Rock Band 2 (for XBox 360)

Harmonix/MTV Games

Josh Visser (CHARTattack)

10/31/2008 12:09pm

Unlike in film and music, video game sequels generally improve on the original and Rock Band 2 is no exception. While there's no single, defining kick-ass new feature in RB2, it's vastly superior to its predecessor. First off, the 84 master tracks that come with the game are a major coup for Harmonix and MTV Games. If the Guitar Hero franchise is like a bland classic rock radio station, RB2's playlist is like your iPod on shuffle — diverse and full of surprises. It has everything from indie heroes The Replacements' "Alex Chilton" to Bon Jovi's "Livin' On A Prayer," Bob Dylan's "Tangled Up In Blue," Modest Mouse's "Float On," Dinosaur Jr's "Feel The Pain" and even "Shackler's Revenge" from the upcoming Guns N' Roses album Chinese Democracy (which is insanely hard on guitar). There's also the option to import your tracks from the original Rock Band and, if that's not enough for you, Harmonix is releasing about 10 new downloadable songs each week and plans to have 500 songs available by Christmas. If you like music that features guitars and drums, you'll definitely find something you like here.

Rock Band is the party game of this generation, and RB2 makes no bones about its intent to make it easier to just pick up and play with friends. There's a "no fail" option for newbies and drunks, you can make set lists to play right off the bat and the songs are more poppy and friendly to female vocalists.

The World Tour (where you create you own band, right down to the logo that appears on your drum kit) is much more fun this time around. It's easier to swap players and characters, there are new venues (hello, Montreal!) and you can compete against other RB2 players around the world in online Battle Of The Bands competitions. The game's one down side is that you need to go through the entire World Tour to unlock all of the songs on the disc (unless you know the cheat code).

RB2's new wireless instruments are much like the game itself: better, but still familiar. The guitar still feels a bit cheap, but is more responsive and certainly sexier. The new drum kit is thankfully much quieter than the wired version. It's also sturdier and has more bounce to its pads.

If you own a console and have any interest in music, save up your loonies and buy this game. And if you don't own a console, get a second job and buy one — RB2 is that good.