Customer Reviews

Rock Band 2

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The PS2 is showing it's age with Rock Band 2 in comparison to Xbox360 & PS3 versions of Rock Band 2. This is understandable as it's not fair to compare Apples to Oranges. As a whole, Rock Band 2 is fun game. For musicians (like myself), it's not a simulator though, some of the new features within RB2 can definitely help a new wannabe drummer in learning some important rhythm techniques. This is where RB2 can be a great catalyst in a young person's musical career.

Some of the negatives about the game is that contrary to even Amazon's line-item in the description of the game, there is no character creation in PS2. If there is, I haven't found it yet.

No Online Support for PS2. Disappointing. I would rather lose graphics to have the ability to play with other RB2 players online. I could understand not having the Downloadable Content that the XBox360 and PS3 enjoys since there is no hard drive, but why can't we play online like other PS2 games?

The major plus on RB2 over the original, is the fact that on the PS2, it has a much quicker loading time between songs, and at the moment, no freeze-ups on my fat PS2 (Built in 2001). On the original RB, I had to set it in "diagnostic mode" every time I played it. With 2 days of playing, I did not have to do any of those steps and with no stoppage in play.

The final plus on RB2 are the selection of songs. There are more of them, and some interesting information is provided on the songs (Year, Band Name, Album, and Album Art). With over 84 songs to choose from, it has a wide selection of Indie, Rock, