Rock Band 2 @ E3 '08

Written by Matt Swider  on July 28, 2008

Previews: Little drummer boy, pa rum pum pum pum.

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What could be better than playing Doug Kilmer's memorable bass part in Norman Greenbaum's УSpirit in the Sky,Ф mumbling through the lyrics of Pearl Jam's УStill AliveФ like Adam Sandler, keeping the beat to Survivor's УEye of the Tiger,Ф or playing the УAmerican WomanФ guitar riff (The Guess Who version, not Lenny Kravitz)? Doing it all with friends in an online World Tour mode. While Rock Band's World Tour mode was a fun mode to show off at parties, the friends that you encouraged to buy the game couldn't continue your group's rock experience online. Everyone had to lug their instruments to one local venue (i.e. semi-soundproof video game basement).

The benefit of having this mode online isn't limited to convenience, as an example by Harmonix demonstrated that for some gamers it's going to be a necessity. Earth, Wind & Centaur, one of the top Rock Band bands, was worried that they wouldn't be able to keep their position on the leaderboards. You see, they formed while in college at RIT and their guitarist just graduated and moved back to Long Island. They've already fallen from the number one position, a spot they held for six months, so it's safe to assume that they're anxiously awaiting Rock Band 2 in an effort to catch up to their new number one rival, the appropriately named УHere Comes a New Challenger!Ф

Rock Band 2's World Tour mode will not only go online, but it'll feature daily challenges in the form of УBattle of the Bands.Ф The E3 demo room was running a simple seven-day score challenge, but the developer promised objectives as intricate as who can get the longest streak and who can get the highest score without using overdrives. Although daily Battle of the Bands challenges sounds like an involved task for the team, Harmonix did point out that they stayed consistent with weekly Rock Band DLC.

If you secure first place in a Battle of the Bands challenge and are overtaken by a rival, the game will alert you through the e-mail address tied to your RockBand.com account. As Harmonix explained in a purely hypothetical example, УSo if you need to be, you can say СuhhhЕ Oh boss, I just got an e-mail. My momЕ pancreasЕ I'll be back later!' And you go home and beat your high score.Ф

Battle of the Bands and World Tour online will extend the replay value of Rock Band 2, especially for virtual virtuosos who can't get enough of the game. But, there's room to improve if you're a novice at the game or just want to brush up on your music skills. There's a freestyle mode, drum trainer, drum fill lesson and a no fail mode. The last one will be perfect for parties where people start drinking and stop playing well. Juke Box was the final mode Harmonix touched on and, unlike no fail mode, said was ideal for a very different sort of party. You have a kid's birthday party in full swing with Rock Band 2, the pizza arrives, everyone takes a break to eat, but you still want to listen some of the game's 200-plus songs. Juke Box will allow you to create a playlist and listen to the music you like, which is more ideal than an iPod if you already have the game on.


Rock Band 2 is filled with fantastic new ideas, while it keeps everything that made Rock Band innovative. As developer put it, УYou don't lose anything you really enjoyed from the first game; it really is a second-generation music game, keeping all of the core feature people loved and adding perfected features on top of that.Ф