At a glance: Rockband

Rockband coming this May!

It’s not time for all XBOX owners to gloat. One of the year’s biggest games is coming to us first (May 23^rd to be precise and Autumn for WII and PS3). But stop, will this game be able to warrant its hefty price tag?

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the price tag of rockband it will cost £180 for those of you who want to purchase the game and all instruments and for the mathematicians, yes it does cost more than a brand new XBOX. Included in the package there is a drum kit, guitar controller and microphone amounting to £130 and an extra £50 is required for the game. That’s right the game isn’t included, you have to buy it separately. Harmonix seem to be quick on the “this games a success lets charge a hell of a lot of money”. They blame it on high import costs but then there is a simple solution make the game in Europe and with EA’s investment it is of course possible.

Guitar Hero users are in luck. If you own an XBOX live mix and a regular Guitar Hero controller then all you need is to grab a copy of the game and the drums which will cost you around £100-£120. Non-Guitar Hero users should be able to buy Everything (game included) for around £140 according to retailers.

Getting your moneys worth? Harmonix say the above should cost you £130 with NO game

The track list varies, in fact many cross over from Guitar Hero 3 (Surprise, Surprise) so the main selling point for Rock Band is DLC but with the lack of this within Europe anyway will Harmonix focus DLC in America? Probably, but it will be interesting to see the DLC available for European gamers.

European gamers can look forward to some exclusive tracks including Muse as we get a special edition of Rockband which is another reason for the hefty price tag according to Harmonix. But am I the only one who would sacrifice this for the American price tag of around £90 for everything including the game?

£90 more for Blur, Muse, Oasis and Tokyo Hotel in the UK

In all fairness Rockband never does anything totally new. The microphone is a clone of Singstar, the guitar controller of Guitar Hero and the drum controller is just a different shaped Guitar Controller. It’s the fact that you can put all these together that makes the game different and so popular. If you enjoyed Guitar Hero and are willing to pay for Rockband you won’t be disappointed, Rockband has received rave reviews in America and looks set to do the same here too. The game doesn’t warrant its price tag but if you do have the money the game will be addictive and highly re-playable.

In a sense you're getting 4 games: Vocals, Drums, Guitar and Bass.

If you’ve played Guitar Hero you know what to expect. Rockband is quite simply an extended version of Guitar Hero but will it captivate a European audience or has its price already hindered the marketing? With Activision said to be working on a drum controller and microphone also, we can only hope this is a good thing and will drive prices down. It may also kill any future waiting in this genre. If anything, competition should make for a better game but it will inevitably kill a once original genre as the gamer gets ready for their yearly dosage of rocking out.

Watch this space for a review this May!

--Sean Linley, 360Stage Editor--