I’m a juke box hero and I’ve got stars in my eyes. Rock Band, by developer Harmonix (Guitar Hero, Karaoke Revolution) is what I consider the true spiritual successor to Guitar Hero II. Forget Guitar Hero III, this monster has it all; drums, bass, guitar, and vocals (and cowbell!). The gameplay is solid (wish I could say the same for the peripherals), a perfect mix of Karaoke Revolution and Guitar Hero with the new drummer mode to tie it all together. The solo career is kind of tired, it has been done three times before. Where the game really shines is as a multiplayer experience, getting the crew together and rocking out in World Tour mode or Band Quickplay.

The World Tour Mode is great fun, you get to name a band, make a logo, and customize your members. The best part is that your friends can make a character on their gamertag (if you didn’t figure it out, this review is for the 360 version) and their characters can play on your console, which sadly is the only way to do World Tour (no online support). This allows your friends characters to earn money (and for them to get precious achievements). This game is all about playing as a group, the achieve five stars in multiplayer you need to work together. This means activating Overdrive (a.k.a. Star Power, which I still find myself saying while playing) together to gain huge multipliers. After playing for almost an entire weekend straight I have learned a few things about playing cooperatively. The drummer is truly the backbone of the band, if he (which would have been me) gets off beat, this can cause the whole band to lose rhythm and play slightly off. Also, the drummer cannot activate Overdrive whenever he pleases, unlike the other members. This can only be done during a drum fill so to get the most out of your Overdrives the drummer needs to watch the other members bars to see when everyone can Overdrive together to get the most out of their power. Another thing is be supportive of your singer, some of the songs are hard or kind of unknown, and sight reading lyrics and pitch is a lot harder than sight reading guitar parts. Also, try not to laugh at the singer, this will make them self conscience and probably sing worse than the may already be doing.

The game play mechanics have not really changed from Guitar Hero to Rock Band, the fret key sequences may be easier in terms of finger dexterity but, the strumming is less forgiving and needs to be far more precise to register. The singing is basically exactly what you would expect from a karaoke game. The drumming is hard. Don’t trust me? Play on hard, for once it is an accurate description. To play on expert you truly need to be an expert and the only people who I have heard of playing on that difficulty so far are real drummers, so yes, the skills of playing the real instrument do transfer for once. Giving all the more reason for the “Why don’t you just play the real thing?” people not to shut the hell up. I have managed to make my way half way through the hard solo career of drummer after a full weeks worth of play. But are you such a rock god that not even expert makes you break a sweat? Think you can play like Geddy Lee of Rush, Sting of The Police, Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters, or Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age? Well step up to the mic and try to sing and play guitar or bass at the same time (luckily the tambourine and cowbell parts done by the vocalist do not punish you for not playing them)!

The peripherals are where my problems with this game arise. They feel cheap, like toys, which is pretty much what they are (except for the mic, it is pretty solid and works great). If you already have the game you have probably already experienced the broken down-strum problem on the new Stratocaster guitar, which really sucks. If you are feeling courageous and you are handy with a Phillips-head screwdriver, don’t send it back because they will likely send you another guitar with the same damn problem. There is an easy fix that involves opening the guitar and tightening a loose tension screw and maybe clearing some gloppy hot glue. Sadly, this does not fix the issue some are having with the Overdrive tilt activation. It doesn’t seem to work when you want it too, which is really sad that this thing has so many issues. The new guitar FEELS great, the neck is thin and the frets are nicely placed, with cool high fret buttons that allow you to entirely hammer on solos. There is also a little effects switch, for use during the solos and when Overdrive is active, that is kind of obtrusive and is easily bumped into a different setting. The loss of the clicking sound on the strum bar may bother some at first, but it is a nice change. This, sadly, is counteracted by the loud ass drums. The sticks that it comes with are crap and the pads are very loud, so forget playing the game at a modest volume, because you won’t be able to hear the sounds of the in game drums over the rap tap tapping of the drum pads. The kick pedal also feels very cheap and people have already had numerous accounts of the base of it snapping right in half. You could try to replace it with a real kick pedal if you are willing to drop some extra cash after your $170 investment, but the point is you shouldn’t need to. They say be gentle but that is really hard while playing “Enter Sandman” on hard and you have to pound on the pedal to play fast enough. Some of you will be happy that the Guitar Hero guitars both work with this game (not if you are a Playstation 3 user, sucks to be you). But, to my dismay, does not work the other way around.

