Rock Revolution (Xbox 360)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 1.5 stars Poor
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 3.5 (1.5 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Aaron Thomas
• Reviewed on: 11/11/2008
• Released on: 10/15/2008
• Originally published on GameSpot: Rock Revolution (Xbox 360) Review

Thanks to its Bemani series of games, Konami was the name in rhythm and music games for many years, especially in Japan. These games include: Dance Dance Revolution, Karaoke Revolution, Guitar Freaks, Drummania, and Beatmania. But times have changed; the genre is now dominated by SingStar, Guitar Hero, and Rock Band. Not content to sit on the sidelines and watch, Konami's response is Rock Revolution. It's too bad that the game, which lets you play guitar, bass, or drums (but not sing), doesn't rock and certainly isn't a revolution.

Rock Revolution can be purchased with a drum kit or as a stand-alone game--there are no game-specific guitars available. Fortunately, it's compatible with both Guitar Hero and Rock Band hardware. This is good because not only are you able to use peripherals you probably already own, but also because the included drum kit, which has six pads and a foot pedal, is lousy. The pads are small and loud, plus the ones in the back are only slightly angled and raised so they're difficult to hit. And, really, having seven inputs is too much for people without bona fide drumming skills. It seems that Konami realized this because you'll go entire songs using just four pads (and sometimes not even touching the pedal for songs at a time) until you get to the hard difficulty setting.

Questionable drums are the least of Rock Revolutions problems, though. The soundtrack includes just over 30 songs--a paltry number when compared to the 80 or so songs in both Guitar Hero World Tour and Rock Band 2. There are tunes from Metallica, Foo Fighters, Ratt, The Ramones, Fall Out Boy, Twisted Sister, Avril Lavigne, and more. This wouldn't be a bad list if not for the fact that all of the songs are covers. Some of them are decent, but the competition uses nothing but master tracks these days, so this ends up being just another way in which Rock Revolution fails to measure up.

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Rock Revolution (Xbox 360): $10.49 - $13.99

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Inetvideo.com	$10.49	No

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