen. If you miss enough notes, the song will stop completely and indicate that you've failed.
Sounds, of course, are terrific. There are 20 CD quality songs of a good variety, including songs from bands such as Blink'2, Foo Fighters, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Motorhead, Joan Jett, All-American Rejects, Smashing Pumpkins, and more. There is a music store available in-game that allows you to purchase pairs of songs for $0.99. Controls utilize tapping, with the occasional flick for overdrive. In our experience, the controls work flawlessly.
Replayability is very high, as it can be quite difficult to play through a song without missing a single note. It's also a flat out fun game to play. There are some similar games in the app store, most notably the Tap Tap Revenge series and the Guitar Rock Tour series. However, neither have the full package that Rock Band offers, and both feel a bit more forgiving than Rock Band. For the fullest, most demanding music tapping experience on the iDevice, Rock Band is top dog. Priced at $9.99, it will cost significantly more to own this game than its competitors, but die hard fans will find that it's worth it. Rock Band shreds a 5-star solo in the palm of your hand.
There are three game modes offered in Rock Band: Quick Play; Word Tour; and a cool Multiplayer mode where players can join friends online or over Bluetooth to rock out a party. All the available tracks are categorized by difficulty level. Some are fairly easy while others take it to a nearly impossible level. Once a song is chosen, it's time to pick up and instrument; Drums, Bass, Guitar, and Vocals are all available. Each song has its own difficulty setting (easy, medium, or hard) which offers increasingly more difficult tapping constraints. Within World Tour mode, players will experience the highs of traveling to Boston, New York, Seattle, Paris, and Moscow. With the exception of Boston, all the venues are locked at first. Leaderboards are available online but a Facebook connection is required. While playing online, two friends can play the same song separately using different instruments. Both scores combine to total the final scoring. Real-time play can be had using Bluetooth, which we found to be a lot more fun. Achievement statistics can always be viewed in the World Tour menu. Fans will gather to see you play as you travel on tour.
Graphically, the game is very impressive, even on the small screen of the iDevice. Bass and guitar require you to tap on pick-shaped spots at the bottom of the screen as notes stream vertically down a fretboard. Band animations play in the upper part of the screen. Tapping as the "notes" cross the target mark will earn you points and keep the song in tune. If you miss notes, the instrument sound will drop out and you'll hear pick scratching noises. Long streaks of successful notes earn multipliers and greater points. Flicking the iDevice at the appropriate time puts you into overdrive. When using drums, you'll still see notes streaming down a fretboard, but you'll be tapping objects that resemble drums at the screen bottom. Missing notes on drums results in drumstick sounds. Vocals are a bit different. You're still required to tap, but the notes stream horizontally across the screen. If you miss enough notes, the song will stop completely and indicate that you've failed.
Sounds, of course, are terrific. There are 20 CD quality songs of a good variety, including songs from bands such as Blink'2, Foo Fighters, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Motorhead, Joan Jett, All-American Rejects, Smashing Pumpkins, and more. There is a music store available in-game that allows you to purchase pairs of songs for $0.99. Controls utilize tapping, with the occasional flick for overdrive. In our experience, the controls work flawlessly.
Replayability is very high, as it can be quite difficult to play through a song without missing a single note. It's also a flat out fun game to play. There are some similar games in the app store, most notably the Tap Tap Revenge series and the Guitar Rock Tour series. However, neither have the full package that Rock Band offers, and both feel a bit more forgiving than Rock Band. For the fullest, most demanding music tapping experience on the iDevice, Rock Band is top dog. Priced at $9.99, it will cost significantly more to own this game than its competitors, but die hard fans will find that it's worth it. Rock Band shreds a 5-star solo in the palm of your hand.
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