I'll talk about RB2 first. The first time I played the original Rock Band, I was in a suit and tie. It was in between the ceremony and reception of my best friend's wedding. It was a hoot to play, though the drums are still challenging for me. I'm sure that would change with a little more practice. Overall, I thought the game was more teamwork focused, and the songs were more diverse.In Rock Band 2, they've improved the quality of the drums, since the foot pedals tended to break. The drums are also responsive to how hard you hit them (and hopefully they won't make that terrible plastic clacking noise when you hit them). RB2 excels in terms of the song list. The song list is more diverse, and they have a large library of songs for download (RB1 downloads are compatible with RB2). Obviously, if you own the first Rock Band and have downloaded songs... then it makes more sense to go with Rock Band 2.
Now Guitar Hero was first on the scene with guitar controller games. It boasts a rock and heavy metal attitude that Rock Band couldn't quite capture. Guitar Hero was more challenging than Rock Band in terms of the guitar work... and it was more competitive. Guitar Hero 3 introduced elements to make the game more complex and challenging... targeting "hardcore fake guitar players".*Well Guitar Hero: World Tour is a venture into new waters for this franchise. They've never done drums and vocals before. They're off to a good start though, because they've amped up their guitar with a slide bar and they have a cooler drum configuration with 3 drum pads and 2 cymbals. (I'll have a photo of the drum sets at the end of this post.) This benefits me, because I don't have a Rock Band instrument set. If you have Rock Band already, you can probably use your existing gear instead. The song list is more diverse than previous Guitar Heroes, but I'm told that they still focus on songs that are good for the guitar, and maybe not so much on drums and vocals.
I'd like to hear your opinion on this matter, because I sure as hell am not buying both games. It looks like GH:WT has better instruments and GH:WT is released a month earlier than RB2 on the Wii. That's 2 points for Guitar Hero: World Tour. Assuming that the instruments are cross-compatible, I could always pick up the Rock Band 2 (game only) to get their songs... but apparently they share 15% of the same songs. Yes, that's kinda lame. So let me know which of the two you like the best. I need to make a choice in the coming weeks... and I am easily persuaded.
Rock Band (original) drum set for the Wii. I couldn't find a photo of the Rock Band 2 drum set, but it follows this configuration, though the pedal is stronger and the pads are "velocity-sensitive".
Guitar Hero: World Tour drum set. The most noticeable difference is that it has 3 drum pads, instead of 4... and it has 2 cymbals. Now you can buy cymbal attachments for the RB2 set... but why pay extra if GH:WT has them by default?* Yes, these games hone your skills in playing a FAKE guitar. Ask a real guitar player, and they will tell you the same. If you hone your skills on drums or vocals, then that's another matter.
4 comments:
Wait until after the people at Harmonix make an official announcement about what kind of online support they actually plan to have, or until some instrument compatibility information is released.
Joe recommends Rock Band 2 over Guitar Hero: World Tour. He can explain in more detail, if he ever gets around to it. However, I heard a bit of his explanation before my eyes glazed over and it went something like this: The company that produced to first two Guitar Hero games is behind Rock Band 2. The company currently producing the Guitar Hero line continues with World Tour. Therefore, you should buy Rock Band 2 because it is made by the superior company. Makes sense?
That argument is based only on company histories, but not the actual products. I want to look at the actual games and instruments that the two companies are offering. Which company is superior is only indirectly relevant to which product is superior.
You consider a company's track record for many purchases. For instance, if you heard that a game was created by Will Wright, you have higher expectations than if it was created by John Romero. Or you would never consider even test driving a Lada but you might try a Honda.
Anyways, I thought you wanted input. If you're just going to write off people's suggestions, I'll just end my comment here.
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