Graphically the game is much better than Guitar Hero 3. The models are more stylized and don’t cross that creepy line between artistic and realistic. The band members interact well with the crowd and each other and have far more diverse animations, you even get multiple stage presence styles to choose from when making you character. The one problem however with the graphics and playing this game with four people is that is you don’t have a widescreen large television everything gets very cramped and can be difficult to see your notes. Touching on what I was saying earlier about the drummer being the bands backbone, it is nice that when playing four player, they put the drummer in the middle of the screen, this makes it easy to see how the rest of your band is doing or where their star power Overdrive meter is at.

The bottom line is this is a great party game with a few hardware flaws that can be frustrating. If you are tired of playing nothing but Wii bowling or only being able to have two people on Guitar Hero at a time at your get togethers, this is a great addition to the party game line up.

Holy crap, they did it, Vicious Project made me like the Nu Gundam. I realize now that the thing I didn’t like all this time about the MG Nu was the poor proportions, it just never looked like the anime equivalent. Well the guys over at Vicious Project made this Evolve beauty. Only one slight problem; it is three hundred bones. Seriously!? For a conversion kit? That is close to $400 with the required Master Grade and shipping costs. Sorry guys, but I will wait for the hobbyfan recast.

Done, complete, almost (840/1000 achievement points)… I beat the story line and the majority of the optional missions in Assassin’s Creed last night and I have had a good chance to reflect on this variously received title by Ubisoft after a nights rest and I have to say that it is one heck of a stellar title. I feel that game reviews are often more critical on the more hyped games (except Halo, because we all know it can do no wrong) than others, particularly new intellectual properties like this game. But this game isn’t about those other guys who have their heads up their asses, this is about my experience with Altair.

Let me get the who tech, modern motif of the UI out of the way. Yes, the game has a twist. Yes, you find out what it is right at the beginning. No, I won’t spoil it for you. It works well with the style of the game play and doesn’t clash with the theme of the crusades. You probably have already figured out what it is, it doesn’t take much imagination.

Speaking of lack of imagination, I might as well tell you the few problems I had with this game. Assassin’s Creed is strewn with gaming cliché. One in particular is what I like to call the Metriod complex. The allows you to perform all of your skills then strips you of all of your gear and moves and makes you recover them all throughout the course of the game. A few others are storyline related and I won’t spoil them but you will probably see them coming. Two more clichés are ones that seems to be in every sandbox style game. The first is tiny micro mission, such as running through the city collecting checkpoints within the time limit (I actually enjoyed these alot and wish there were a few more of them to show off how cool the free running is) or saving civilians from being harassed by power tripping city guards (think Ultimate Spiderman). The second is that there are 100 flags in each major city and 100 in the very Shadow of the Colossusy world that connects them (think hidden packages in GTA). The only thing is that you aren’t rewarded for collecting them other than achievements on the 360 and the fun that is the using the magnificant free-running system to get to their slightly out of the way positions.

The controls are fantastic and the combat feels very distinct from the roaming. The controls are setup so when running you don’t have to press the buttons every time you want to jump or swing. This allows you to focus more on your path and less on timing your jumps. The combat controls are also very good, parrying and counters are all extremely fluid with the animation and don’t seem to repeat too often, I was even seeing kills at the end of the game that I hadn’t seen before. The game takes a very Metal Gear approach and by the end of the game you kind of stop worrying about stealth and become a one man stab frenzy murder machine, taking on upwards of twenty guards at once. The fist fighting could have used some work though, but it is rarely used.The AI is pretty impressive and the crowds react pretty realistically. Toss a guard off a high roof and laugh as the crowd below screams and flees to the sight of his dead body splat in the middle of a packed market. The best part of the game is definitely the assassination missions that happen after you have done all of your research. They are each setup very different and provide for a great reward in the form of unique game play that breaks the slightly monotonous research missions.

