I WANNA ROCK!

In the past it has been my husband that had been the one to buy the video games but this game has a little something for everyone! We recently had a Rock Band party and there were quite a few skeptics that came through the door but all of them left happy and wanting more.

For us it all started with Guitar Hero. My husband plays real guitars so he was not interested in this game at first. We were at a party and got a chance to play and we realized it was a lot of fun. The problem with guitar hero is that the package only comes with one guitar and you have to take turns or buy a second guitar. The beauty of Rock Band is that 4 people can play at once. There is a bass player, guitar player, drummer and singer. So if you are no good at one you can play the other. You can also play any combination of these as well. So if there are only two of you, you can pick your favorite and play as a two person band.

We originally bought Rock Band for the PS2. That game does not have as many features and you cannot download extra songs. We went ahead and upgraded to the PS3 one of the downsides to this was until two weeks ago you could not get a second guitar. With the PS2 version the guitar hero guitar worked with the game but it will not work on the PS3. They have since released this guitar but it is not included in the pack so if you are going to buy the box pack expect to shell out another 50 or 60 bucks for another guitar if you want 2 of them.

The PS3 version of Rock Band is considerably harder than the PS2. You have to work harder to unlock songs and complete more requirements to move forward. I think it makes the game more challenging so I enjoy this. In playing Rock Band each player can set their own level of difficulty from Easy to Expert. The problem is that after a certain point you have to move up in order to advance in the game. This can be hard when you have only one person that is good enough to make it through a song on hard on the drums (like us).

A fun aspect of this game is that you can create your own band and own person. You can earn money with each gig and use that money for clothes, tattoos, better instruments, etc. It gives you lots of options on how you want your person to look. It doesn't help you perform any better but it is fun to play around with.

The best part of the PS3 Rock Band is that you can download new songs from the Music Store. They release new songs periodically that sell for about 1.99 a piece. They are sometimes in packages and you can save about .50. It is nice to not have to play the same songs over and over again.

The instruments themselves are fun to play. The guitars have 5 keys on the neck and then a strumming button/key on the guitar. You have to hit both at the same time as the notes come up on the screen. The notes are simply colors and you press the same color on the guitar neck. The higher the difficulty level the more notes at a faster pace. The drums have 4 pads and a foot pedal. After playing this game I have a new respect for drummers. This is considerably harder than it looks. Again with each color note that comes up on the screen you tap that drum pad. With each gold bar across the bottom that is an indication that you need to hit the foot pedal. The singing part is much like karaoke. You have a mic and the words come across the top of the screen. The game judges you on how on key you are. It will also ask you tap the mic for use as a tambourine or cow bell when you are not singing in certain songs. There are ways to get bonus points as well.

Overall I love this game. I have never been big into video games but this is really a lot of fun. We play at least 3 times a week and our friends can't stay away. This is a great way for a group of people to have fun together.