I certainly haven't played through Rock Band 2 in its entirety yet, but I've played enough to make some fair conclusions.
Songs
The song mix is certainly unique. By that I mean, there's something for literally just about everyone. As a result there's a lot of stuff I wouldn't listen to in a thousand years. For every song I'm pumping my fist about, there's another I've never heard of.
YES
Obviously I am not the end-all for musical taste, so that's just my personal list. Even the first one had a few songs I wouldn't ever want to play again like that goddamn Aerosmith song, where he makes out with the dude or whatever.
Aside from the songs, the differences are much more subtle - or not there at all.
One thing I like is the fact that career mode has been combined. More specifically, there is no differentiation between Solo Tour and Band Tour. I can go through and sing the songs I like, play the songs I don't know, and get friends to play the songs I don't care for, all in the same career mode. I have found that Make a Setlist is getting a lot of use because of this, which is pretty neat.
You can also set your band up to look the way you want. By that I mean you can assign characters to positions in your band. Then when you are trying to make a sweet punk rock band, you don't end up with some inappropriate 80s hair metal guy spoiling the aesthetic.
The Drum Trainer is also quite sweet.... if you don't suck at the drums. Good lord am I horrible at drums! I have no coordination. It's a really neat way to get used to various beats and tempos though. There's also a drum-fill trainer which I would really like to have all my friends who play the drums in the game go through. One of my pet peeves is when someone hammers like crazy on the drums and drowns out the song - sure you got more points, but you threw off the singer and the guitarists while you were going nuts.
Sadly, a lot of the game is exactly the same. The art for the map is identical. The clothing and hair choices are mostly if not entirely the same. Leaving these things untouched makes the game feel almost a bit unfinished; more like an expansion pack than a game.
One thing that going back and playing it has sold me on is getting a new drum set. The drum set for the first Rock Band title is really, really loud. It might just be my house, but over the sound of the drumming, song is getting lost. I can't hear the song I'm singing/playing over it.
I'm happy with the game overall, and the changes are pretty much all for the better, but I would definitely like to see more newness the next time around; make sure I know I've bought a new game, not an expansion pack.
Songs
The song mix is certainly unique. By that I mean, there's something for literally just about everyone. As a result there's a lot of stuff I wouldn't listen to in a thousand years. For every song I'm pumping my fist about, there's another I've never heard of.
YES
- Foo Fighters - Everlong
- Survivor - Eye of the Tiger
- Fleetwood Mac - Go Your Own Way
- Metallica - Battery
- Rush - The Trees (There's gotta be a more rocking Rush song than this one)
- Panic at the Disco - Nine in the afternoon
- Paramore - That's what You Get
- The Go-Go's - We Got the Beat
- Lit - My Own Worst Enemy
Obviously I am not the end-all for musical taste, so that's just my personal list. Even the first one had a few songs I wouldn't ever want to play again like that goddamn Aerosmith song, where he makes out with the dude or whatever.
Aside from the songs, the differences are much more subtle - or not there at all.
One thing I like is the fact that career mode has been combined. More specifically, there is no differentiation between Solo Tour and Band Tour. I can go through and sing the songs I like, play the songs I don't know, and get friends to play the songs I don't care for, all in the same career mode. I have found that Make a Setlist is getting a lot of use because of this, which is pretty neat.
You can also set your band up to look the way you want. By that I mean you can assign characters to positions in your band. Then when you are trying to make a sweet punk rock band, you don't end up with some inappropriate 80s hair metal guy spoiling the aesthetic.
The Drum Trainer is also quite sweet.... if you don't suck at the drums. Good lord am I horrible at drums! I have no coordination. It's a really neat way to get used to various beats and tempos though. There's also a drum-fill trainer which I would really like to have all my friends who play the drums in the game go through. One of my pet peeves is when someone hammers like crazy on the drums and drowns out the song - sure you got more points, but you threw off the singer and the guitarists while you were going nuts.
Sadly, a lot of the game is exactly the same. The art for the map is identical. The clothing and hair choices are mostly if not entirely the same. Leaving these things untouched makes the game feel almost a bit unfinished; more like an expansion pack than a game.
One thing that going back and playing it has sold me on is getting a new drum set. The drum set for the first Rock Band title is really, really loud. It might just be my house, but over the sound of the drumming, song is getting lost. I can't hear the song I'm singing/playing over it.
I'm happy with the game overall, and the changes are pretty much all for the better, but I would definitely like to see more newness the next time around; make sure I know I've bought a new game, not an expansion pack.
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