The graphics are fantastic and the environments are very distinct (except for maybe the architecture). The lighting is spectacular, I really like the sun going behind the clouds effect. The textures are great, these are the graphics I have really come to expect from a next gen game. The depth of field blur in the combat mode is also very cool. I know graphics don’t make the game, but when they are this good, it doesn’t hurt.

The story is very mature and creates some interesting questions for the player, only problem is you won’t get any solid answers for awhile because the game ends in a huge cliffhanger. This is most likely planned to be a trilogy, but the game is still worthwhile to play. Will Assassin’s Creed remain on our mind throughout the holiday season with all the other top tier games coming out too? Maybe not, but it is still fun as hell. Get this game if you enjoyed Prince of Persia or just love some action adventure gaming.

Allow me to apologize right off the bat and inform you that I have yet to even play the multiplayer for this game. I have been extremely busy lately (having Mass Effect early doesn’t help) so it is difficult to justify doing anything else besides work and sleep. I know what you are thinking, I have heard the online play is insanely good and I got into the beta but could never get it to work (I finally got irritated entering the code to download it after the 20th time). But this review isn’t about the multiplayer, it is about the single player campaign, which I have to say is one of the most immersing, intense, cinematic experiences I have ever had while playing a first person shooter. A few quick points of interest: the controls are solid, the graphics are insane, and the AI is the far supreme to other recent titles (I am looking at you Halo), which is to be expected from a Call of Duty title. That said, lets delve into some of the things you may not know about the game.

You play through the game as a few different characters, but mostly as two main characters (I won’t spoil the special character you play as in one of the missions). You start as “Soap” MacTavish, a member of the British SAS, who is stealthy and very precise in executing his missions, he is also an expert sniper (I guess that really depends on your play style though). You also play as Johnson, a member of the United States Marine Corps, who’s missions are more of a run and gun, good ole’ fashion American commando play style littered with massive explosions and destruction. One of the best things about the campaign is the variety of the missions. One of my favorite moments in the game is when you finish a really intense escape and your heart is pounding they switch it up and have you play as the gunner of an AC-130 gunship supporting the characters that you were just playing as. The mission is so relaxed, there is literally no threat to you. The mission is just shooting fish in a barrel and the voice acting of the pilot makes it clear in how sort of apathetic he is to the massive damage you are causing with your 100mm canon. It is also one of the most realistic looking missions in the game, the thermal black and white vision looks just like a clip you could pull up on YouTube. I dont want to spoil anything for you, but the mission “All Ghillied Up” is probably one of the best experiences I have ever had while playing in a video game.

The story telling is also excellent. Unlike, Halo 3, (I didn’t give a shit about the characters. “Did Sarge just die? Whatever, do I shoot more Flood now?”) I actually felt a connection to the characters in this game. The only bad thing is the pace of the missions is kind of thrown off by how hard the game gets and how much you WILL die on the hardened or veteran difficulty. So do yourself a favor and pick normal your first play through, even if they recommend hardened for you after the tutorial. It makes the game flow much better. Then you can always go back and play on the higher difficulties if you are an achievement whore (guilty) or just really enjoy a challenge (because you are a PS3 user and don’t have achievements). One little nitpick is how and the hell do all of the terrorists throw grenades like they have the arm of Brett Favre? I swear three guys can land a stockpile of grenades through a tiny window and blow your ass away. My other nitpick is why doesn’t this game have some sort of cover system yet? Ducking behind dumpsters helps sometimes, but even a weak cover system would be better than nothing. The standing wide out in the open throws off the “tactical” side of the game play just a tad. I don’t feel it hinders the game in any way, but I guess I am spoiled from playing “Gears” and “Vegas”. Bottom line is Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare stands out from the crowd of other stunning FPS’s (Halo 3, Orange Box, Bioshock) with it’s quality story telling, variety, and mind-blowing visuals. This game deserves a spot on any gamers shelf.

