ElizabethS
I like rhythm games even before the term was ever coined. I remember dropping countless loonies into the Bemani series of Japanese music games at the UBC Arcade, rocking out on Guitar Freaks and Drum Mania, even though I wasn't any good at either one. And then the experience got "Westernized" with the arrival of Guitar Hero and, later on, Rock Band.
These games are a lot of fun, but it seems that they're starting to run out of ideas as to how to innovate the genre. This fall, we'll be treated to new iterations from both major series. There's Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock and then there is Rock Band 3. And I'd argue that the latter has far more promise than the former.
Part of this has to do with precedent. In my experience, Rock Band 2 was better than Guitar Hero: World Tour. The overall gameplay was easier to read, the game layout was better, and the number of available tracks was bigger too. By the time Rock Band 3 hits shelves, you'll have access to about 1000 tracks (mostly through DLC). That's crazy. It's also expensive, but that's another discussion altogether.
When Guitar Hero 5 arrived last year, one of the big innovations was party play. This allowed players to drop in and out in the middle of songs, swapping tracks and changing difficulty on the fly. Well, Rock Band 3 has that now too, but it's pervasive across all game modes. They call it Overshell. Score one for Harmonix and EA.
At E3 2010 in June, there was a lot of talk about the pro instruments to go with Rock Band 3 and how it would elevate gameplay to a whole new level. Yes, that is true and it offers another level of (crazy) difficulty for the hardcore enthusiasts, but the regular instruments are still there for the rest of us. They've also added the keyboard/keytar for some added interest, as well as the three-point vocal harmonies from Rock Band: Beatles. You can effectively have a seven-player band locally. Another point for Harmonix and EA.
For me, it seems that Activision and Neversoft are going about the Guitar Hero franchise the wrong way. With Warriors of Rock, it's heavy on story (narrated by Gene Simmons, no less) and, honestly, I don't care about the story when it comes to rhythm games. It's about gameplay. It's about the party experience, both online and offline. And that's where Rock Band wins.
For Rock Band 3, they're even introducing shorter career mode-like quests that last about an hour or so. That's great for the casual get-togethers with friends without having to dive into the super lengthy "full" career mode. It's all about the interaction and enjoyment you share with your friends; not about the back story of your jam session.
The one point that I'll grant to the Neversoft team behind Guitar Hero? I totally dig the Xbox Avatar integration.
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