gamerGal here with the dish on all things gaming and in my very first post I thought it would be nice to profess to the world my undying affection for Harmonix’s Rock Band 2. This was a love affair that blossomed earlier this year with the original Rock Band. Singing hours on end, unlocking song after song; playing with a large band and even solo was tons of fun. It was the one game that no matter what your skill level was, you could always just pick up the mic, guitar or drum kit and have a good time. No need to aim, except if you were drumming, no need to jump, just sing, strum or drum to your hearts content.
Rock Band 2 has hit the stores and gamerGal loves the results. More songs and the ability to still play all my downloaded songs tracks were a major plus. I would be crushed if all my song downloads were just a waste of time and money. A girl needs to be able to just belt out Blondie and Garbage songs some days, you know. It’s also really, really nice that Harmonix gave us the ability to download 20 songs tracks just for buying the game. I love freebies, don’t you? Plus, if you’re willing to pay 400MS points you’ll be able to rip songs from the original game to play in Rock Band 2. That makes it a shitload of songs you can play in one sitting! But if you’re like me, you’ll probably wait until you unlock every song in Rock Band 2 before even looking at the original Rock Band again.
Some of the other new additions include online co-op play with a full band. Meaning now you and three of your closest XBox Live buddies can tackle the “Challenge Mode” and “Tour Mode” together without even leaving the confines of your homes. Online co-op opens up the possibility of de-stressing while playing late night sessions after a long gruelling day of work. While some may hate this addition, I embrace it. Personally, it was always hard for me to get people to come over and play the tour with me on the original Rock Band. Every one of my friends was always busy on the weekends, the only time when I could even pitch the idea of playing Rock Band.
But the fun doesn’t stop there folks! There’s also a “Battle of the Bands Mode” where you can place your band of misfits against others online. I haven’t personally tried this mode out yet but if your band is looking for bragging rights this might be the mode for you.
The favorites are still there like Tug of War and Score Battle as well as good ol’ quick play with random XBox Live strangers.
As you can see, it’s been a week and I haven’t even cracked the surface of Rock Band 2’s game play but I’m totally hooked and will definitely keep playing this one until Gears of War 2 comes out.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to play some before my boss walks in …