Again, McCoy tipped me off of Gamespot’s list from Harmonix. Looks like we’re getting a lot of cool stuff pretty much right after release!

Week of November 20, 2007: (*–asterisk denotes a cover version)
Metallica Pack
“Ride the Lightning”–Metallica
“Blackened”–Metallica
“And Justice for All”–Metallica

The Police Pack
“Can’t Stand Losing You”–The Police
“Synchronicity II”–The Police
“Roxanne”–The Police

Queens of the Stone Age Pack
“3’s and 7’s”–Queens of the Stone Age
“Little Sister”–Queens of the Stone Age
“Sick Sick Sick”–Queens of the Stone Age

Individual Tracks
“Fortunate Son” as made famous by Creedence Clearwater Revival *
“Juke Box Hero” as made famous by Foreigner *
“Bang a Gong (Get It On)” as made famous by T-Rex *
“My Sharona” as made famous by The Knack *
“Cherry Bomb” as made famous by The Runaways *
“Joker & The Thief”–Wolfmother

Week of November 27, 2007
David Bowie Pack
“Moonage Daydream”–David Bowie
“Heroes” as made famous by David Bowie *
“Queen Bitch” as made famous by David Bowie *

Week of December 4, 2007
Black Sabbath Pack
“N.I.B.” as made famous by Black Sabbath *
“Sweet Leaf” as made famous by Black Sabbath *
“War Pigs” as made famous by Black Sabbath *

Week of December 11, 2007
Punk Pack:
“Rockaway Beach”–Ramones
“I Fought the Law”–The Clash
“Ever Fallen In Love” as made famous by Buzzcocks *

Week of December 18, 2007
Individual Tracks
“My Iron Lung”–Radiohead
“Buddy Holly”–Weezer
“Brass in Pocket” as made famous by Pretenders *

Yesterday, word was released that a new achievement surfaced in the German version of Bioshock. A translation stated the name to be “Bullet Proof” and the requirements are to beat the game on hard without using a Vita-Chamber. Sounds pretty insane to me. No word has been said whether or not this is in the US version or not. I guess we’ll just have to wait until somebody pulls it off.

Thank you Nate (fellow writer on this here blog) for the tip that K Mart was breaking street date on Mass Effect. I was curious so I checked out the “Big K” near my job on the way home and lo and behold, they had one copy nestled in the glass case just waiting to be taken home by yours truly. This sweet morsel wasn’t supposed to come out for nine more days. However, thanks to K Mart’s inability to read bright orange warning labels on the top of every copy, I now have one in my possession. Hopefully I will be able to clear my schedule of Mario Galaxy and Assassin’s Creed to get some serious play time in and write up a review before the actual street date comes. But listen to me babble on, why aren’t you calling or running to your local K Mart right now to try to get a copy before they realize what the heck they have done!?

I’m in hater mode today and I feel the need to provide a few updates to my past two weeks with Guitar Hero III. I have a bone to pick with Neversoft, particularly their ability to really screw up a good franchise. One issue that has been making its way around the old tubes of the internets is that the Wii version only provides MONO sound, even when set to STEREO or Pro Logic setting. What the hell is quality assurance for? How do huge mistakes like this get past them? I am sure everyone with the thousand dollar surround sound system is really enjoying your mono sound piece of crap. I have a better idea, why don’t we just play midi versions of the songs?

Speaking of versions of the songs that aren’t originals, what type of morons do they think we are that we should pay 600 points for covers of songs? Why could they get tons of originals but no Foo Fighters or Velvet Revolver? The game (not including the controller) costs $60 and has well over 60 songs available right out of the box. That is less than a dollar a song. Why are we expected to pay about $2 a song for content that they don’t even have to package to distribute? I know this was an issue with Guitar Hero II also, but it is still a ripoff and it still pisses me off.

