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Product summary
Rock Band for the Wii is still a great game, even if it's scaled back and late to the party.
Specifications: ESRB: Teen; Genre: Music; Number of players: 1-4 Players See full specs
Price range: $46.99 - $49.99
Gamespot editors' review
- Reviewed on: 07/02/2008
- Released on: 06/22/2008
PlayStation 2 owners were bummed when they had to wait an extra month for the greatness of Rock Band, but that's nothing compared to the seven months Wii owners have had to endure. Despite the lengthy period between the release of the PS2 and Wii iterations, the two games are mostly identical to each other. The Wii doesn't have online play and lacks most of the customization options of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, but it still lets you and three friends form a band to rock the night away--and that's the important thing.
Play or sing the notes as they go by. You're a rock star now!
Rock Band includes a wireless guitar, drum kit, and microphone. The game supports a second guitar for bass parts, but you'll have to purchase it separately (FYI: the Guitar Hero 3 controller doesn't work). To use all four instruments at once you'll need to plug the included USB adapter into the Wii and then hook the instruments and wireless dongles into the adapter. For a detailed breakdown on how each instrument works and gameplay specifics, refer to our review of the PlayStation 2 game here. Other than the drum kit now being white and the pads feeling a bit softer and bouncier, there doesn't appear to be much of a difference between the Wii hardware and other versions--the instruments are responsive and feel great. While we experienced no problems with the hardware during the course of reviewing the Wii game, it's worth mentioning that previous versions of Rock Band have had issues with hardware reliability that often weren't initially apparent.
There's plenty to do if you're a solo act (you can sing, drum, or strum along to any song), but Rock Band is a game best played with friends. Even without the ability to customize the appearance of individual band members and despite the fact that you can no longer travel the world earning new fans, equipment, and money, it's tremendous amounts of fun to come up with a name for your band, argue over song selection, activate overdrive at the same time, blame bandmates for messing up the end of songs, and swap instruments between tunes. The game mirrors the band experience so closely that nobody wants to be the bass player. Now that's realism!
Rock Band's tracklist features a great mix of songs that includes classic rock, punk, '80s rock, alternative, and modern rock. Most of the songs are performed by the original artists, though there are a few covers. There's music from the Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, KISS, Bon Jovi, R.E.M., The Who, Weezer, Stone Temple Pilots, Radiohead, Beastie Boys, Soundgarden, and many more. There are a total of 63 songs, five more than in previous releases. The five new songs are "Roxanne" by The Police, The B-52's "Roam," "Dirty Little Secret" from the All-American Rejects, Oasis' "Don't Look Back in Anger," and "Rockaway Beach" by The Ramones. The Wii version has no online play, nor does it have the option to download tracks. However, starting in July you'll be able to purchase a disc that includes 20 songs that were previously available as downloadable content on the PS3 and 360. It's not the ideal way to get new tunes, but it's better than nothing.
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