Rock Band 3 Review

With its predecessor turning out to be one of the best music games in the genre, Rock Band 3 has some very big expectations to live up to. Is it able to deliver, or does it fall short? What Is…

With its predecessor turning out to be one of the best music games in the genre, Rock Band 3 has some very big expectations to live up to. Is it able to deliver, or does it fall short?

What Is It?

Rock Band 3 is the first real sequel to the 2008 hit Rock Band 2. This year's offering is all about bringing the feel of playing a real instrument home. The game adds keyboards, vocal harmonies, and an all new Pro mode to the traditional gameplay we've come to know and love. The Pro mode is of particular interest since it tries very hard to teach you how to play an instrument, as opposed to simply hitting colored buttons. They've also improved the interface a lot to make sorting your library a lot more robust along with opening up the career mode goals for progression through any mode.

Why Should I Care?

If you ever had aspirations of learning to play a musical instrument, Rock Band 3 might scratch that itch more than other games in the genre do. With a new keyboard controller, a drum kit with cymbals, and two new guitar controllers, Rock Band 3 might have something to offer you. It isn't just the hardware that's interesting though, it's how it's used.

If you would rather play the traditional way, Rock Band 3 doesn't take that away. It fully supports all of the old hardware, so it will work with whatever you have. What it does take away are the competitive multiplayer modes. I don't know why they would remove those modes from the game, but they're not that big of a loss.

What Makes It Worth My Time And Money?

Rock Band 3 does a great job of reminding us why we fell in love with the series to begin with. It takes the elements that worked in Rock Band 2 and expands on them. One of these elements is the review system for Rock Band songs. Harmonix has expanded that so that you can now review any song in your library. They have also added a comprehensive Music Library to the game. By reviewing songs it effects whether or not you'll run across them in random playlists. Songs with higher ratings will come up more often. You can now create playlists based on a number of criteria that you decide.

Another reason to look at Rock Band 3 is the amount of songs you can play. There are 80+ songs on the disc, but the game also supports previous downloadable content as well as exported tracks from the previous games. The Music Store has also seen a number of improvements, making it much easier to find songs than it ever has been.

Rock Band 3 is the kind of sequel you always hope for. It not only improves on its predecessor in almost every way, but it manages to become even more addictive. If you're looking to learn an instrument and want o earn achievements while doing it then this is a great way of doing that. Rock Band 3 is an excellent game, and easy to recommend to anyone.