Rock Band 3 will melt your brain with the power of its rock

There was a point before Rock Band 3 was announced that I was unsure how the music genre would or could continue. Since Activision acquired Guitar Hero, I’ve been a bigger fan of the Rock Band series – mainly because the Harmonix series feels like it plays better and that the tracks are laid out better than Activision’s rhythm games. Though I love picking up the sticks or dusting off my axe every now and then when I get bored, I really didn’t know how Harmonix could improve on their series. I had a feeling that they didn’t want to just release a rehashed version of Rock Band 2 – but what else could they do to improve on an already great game?

Well, it’s a good thing that the folks at Harmonix are a lot more imaginative than I am when it comes to their games. Rock Band 3 manages to improve on nearly every aspect of the previous game. Not only is the game’s interface much more user friendly and stream-lined, but the new Pro mode and keyboard peripheral will be enough to keep any rhythm game fan occupied for a considerable amount of time.

Though the Rock Band games have always been great party games, Rock Band 3’s interface and improved game modes elevate it beyond its predecessor in every way. Each player can drop into or out of each of the four player slots at anytime. You can even force sign-out plugged-in instruments! (Honestly, this is a problem I experienced way too often – damn you guitar! I want my gamertag to be on the drums!) Not only is it easy for everyone to sign in and pick characters, picking game options (like No Fail) is easily done from the options menu before or even during a song. Don’t have No Fail on? If you fail out of a song, you’re given an option to continue playing (without any sort of scoring or stars, though).

Speaking of character creation, the creator is incredibly smooth and easy to use and navigate, though I do wish that Harmonix would just label each category of clothing more clearly. These creative names are a nice touch but it’d be a nicer touch if I could tell, without having to open up a menu, what was classic rock, punk or heavy metal gear. I really enjoyed the way Harmonix implemented your created rocker. In previous games, you’d really only get to see your creation while playing – hardly an opportune time to admire your character. Now, you’ll often get to see your character and the other members of your band in all manner of video snippets, during the career, you’ll even get to see your band members interacting during menu screens.

You might notice that you have a nice selection of gear to begin with, but if you really want to unlock some unique duds for your character, you’ll need to earn fans by completing Road Challenges. I’ll be honest, the redesigned career mode had me slightly confused at first. In previous games, there was a clear progression path for your band to follow – you start small playing bars and basements, but you rock your way to bigger shows and better equipment, eventually playing the most hardcore songs/setlists in the biggest stadiums. Well, I suppose it’s still like that, but the many Road Challenges really help with the career mode’s variety. No matter what mode you play, your rocker will continue to earn fans but Road Challenges are the real meat of the career. Each challenge tasks you with playing a number of gigs, with three different setlists to choose from at each gig. Generally the setlists could be a few Rock Band 3 songs, a set of random songs from a genre or a set of custom songs from a genre or band. Rock Band 3 seamlessly integrates all of your DLC into each mode in the game – I honestly can’t tell you how happy I felt the first time I saw the game offer me a “Custom Rush Setlist” during a Road Challenge (cause what kind of nerd would I be if I didn’t like [read: love] me some Rush). But with both Megadeth albums downloaded (“Rust in Peace” and “Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying?”) and a considerable amount of other metal downloaded, it’s a dangerous game to ever pick the “Random Downloaded Songs Setlist.”

The biggest change/addition to the career and Road Challenges are the addition of Spade points. You still earn stars while rocking but now each gig will come with an added task which will earn you Spade points that, along with the stars you earn, will go toward your rank for a particular Challenge and towards unlocking new gigs. Some of these tasks are simple enough, like setting off your Overdrive as many times as possible, while others are more difficult, like getting a 4X multiplier and setting off Overdrive or completing sections perfectly in unison with your bandmates.

But if you’re like me, you don’t really care too much about the career – it’s all about rocking. And if you’re like me, that is to say you can plug in your axe or drums and while away countless hours just playing any random song, you’ll be pleased to know that the Rock Band experience remains the same with this latest title. Hammer-ons and pull-offs are as easy as ever to execute and drums rolls are made more forgiving in non-pro mode (though these new roll sequences are only found in new DLC [post RB3 release] and songs on the disc). The new songs on the disc are excellent additions to your Rock Band library, with hits from every era, such as The Cure’s “Just Like Heaven,” Chicago’s “25 or 6 to 4,” The B-52’s “Rock Lobster,” and Spacehog’s “In The Meantime.” Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves of London” even makes an appearance. Some personal favorites from the new on-disc songs are Jimi Hendrix’s “Crosstown Traffic,” Faith No More’s “Midlife Crisis,” and Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

As far as the pro mode goes, I haven’t really tried it. Since the game only comes by itself or bundled with the new keyboard peripheral (more on that in a minute) I haven’t had a chance to try the pro-guitar/bass modes or even try the drums on pro (which I’m pretty sure is basically the same with cymbals added into the note track). I’ve messed around with the keyboard on pro but I never learned how to play piano so I’m pretty bad at the keys – I’m having a hard enough time completing songs on regular ol’ Medium or Hard, let alone the pro mode. Luckily, I’m pretty great at both the drums and guitar so the keys will come in time. And I hope they do, because playing the keyboard is pretty fun. You only need to use five of the 22 keys on the keyboard outside of pro mode, leaving you plenty of chances to have some fun with the touch strip, located at on the far left side next to the Overdrive button. The touch strip is essentially the keyboard’s whammy bar and after a little experimenting, I was having a ton of fun making each keyboard part my own.

Really, if there’s one thing I could wish of Rock Band 3 it’d be for Harmonix to release keyboard parts for older DLC that feature the keys, like most Rush songs and the Steely Dan songs I have downloaded. Other than that, I really haven’t found anything that I can fault Rock Band 3 on.

I know I spend plenty of time touting the greatness of the Rock Band series over Guitar Hero these days but this feeling goes beyond my petty fanboyisms – Rock Band 3 is easily the best put together, most fun rhythm game that has been made. The new setlist, instruments and innovations, the integration of previous downloaded songs and the ease of creating your own rock star make Rock Band 3 a must own title for any fan of fake plastic instrument gaming.