Saturday, January 3, 2009
Hello. I just realised that I didn't do anything else today except play games. I know I do that almost everyday, but today I didn't even step out of my house, and I didn't even watch TV. I just played games. A day well spent.I woke up at 8.30am, and I started playing Rock Band. Now that I've played both Rock Band and Guitar Hero, I can say that while both are music games, Rock Band and Guitar Hero are quite different. More on that later.
I downloaded the Metallica track pack and "Move Along" by the All American Rejects. I played the songs that I purchased. Move Along is a really easy song that just tests your endurance by sending a barrage of the same set of notes at you. It wasn't a problem for me since my arm is strong from years of Guitar Hero and other unmentionable activities.
At about 3pm, I took a break for an hour to make sure that I wasn't going to die from exhaustion. I just sat on my carpet and watched my brother play Call of Duty 4 online, then after that I continued playing Rock Band.
I played for another two more hours, then I realised that my left hand was starting to hurt, so I stopped and I went to watch my brother playing Runescape. My parents bought dinner and we all ate, then I used the computer.
Ok, so now, about the differences between Rock Band and Guitar Hero. Ever since Guitar Hero World Tour was announced, everyone has been making comparisons between it and Rock Band. Now that I have actually played both games, I'll tell you the differences.
If you're looking for a challenge, then Rock Band is not your game. Guitar Hero has long been know for it's impossible difficulty on Expert mode, but in Rock Band, Expert mode isn't even difficult. Having played Guitar Hero for a really long time, the first thing I noticed when playing Rock Band was how slow the notes were coming at me. If you can play Guitar Hero on Expert, Rock Band will be too easy for you.
However, Guitar Hero may come off as too hard for some people. In Guitar Hero, when one member of the band fails, the entire band fails. But in Rock Band, when your friend has failed, you can use Overdrive [which is Rock Band's Starpower] to get him back into the game.
If you use Xbox Live, and if you don't mind paying for additional content, then get Rock Band. Both games have songs that can be downloaded, but the Rock Band song library is much more massive that the Guitar Hero one. There are easily more than 200 songs available online for Rock Band, and the songs are from a wide range of genres, so everyone will be able to find something they like.
When it comes to game play, I feel that Rock Band does it better. In Guitar Hero, there are many songs which have parts where only on or two people are playing, while the others just wait. This isn't the case in Rock Band, since it makes everyone do something throughout the entire song. Guitar Hero World Tour feels like a few separate games mashed together, while Rock Band really makes you feel like you are playing in a band.
Both games have similar graphic style, but Rock Band looks more realistic while Guitar Hero looks more cartoony. In Rock Band, there are little graphical effects that make the game seem more beautiful, like the notes shattering into pieces when you nail them, and a shock wave emerging from certain notes upon hitting them.
When it comes to sound quality, Guitar Hero World Tour wins. Every single track in World Tour are master recordings, while many Rock Band tracks are covers. This is kinda surprising since Rock Band is owned by MTV Games. I mean, they're MTV and they can't get master recordings? However, the drum sounds way better in Rock Band.
I can't really say which game has a better set of songs because that's up to your personal preference, but Guitar Hero has a equal amounts of modern songs and classics, while Rock Band tends to focus on older songs. However, there are songs in Guitar Hero that are just plain weird and unlikable while the Rock Band songs are alright.
Guitar Hero has harder guitar and bass, while Rock Band drums are harder. Even when playing on Medium mode, the drums are difficult in Rock Band, almost like playing Guitar Hero drums on Hard mode. I can't really tell the difference for vocals though, both seem equally challenging.
If you are really good at Guitar Hero, you might find Rock Band boring. Although I like the songs in Guitar Hero World Tour more, it is much more addictive and satisfying to play Rock Band. I don't know how good the different instrument controllers are, since I only have the Guitar Hero World Tour one.
For the guitar controller, I couldn't be bothered, since the one that comes with Guitar Hero 2 is pretty much the best guitar controller ever made. The microphone is the same for both games, just that the Rock Band one has the word "Rock Band" written on it, and the Guitar Hero one has the words "Guitar Hero" written on it.
So it all comes down to the drum kit. I only have the World Tour one, but I think it is better than the one that comes with Rock Band. In Rock Band, the drums only use 4 pads, so it feels very unrealistic to play. The Rock Band bass pedal has a tendency to break pretty quickly, and it has happen to so many people that a lawsuit was filed to MTV Games.
I have also heard that the Rock Band drum pads vibrate easily, so when you hit one note, other notes also record as a hit, making you miss instead. It is because of this that the infamous Rock Band drum kit sock mod was created.
Whatever game you want to get, I'd suggest getting the full band kit with the instruments you prefer, then buy the other game, because they are two great games on their own that don't need to be compared.
I'll upload some Rock Band videos tomorrow. I haven't even played Mirror's Edge yet, so I might play it and upload a video of that too.
Some news:
-The PS3 is leading the Wii in web browsing, probably due to the fact that the PS3 has an in built web browser while the Wii web browser costs $5.
-Platinum Games, Inc now has a new logo, featuring characters from Bayonetta, Mad World and Infinite Space.
-The new Dead Rising Wii trailer is hilariously lame, so I'm not embedding it here. Go check it out yourself.
-According to the Nielsen Media Index, the most played console of 2008 was the PS2. In order of most played to least: [most played] PS2, Xbox 360, PC, Wii, original Xbox, PS3, Gamecube [least played].
-The first issue of the Dead Space comic series can now be legally read online. Click here.
-Lord of the Rings Conquest demo is now up on Xbox Live, not too sure about PSN.
Ok, I'm going to read One Piece now. Ending off, see you tomorrow.
posted @ 10:46 PM
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