The game comes with a code that will let you download 20 bonus songs, but at the time of this review the specific songs and their release date are unknown. One thoughtful feature is that you can rip 55 of the 58 songs from the first Rock Band onto your hard drive and play them in Rock Band 2 after paying a one-time five-dollar fee. The songs will take up a hefty 1.5 GB of space and you have to rip them all at once, but after they're on your hard drive you can remove individual songs. Any tunes you may have downloaded for Rock Band are also compatible with Rock Band 2. Both ripped and downloaded songs are seamlessly integrated into World Tour mode. While this adds some variety to the mix, it also means you're going to unlock new songs at a slower pace because of all the old tunes sprinkled in.
Speaking of World Tour mode, a few improvements have been made, but it's not a whole heck of a lot different than it was last year. Solo artists will be interested in knowing that World Tour is the only mode in which you can unlock songs; there's no linear solo mode anymore. You'll start by creating a rocker, a band (the random band-name generator is awesome), and then go on tour to earn cash, fans, and stars. Your created rocker is no longer tied to a specific instrument, so you can switch at your leisure. Last year you were forced to bump up the difficulty if you wanted to keep earning fans late in the tour; this year you can gain fans (albeit at a slow rate) even if you're playing at low difficulty settings. As you tour you'll play single songs as well as custom, preset, and mystery setlists. You'll earn transportation so that you can play different cities and new songs as well. You can now hire different promoters and personnel, but they don't have much effect on your progression. There are also challenges to tackle along the way. These score-based challenges are set up by Harmonix and pit your rock skills against the rest of the world. This is fun if you're amazing, but when you average 99 percent on expert over three songs and you don't crack the top thousand, you realize the mode isn't for everyone. Battle of the Bands mode, which lets bands go head-to-head to see who's the best, is another new score-based option that's good for skilled players with a competitive streak, but less enticing for casual players.
The big addition to World Tour is that you can have people join your band or you can join their groups and play through the mode online. This is great if you're playing with friends and you're working your way through your own tour, but it's significantly less fun when playing with random strangers online--you're not earning any progress for your own band (only cash), and you're stuck playing the songs they want to play. That said, its inclusion is the most notable new feature and is a welcome one at that.
It costs a lot of money to look this good.
It shouldn't be much of a surprise that Rock Band 2 looks just like the first Rock Band. Custom rockers have more outfits to choose from and look truly outrageous. Their onstage moves match their clothing, too. All band members are animated to the music and feature a wide range of moves that, while hard to notice while you're playing, are entertaining for anyone watching you play. The grainy filter that was a tad overdone in the original game is toned down here, and the graphics look better for it. Needless to say, the game sounds fantastic. Not only do the original recordings add a lot to the proceedings, but little touches, like the crowd singing their favorite parts of the song, really make it feel as if you're playing a live set in front of an appreciative audience.
Rock 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.
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