If the first Rock Band was the opening leg of a full-blown concert tour, with four players living the rock and roll dream via color-coded buttons and plastic guitars, drums, and microphone, Rock Band 2 is like the final show of that same tour. It’s not radically different from its already brilliant predecessor (at least not yet), but everything is tighter and runs more smoothly, and there’s an explosive, extended encore.
Rock Band 2
Harmonix · Sep 14, 2008
About
Harmonix, deliver Rock Band 2, the next step to the platform that lets audiences of all ages interact with music in an all-new way. Rock Band 2 lets players vicariously jam out as some of the best guitarists, bassists, drummers and singers of all time.
Featuring a track list with more than 100 on-disc and downloadable tracks from some of the most hallowed bands of the rock pantheon, Rock Band 2 by challenges rockers to master lead guitar, bass guitar, drums and vocals.
Trailers & screenshots
Scores by platform
8.7
Critic reviews
- 9.0Guitar Hero: World Tour, as it stands in the UK, has better instruments (the new Rock Band 2 instruments aren't out here yet, the World Tour drum kit has cymbals), and it's also got a music editing and recording mode called Music Studio, which Neon described as "incredible". Apart from that, it's horses for courses, and your preference will probably come down to the track list (World Tour's list is probably a tad more mainstream than RB2's). DLC offerings from both Activision and EA are excellent and flow constantly. For us, Rock Band 2 is brilliant, just like Guitar Hero: World Tour is. We can't pick between them. Slightly boring conclusion, we know, but the right one
- Rock Band 2 will be disappointing if you’re looking for drastic changes. Most of the upgrades are subtle, and you’re basically getting a ton of downloadable content at a great price. For our time and money, it’s worth every penny. The series has become the de facto party standard, and with this many new songs, it will be hard to knock it from the top of the charts. For existing rockers, we recommend just buying the disc, but if you haven’t already joined the tour then grab yourself a set up upgraded instruments, invite some friends over, and watch the magic happen.
- 8.5Rock Band 2 delivers about what you'd expect from a game released just 10 months after its predecessor. That may be a little underwhelming for people who put their lives on hold for the original, but you're still left with a fantastic experience that's unmatched as far as party games go.
- 9.5Rock Band 2 is going to feel extraordinarily familiar to fans of the first game, most of them won’t mind -- picking up the game for them is a no-brainer. The software is an incredible value, with 84 on-disc tracks and a laundry list of game-perfecting, albeit arguably small, tweaks. If you’re a fan of the music-rhythm genre (or purely a fan of music, for that matter), you’re running out of reasons not to own the game -- there’s simply more content packed into this series than any game that’s come before it, and by a frighteningly large margin.
- Considering how serious Harmonix and MTV have been when it comes to post-release support via weekly song downloads, the initial announcement of Rock Band 2 caught me off guard. Aside from being a method for offline players to acquire music, it didn't seem necessary at all. But with its large library of licensed master recordings and vastly improved approach to multiplayer play, Rock Band 2 is a terrific value at both ends. It's both a must-own for fans of the genre and a great place for new players to get started.
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