Despite the release of Guitar Hero 5 and The Beatles: Rock Band, the music war between Activision and EA continues yet again this year with a bizarre twist. Both publishers are going after the children and teenage girl demographics with their latest spin-offs of their franchises. Despite the fact that both demographics probably already have or at least played their previous games. To combat Band Hero, EA partnered up with other developers and the Lego corporation to release Lego Rock Band. Now, Lego Rock Band drew a lot of bad comments and bewilderment when it was first announced. However, instead of being the next Wii Music, the game actually is very fun but the constant replaying of a short song list might and/or will annoy all ages.
The video game has 45 songs total to play alone or with friends. Compared to Band Hero, this is a very low number but the selections work without any truly awful picks. Some personal favorites of mine, including Jimi Hendrix's "Fire" and Bryan Adams' "Summer of 69", are very welcomed additions to the rhythm game genre and are a blast to play. However, there is some repeats from Guitar Hero 5, as "Song #2" and "A-Punk" are featured and don't have the same and more exciting gameplay as Activision's version. Also, I wished that Tom Cochran's rendition of "Life is a Highway" was included instead of Rascal Flatts.
In the campaign/story mode, you and/or your band-mates create a rock band and play gigs at many Lego-theme arenas and a couple generic ones. Like the latest version of the WWE Smackdown vs. Raw series, the game's main gimmick is complete customization; Other than your own Lego avatar, the player can create and change the other band members, your entourage and roadies, instruments, album covers, logos, and your personal rock pad. To purchase more characters and unlockables, you have to play special sets and buy them with the money you acquire. The developers changed the mechanics of gaining money as you get the same amount of money as your score for a song. By purchasing entourage members, you can increase the currency more with special percentage increases. There is also the Rock Challenges, where your band must do well while the fmvs show your band fighting monsters and asteroids. All of this tiring but fun experience is wrapped with a entertaining yet childish rock and roll storyline and cute cut-scenes.
Graphics aren't one of the important factors for the game, but the frame-rate stutters in menus and during performances. But the most problematic is the band performance itself. Maybe I'm still spoiled by The Beatles game and its great music video performances, but your created band don't have special or specific programming for each of the songs except for the Rock Challenges. Instead, they rely on a random movement pattern, which kill the continuity and lead to many glaring errors. For example, the bassist would be seen clapping their hands for four seconds while their opening bass line is heard. Characters will be jumping constantly despite you playing a slow song. The worst of these involves the singer as he just teleports into different poses and often sings with his Lego butt facing the audience constantly. The only other major problem is that the Lego characters don't really make the experience more exciting with their animations. You might love singing a favorite of yours but your Lego avatar barely looks like it matters. The animators could have gone crazy with these motions, such as having the body parts falling off like in their commercials or have the body break apart and re-assemble when they jump up.
Lego Rock Band isn't one of the best but is a pleasant surprise to behold. Stick with a rental of it or wait till it drops in price.
FINAL REVIEW: 3 / 5
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