Rock Band 3... Not so much Rock as Band

I admit it.  I'm a sucker for a good round of Guitar Hero or Rock Band.  They are the kind of games that are challenging as a videogamer, interesting as a musician, and so damn entertaining as a music lover.  Except those times when drunk roommates think they can sing "Painkiller" by Judas Priest, on expert, while drunk.  My ears have just started the long road towards healing.

Anyway, the newest Rock Band offering is pretty decent fare.  The controls are pretty standard by now (I haven't gotten my hands on the Pro guitar controller, yet.  But I will... Oh yes, I *will*), and the customization options are all there.  I still wish Harmonix would include a better in-game Guitar selection, but that's just me, really.  Pretty much the same-old, same-old.  Except for the keyboard.  That little addition is nuts.

While adding in a keyboard, with a functioning octave on it, is pretty sweet.  I do take issue with a by-product of its inclusion; one that makes me kind of wish I went with Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, instead.

You see, one of the biggest draws games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero have for me is a substantial playlist of music available.  While I could go out and buy these songs and just listen to them, the video gamer in me loves tackling them in a game setting, with the music front and center.  Needless to say, the type of music included in these games is a big draw for buying them.  It's not the only draw, but a major one.  I'm not really impressed with the included song selection for Rock Band 3.  They seemed to lay heavily on songs that have either keyboard or piano parts, and by the end of the first playlist, I had already played through a dozen songs that I would never touch again (Smoke on the Water?  Low Rider?  Get Up, Stand Up?  Everybody wants to Rule the World? Seriously?)  While I may enjoy those songs some of the time, they are not what I would consider to be fodder for the average video gamer (Bonus point for adding "Before I Forget," though).

However, having the back-catalog of songs is definitely in Rock Band's favor.  Plus the addition of the Pro Guitar and Pro Drum Kit controllers is another huge incentive.  Even considering the somewhat lackluster song list for RB3, the Rock Band franchise blows Guitar Hero out of the water when it comes to song selection (Sorry, Red Octane, them's the breaks).

And don't get all defensive and claim I added those songs because I'm a whiny irritant who complains about songs being "too hard."  Raining Blood kicks the shit out of me, and yet I keep popping in Guitar Hero 3 every so often, just to see if I've become good enough to beat it.

All that being said, the game was meant to be played socially.  And as a song list for including as many people as possible into a game session, Rock Band 3 is very well equipped.  I would also like to add that, while I may complain about the song list, the game is still awesome, despite my crappy controller deciding to randomly miss every forth note ("Plane-arium").

Now, my horrible complaining aside, the fact of the matter is that Rock Band 3 is awesome sauce in video game form for the rhythm game genre (I imagine it tastes like cinnamon apple sauce).

In the end, it really does come down to musical preference.  Just because I think "Smoke on the Water" is the guitarist's version of chopsticks, and that Bob Marley and the Wailers were not geniuses, doesn't mean that other people can't disagree.  That's one of the best things about music.  However, if you happen to be drunk and want to try and match Mr. Halford's vocal range, I might take exception to that.  Unless, of course, you are, in fact, Rob Halford.  Then, by all means, belt away, man.  Belt away!  \m/