Rock Band 2 landed on September 14, 2008 for Xbox 360, with the PlayStation 3 version arriving October 19. Harmonix developed it, MTV Games published it, and Electronic Arts distributed it. It walked directly into a fight with Guitar Hero: World Tour and won that fight on hardware and catalog depth.
Trailer, via Electronic Arts.
Lead Guitar, Bass, Drums and a Microphone
The setup carries over from 2007’s Rock Band. Up to four players take a lead guitar, a bass guitar, a microphone and a drum set, and the game scores how well they match the notes moving down the screen.
Three tracks of colored notes scroll vertically, one each for lead guitar, drums and bass. Guitar players hold fret buttons and push the strum bar. Drummers strike the matching drumhead or step on the pedal for bass notes. Singers follow lyrics that scroll horizontally beneath green pitch bars, and a pitch indicator shows how close they are to the original vocal.
Virtual band characters perform behind the note tracks. Every part feeds one shared score, though multipliers and Overdrive stay separate per player. That last detail is the one that keeps a band from turning on its drummer.
Five Fret Buttons Near the Neck
The revised guitar controller is the centerpiece of the package. It is modelled after the Fender Stratocaster and adds five fret buttons near the neck for fast fingertapping sessions, plus an effect switch that toggles between five different effects.
New drums and guitars ship bundled or sold separately. Older controllers from the first game are also supported, which matters more than any single new feature. Nobody should have to rebuy a plastic kit to keep playing.
Drum Trainer, Battle of the Bands and World Tour
The sequel fills in the modes the original lacked:
- A “Drum Trainer” mode for players who cannot yet keep a beat
- A “Battle of the Bands” mode for competitive play
- Online capabilities for “World Tour” mode
- Merchandising opportunities for players’ virtual bands
The disc holds 84 songs, plus 20 free downloadable songs. More than 1,400 additional downloadable songs have been released across the Xbox 360, Wii and PlayStation 3 versions, with more added each week.
Every Song Carries Forward
All of those songs, existing and future, are compatible with all Rock Band titles. That promise is the smartest decision Harmonix made, and it is not a small technical trick. A library that carries forward turns a sequel into an investment rather than a replacement.
The 84 on-disc tracks are the entry fee. The 1,400-plus downloads are the reason the disc stays in the tray.
Release Dates and Bundles
| Date | Release |
|---|---|
| September 14, 2008 | Xbox 360 software and individual instrument peripherals (North America) |
| October 19, 2008 | PlayStation 3 software (North America) |
| Bundles | Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 software/hardware bundles |
What the Fingertapping Buttons Are Really For
The five extra fret buttons near the neck are a real addition, but they reward players who have already mastered the fretboard. The effect switch is a toy.
Drum Trainer and Battle of the Bands are the features that will still get used a year later. What holds up underneath is the structure: any combination of parts can play as a band, single player or multiplayer, split screen or co-operative, and the shared score keeps four people at different skill levels inside the same song. Most music games of that era never solved that problem.
A Band Simulation Worth Keeping
Rock Band 2 does not reinvent the first game, and it does not need to. It fixes the hardware, keeps every old controller working, and builds a song library that only grows. That combination is why it beat Guitar Hero: World Tour, and why it remains the most complete band simulation of its generation.
Get the Notebook.
The day's best stories and every fresh verdict, in plain English, in your inbox by seven. One email a day, no more.
