Rock Band Member Review for the Xbox360

The Good: Songs we wish were in Guitar Hero, All the instruments respond well, easy assembly, multiplayer is a blast, realistic character interactions, frequent song updates

The Bad: Graphics aren't very good, a lot of poor songs, very easy for GH vets, drums can be too hard sometimes

Is it worth $180? The answer is no. I would pay, at the most, $140, but I have my reasons. First off the songs aren't nearly as good as any of the Guitar Hero games, but there are about a dozen that I've been waiting to see on GH since the first game. These include Don't Fear the Reaper, Blitzkrieg Pop, Learn to Fly, Dani California, Enter Sandman, Here it Goes Again, and a few others. The other songs just aren't that good such as Maps, In Bloom, Main Offender, Go With the Flow and pretty much all the rest. There are many number of downloadable tracks, but a lot of them aren't worth the 2 bucks a pop. 30 Seconds to Mars, All American-Rejects? I mean c'mon there are better songs. You do have bands like Metallica, Boston, and The Pretenders but it's the lesser known crappy songs that you skip on your CD player. There are some good songs to download like All the Small Things, More Than a Feeling, Still Alive, Call Me and a few others.

        The meat of this game though is the drums. Yes, it's fun and easy too learn...I think. You have the four colored pads (same order as the controller I didn't even have to memorize where the colors were) and the kick pedal is orange. It's just like drums. You'll have to start out on Easy, but soon you'll make it too Hard, and if you're talented, Expert.

        The guitar is better than the Guitar Hero controller but a long shot. The buttons are set into the guitar and it feels real, it's bigger, and more sturdy. The strum button doesn't click either! You also have an effect switch so when you go into Overdrive (think Star Power) you can have effects like Wah Wah, Flanger, Reverb etc. A great new feature is the freestyle mode. Every so often when you play drums (when your Overdrive is full) you can just play any notes you want. Once you get used to the drums you can throw in some pretty cool licks. When you play the guitar you get blue sections which are solos and you can use the lower set of buttons and press away without strumming. I found this really hard actually since going from top to bottom takes too long and I failed songs that way.

        When you play as the singer you can tap along to the beat during solos and you can hear your own voice through the speakers...this is either good or bad depending on you. The singing is just like Karaoke Revolution. Sing to the pitch so the needle hits the lines, read the lyrics and you're good.

        This game is also a blast online especially when you hear people sing. Sometimes I laughed so much I failed songs! Hey! Speaking of failing, when you're in multiplayer you get three chances when you fail and once someone else does Overdrive it'll bring you back.

            Along with all this you create your own character. The thing is pretty robust. You can add tattoos, change hair, color it, you can pick from 4 different clothing styles, Punk, Rock, Gothic, and Metal. The graphics are also alright, but nothing special. While not nearly as good as GH3 the game is more realistic. You have crowds that sing along, the band characters have more animations and sometimes the guitarist will lean in and sing with the singer, the drummer plays more than just two notes (he actually plays all the notes like on a real guitar). All of this just makes things great. One final thing, Guitar Hero vets will blow through the guitar section on Expert without breaking a sweat. It's honestly not hard at all. Wait until the price drops and Rock Band is a great purchase.