Rock Band 2 at E3 2008 and Xbox 360

If the original Rock Band™ secured the foundation for Harmonix’s group-centric music spectacular, Rock Band 2 is set to perfect the formula, to give the fans every fix and feature they’ve clamored for, and a few they didn’t even know they wanted. While our Rock Band 2 exposure was limited to just an hour at E3 2008, we were able to pick up on the following welcome new additions.

Platform Track - First, it’s important to note that MTV Games and Harmonix view the Rock Band series as a platform, so rather than treat each version separately, they approach the series as a whole. This means any downloadable tracks released before or after Rock Band 2 are playable on the original game and, of course, on Rock Band 2.

Store UI - Anyone who’s gathered more than a handful of downloadable songs knows the monotony of scrolling through the list to find the song you want to play. This was particularly troublesome if you wanted to track down another song from an album or track pack you downloaded. Rock Band 2 solves this problem by replacing the original game’s menu system with an upgraded version of the Music Store’s interface.

It’s cleaner, easier to use, and with the ability to sort not only alphabetically, but also by specific bands and even individual albums, selecting your song takes just a few quick seconds.

Set Lists - Equally important to Rock Band veterans is the newfound ability to create your own custom set lists and prepare up to dozens of songs at a time to play back to back. Having a few friends over? Set up a playlist ahead of time and avoid the frustration of handpicking a new song after every track you play. This also allows you to sidestep all the back and forth debate over which song to play next.

No Fail - For those of us who count non-gamers among our acquaintances, Rock Band 2 offers up the new No Fail option. Yep, you guessed it. Toggle this feature on and no amount of croaking vocals or butterfingers on drum or guitar will cause you to fail.

Battle of the Challenges - To Harmonix’s mind, a battle of the bands should encompass far more than just a pair of bands out for bragging rights. The Battle of the Bands feature in Rock Band 2 pits you against the community at large, though your first priority is to best the other bands on your Friends List. Here’s how it works.

Every day Harmonix will post new challenges via Xbox LIVE at which bands can take aim. For example, one might ask you to play a three-song set without Overdrive multipliers, while another might forbid you from saving band-mates during play.

Whatever the case, a performance bar (very similar to the Tug of War meter) tracks your performance against that of the band you’re attempting to leapfrog on the leaderboard. Initially this will be the next band on your Friends List, but should your greatness prove legit, you’ll be tackling bands from across the whole Rock Band 2 community.

Solo Tour - Rock Band 2 is officially waving adieu to their first approach to a single-player career, and instead folding the solo experience directly into Band World Tour. Essentially, your band only needs one active member to march through the sequel’s revamped career mode, which includes, among much else, custom challenges tailor-made to make use of your downloaded tracks.

Hardware Tweaks - Owners of the original Rock Band can sleep soundly knowing that none of Harmonix’s hardware upgrades will send last year’s instruments into obsolescence. That said, the guitar and drums are not without a few welcome tweaks.

The new drum kit features softer pads that simultaneously dampen the sound while providing a more natural bounce as the sticks hit the pads. And you can choose to add three cymbal peripherals that plug directly into the back of the new kit.

No, the cymbal add-ons don’t introduce new colors, but they give you more options during play and a greater feeling of immersion. Better yet, the kit correctly translates whether you hit the cymbal or tom during drum fills for more freestyle creativity.

Meanwhile, in addition to its classic wood-grain finish, the guitar’s strum bar has been reworked for better accuracy. While there’s no noisome “click” when you strum, you can tell more precisely when you’ve triggered the note. Also, a new light sensor and microphone built into the body of the guitar will auto-calibrate Rock Band 2 and your TV to eliminate any video lag.

Rock Band 2 for Xbox 360® looks to perfect where the original game innovated, and with all these features, it seems well on its way to doing just that. Look for more detailed Rock Band 2 coverage as the game nears its September release!

Source: Xbox 360 Press Release | Read more rockband 2 news.

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