Rock Band 2 (Special Edition) (Sony Playstation 3, 2008)

The game that really introduced me to the plastic-instrument gaming genre was Guitar Hero 3. I had loads of fun playing it back in the days, and it really got me interested in these types of games. The reason I'm saying this is because Guitar hero 3 falls short compared to Rock Band 2. It's simply THE best game in the genre, and it contains tons of great music (not including the purchaseable DLC).

Graphics: The graphics for this game are as good as they should be - not too shabby, and not too pretty to keep your eyes away from the note chart. Framrates on some of the animations can tend to be a tiny bit low, and the game sometimes lags for a couple of seconds and then runs fine again, but that's just minor details.

Gameplay: Guitar, drums, vocals; they're all so much fun. Wheter you have no experience at all, or are a complete expert at mostly everything you'll have to enjoy at least one of the instruments. I for one tend to play some guitar songs on hard, but mostly medium. Mostly hard, but some medium on drums. And either hard or expert on the vocals part. I DO consider myself casual when it comes to this game.

Sound: The game sounds so pure, from every note to phrase, it truly sounds divine. Also the song selection is very good, there as my favourites being 'Master Exploder', 'Any way you want it', 'Living on a prayer', 'Everlong' and lots of other great, epic songs. Though some songs falls weak due to practically never heard of em' before, the amount of actual good songs covers for it. As I live in Norway and am not able to download DLC I really can't comment on any of it, though I have seen through it and there's plenty of good stuff.

Instruments: Guitar's good, drums are fine, and the microphone works as intended, what more is there to say? Could add that I like the sound chooser on the guitar where you can choose between different sounds on solos and when you go into overdrive.

Playability: This game will keep you glued to the TV screen for hours and hours, and as expected, it's a great party game, actually one of the best. I've been playing the same songs dozens of times and I'm still not tired (and I haven't even played every song on every kind of instrument). The game is best enjoyed with a full ensemble of friends (hopefully you'll have plenty, or this game loses some value)

Summing up: Nice graphics, awesome gameplay, terrific sound, and an awesome party game that will keep you and your friends satisfied for ages to come.

Things that I love about this game are: You can play it alone OR with a group of people and have a blast either way, it doesn't really matter how old or young you are as long as you can play the instruments, easy mode means easy and expert mode means expert (it's not one of those games that says expert and it's really a blowoff, unless you've been playing it for a long time), if you like music at all and have any interest in instruments you WILL have fun, there are TONS of options.. so if you are stuck or bored with a venue you can move on to something else, there is so much music to choose from - ranging from punk to classic rock to alternative rock to metal, you can add on music track packs from a wide range of artists either by buying them from the playstation store or by buying them in a local store that sells electronics, when buying add-on music.. you can purchase single tracks - small track packs(3 or so) - or in some cases you can purchase entire albums, the guitars and drums are inter-compatible with both guitar hero world tour and rock band.. so if you have one game with one set of instruments already then you can purchase just the software from the other game and you will be allowed to play both. You get a new game for only the cost of the software, and you get more music!

There is really only one noteable thing that I dislike about the game. This may be due to the fact that I started on the guitar hero series and played from the 1st guitar hero up to the most recent world tour.. (we bought world tour after rock band).. but I don't really care for the rock band guitars. The action on the fret board buttons seems to be a lot more difficult with response than the guitar hero guitars. Basically, I personally felt that I had to apply quite a bit more pressure to the buttons on the rock band guitar to get it to respond, and I find that it makes it much more difficult on the upper playing levels when trying to nail faster passages. My husband felt the same way, and that is one reason why we purchased the guitar hero world tour pack with guitar hero guitar, since the guitars and drums can be used on either game.

Overall, I LOVE this product and will continue to play it until it no longer works.. I'm sure my husband will be the same way.

I bought this about a month ago, and I love it. I always wanted to purchase the game but just never did.

This game edition comes with the drum set, a microphone, and a guitar. You can get an additional guitar to make it a bass to have a full band. A stand for the microphone can also be purchased separately if you like to sing and play at an instrument at the same time.

Guitar is fairly easy to move up in terms of difficulty, but the drums is where i have the most fun.

The ultimate party game. The best just got better. The largest single cause of sore throats this side of laryngitis. Rock Band 2 is an amazing sequel that allows you to still play all your favorites from the original while also building a fantastically diverse new library. Still not enough? New versions of the game include a code that is redeemable for 20 new downloads in the on-line Rock Band music store, so you can easily find something you like there (yes, even country).

Compared to the original, the instruments have improved dramatically. You'll notice that the guitar is sturdier and in a welcome development, the strummer, well, strums. The drums are wireless now, and that broken foot pedal just became a thing of the past with the new metal version. The pads are also much quieter, so the only loud noises in your room will be coming out of the TV or the microphone, which is just as good as ever.

Rock Band 2 is highly recommended to anyone in search of an easy-to-pick-up party game. The relatively high cost of this set is outweighed by the longevity of this title--you will play and keep coming back for more. Proudly display those devil horns and rock on!

The Rock Band 2 Complete Bundle is the most complete package you'll get for a music game. It has a great set of instruments, all of them beautifully designed both aesthetically and functionally, and compatible with other music games. As being the second installment of the series, the instruments are clearly superior to the first set, especially when it comes to durability. The only downsides to them are the lack of cymbals to the Drums (which are sold separately) and that both wireless instruments require 3 AA batteries to work. With the game you'll find an awesome set of songs and the possibility to download 700+ of GREAT songs online (which decided my preference on Rock Band over the Guitar Hero series).