I was playing co-op this weekend, my first time off-line. What the hell type of last encore is “Monsters” by Matchbox Rommance? If you were like me, you probably thought to yourself, “Who the hell is Matchbox Rommance?” Well I’ll tell you who they are. They are a nobody emo band who tried to move into the progressive metal genre, but failed misseribly and broke up in March of this year. So why in the fuck do they deserve to be is the same spot as “Freebird” and “Devil Went Dow to Georgia”? Well… I have no fucking clue. Someone at Neversoft is probably sleeping with one of the band members when they aren’t cutting their wrists.

The last thing is just an update with my battle against Lou on hard, I have probably tried 50 plus times now and still been unsuccessful in my attempt to “save my soul”. The dumb thing is that every time I play I seem to get the same useless power-ups (amp overload and difficulty up), which don’t even bring him lower than green even if you use them at the same time or back to back. I am also on the 6th tier of expert now out of boredom of trying the final battle. I wonder if I will make it to the devil on expert before I beat it on hard?

Guitar Hero III is still a decent game, but it is hard to screw up a recipe for success. However, Neversoft is trying their damnedest. Take one look at the most recent iterations of Tony Hawk and you can see that Neversoft just doesn’t have it anymore. Sure, the game has sold truck loads of copies, but even Microsoft could sell millions of copies of “Halo 4″ without Bungie behind them, because it is a proven formula. Do us a favor Neversoft and pass out existence. Here is hoping that Rock Band and Harmonix bury you into oblivion. My copy is paid for, is yours?

Thursday I went with my roommate, Forrest, and my friend and fellow Spoylr writer, Bryan, to see As I Lay Dying, All That Remains, Haste the Day, and Through the Eyes of the Dead at the Norva in Norfolk, VA. Sadly this was a really early show, starting at 6:30PM, and we missed Through the Eyes of the Dead perform.

Haste the Day

We were however just in time to see Haste the Day come on. I originally heard their first album, “When Everything Falls”, about a year ago and I really enjoy their new album “Pressure the Hinges”. Sadly I was a little disappointed in the overall energy level of the live performance. Maybe it was it was still early in the evening (or Through the Eyes of the Dead sucked) but nobody was really moving and the mosh pit was basically non-existent. They played a fair mix of both albums but I would have prefered a tad more off the first album, but I guess they have to promote the new one. A quick side note: is it impossible for the singers to hear that they are off key when singing live (the lead “screamer” did great, just the melodic vocals were kind of off)? Still they did a pretty good job and managed to get people excited for All That Remains.

Oli Herbert of All That Remains shreds

All That Remains really got the crowd pumped. I was really impressed with the lead guitarists performance (and his wicked beard). Sadly, they played very little off of their old albums. I wasn’t heart-broken or anything though because “The Fall of Ideals” is an amazing album in its entirety. It was funny to listen to the lead singer say, “Yeah, yeah, don’t worry, that will get played… of course.” I could only assume that the front of the audience was pestering them to play “Six” a track you may no from the bonus songs in Guitar Hero II (a difficult one at that). They closed with it and the crowd went nuts. My one complaint, the lead singer could have left his shirt on, his giant nipple rings may do it for the chicks (maybe) but I didn’t need to see it. And a few people from the crowd were attempting to give him their shirts.

As I Lay Dying

As I Lay dying blow me away. I know a lot of “true” metal-heads like to give them shit because they are new and pretty popular as far as metal bands go, but that is bullshit. The ones in the spotlight are always the ones to get the most shit, but they tore it up. They had plenty of time to play a good amount of their new and old stuff. They even took requests, playing one of my favorite songs off of “Shadows Are Security”, “The Darkest Nights”. The crowd got even more wild than at the Unearth show, which was pretty nuts. A great show and I wish I could have seen Through the Eyes of the Dead and I love you Haste the Day, but step up the energy and try talking to the crowd a little more next time. I would definitely see all these bands again.

Magazines, as well as Rock Band’s site have revealed the final release tracklist for the game, as well as some samples of the first few DLC tracks to come out.

Thank’s to McCoy for the scans.

Rock Band is set to drop November 20th, so get those preorders in!