Rock Band 2
Rock Band 2 is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, as the sequel to Rock Band. It is the second title in the Rock Band series. The game software was released in North America for the Xbox 360 on September 14, 2008, along with individual instrument peripherals. The software/hardware bundle for the Xbox 360 was made available on October 19, 2008, the same date that the PlayStation 3 versions of the software, hardware, and bundle of the two were released. Versions of the game for the Wii and PlayStation 2 platforms were released on December 18, 2008.
The game allows players to perform in virtual bands by providing up to four players with the ability to play three different peripherals modeled after music instruments (a guitar peripheral for lead guitar and bass guitar gameplay, a drum peripheral, and a microphone). These peripherals are used to simulate the playing of rock music by hitting scrolling notes on-screen. In addition to the 84 songs included on the game disc and 20 free downloadable songs, hundreds of additional downloadable songs are being released for the Xbox 360, Wii, and PlayStation 3 versions; all of these songs, existing and future, are compatible with all Rock Band titles. Rock Band 2 features improved drum and guitar controllers, while supporting older controllers, as well. New features include a “Drum Trainer” mode, a “Battle of the Bands” mode, online capabilities for “World Tour” mode, and merchandising opportunities for the players’ virtual bands.
Upon release, Rock Band 2 received very positive reviews from critics, while selling 363,000 copies in the first two weeks.
Gameplay
The core gameplay in Rock Band 2 is mostly unchanged from the original Rock Band. Players use peripherals modeled after musical instruments to simulate the performance of rock music. Players must play these instruments in time with musical “notes” as they scroll towards them on the screen. Rock Band 2 offers single-player and multiplayer gameplay for lead guitar, bass guitar, drums, and vocals, allowing for any combination of parts to play as a band.
During song performances, the game displays up to three tracks of vertically scrolling colored music notes, one section each for lead guitar, drums, and bass. The colored notes on-screen correspond to buttons on the guitar and drum peripherals. Along the top of the screen is the vocals display, which scrolls horizontally. The lyrics display beneath green bars, which represent the pitch of the individual vocal elements. The remainder of the screen is used to display the band’s virtual characters as they perform in concert.
During cooperative play as a band, all players earn points towards a common score, though score multipliers and “Overdrive” are tracked separately for each player. Overdrive is individually collected by players during select portions of a song by successfully playing all white notes (or yellow notes for vocals) within that section (or by using the guitar controller’s whammy bar during white sustained notes). Once a player’s Energy Meter is filled halfway, they can deploy their Overdrive, resulting in the “Band Meter” (which tracks how well each player is doing) changing more dramatically. This allows players to strategically use Overdrive to raise the Band Meter and pass portions of a song they otherwise might have failed. Overdrive can be used to activate score multipliers, which vary based on a player’s note streak. Players can deploy Overdrive independently of each other, as well as collect additional Overdrive while it is deployed and draining.
Each band member can choose the difficulty at which they play (spanning Easy, Medium, Hard, and Expert). If a player does not play well enough and falls to the bottom of the Band Meter, they will fail out of the song and their instrument will be muted from the audio mix. However, any active player can activate their Overdrive to bring failed players back into the song, “saving” the band member. However, a band member can only be saved twice; after the third failure, they cannot be brought back for that song. Failed players continuously drag the band’s Band Meter down until they are saved. If the player is not saved before the Band Meter reaches the bottom, the band fails the song. Players can earn Overdrive bonuses from “Unison Phrases” and extra points from a “Big Rock Ending.”
Instrument peripherals
All of the original Rock Band peripherals are compatible with Rock Band 2 for the same console. Similarly, the newly designed peripherals for Rock Band 2 are backwards compatible with the original Rock Band.
The game features special Rock Band 2-branded guitar controllers modeled after the Fender Stratocaster. The guitar is nearly identical to the original Rock Band Stratocaster in terms of gameplay. The colored fret buttons corresponding to on-screen notes must be held while the strum bar is pressed. The Stratocaster controller has five additional fret buttons of smaller size located higher up the guitar neck, allowing for notes to be played as finger tapping during solos. The controller also features an effects pickup switch that can toggle between five different effects. Overdrive for guitarists can be deployed by holding the controller in a vertical position or pressing the “Select/Back” button. Improvements to the new guitar include a more reliable strum bar and Overdrive accelerometer, a self-timing calibration, and quieter fret buttons. The bass drum pedal from the drum set can also be used with the guitar to activate Overdrive mode.
The bundled drum controller is also similar to the one featured in the original Rock Band. It features four rubber drum pads and a kick pedal. The pads have colored rings around the edges that correspond to the notes on-screen. The kick pedal simulates the bass drum, with on-screen notes represented as orange horizontal lines. To use the drum controller, players must strike the pads with the included authentic drum sticks and/or press the kick pedal in time with the scrolling notes on-screen. Drummers can improvise in special “freestyle drum fill” sections of songs, indicated by the columns for each note turning a solid color. Overdrive for drummers can be deployed by hitting the crash cymbal (green note for right-handed configuration) that appears directly after a freestyle drum fill. New improvements include velocity-sensitive drum pads (the force of the drum hits will dictate the in-game volume) with more rebound and less noise, a metal-reinforced kick pedal, expansion plugs for separately-sold cymbals manufactured by Mad Catz, and wireless capabilities.
Rock Band 2’s USB microphone instrument is identical to the microphone from the original game. Singers are judged by pitch, or during “talking parts”, their ability to enunciate spoken vocals. The phoneme detection system used for atonal vocal parts has been completely replaced with a new, more lenient engine, and songs imported from Rock Band and pre-existing downloadable content will be converted to use the new phoneme system. Some sections without vocals will display circle notes, allowing for the microphone to be used as a tambourine and cowbell by tapping it or making vocal cues. Overdrive for singers can be deployed by singing in freestyle vocal sections of songs, denoted by yellow artwork in the background of the vocals interface.
Harmonix and MTV Games will also be providing limited edition instruments, including an authentic Fender Squier Stratocaster guitar and Precision Bass retrofitted with the game’s input controls by Mad Catz. Additionally, Ion Audio is selling a “Premium Drum Kit” that not only works within Rock Band 2, but can also be expanded into an electronic drum kit through the purchase of a separately-sold drum brain. The “Premium Drum Kit” features four drum pads, two cymbal pads (with the option of a third), and a bass pedal.
The Rock Band 2 peripherals and Guitar Hero: World Tour peripherals are cross-compatible with other music games on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. Sony originally announced that instrument peripherals would be universally compatible on the PlayStation 3; and on November 24, 2008 a patch was released to allow the Guitar Hero: World Tour drums to be properly recognized by Rock Band 2. Microsoft has also stated that instruments on the Xbox 360 will be compatible between the two games, as well as Rock Revolution. The Wii edition of Rock Band 2 is compatible with the Wii drums and guitar for Rock Band and Guitar Hero World Tour as well as the guitar for Guitar Hero III. Rock Band 2 drum and guitar peripherals do not work with Wii Guitar Hero games, however, the microphone does. The GHWT drums on Rock Band 2 will not use the orange cymbal, however on the Wii version, the orange cymbal can be used as blue.
More Information
- Developer(s) Harmonix (Xbox 360/PS3)
- Pi Studios (PS2/Wii)
- Publisher(s) MTV Games
- Distributor(s) EA Distribution
- Designer(s) Dan Teasdale, Sylvain Dubrofsky, Casey Malone
- Platform(s) Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, PlayStation 2
- Release date(s) Xbox 360, NA September 14, 2008, EU November 21, 2008, PlayStation 3, NA October 19, 2008, EU February 5, 2009, PlayStation 2, NA December 18, 2008, Wii, NA December 18, 2008,
- Genre(s) Music, Simulation
- Mode(s) Single player, multiplayer
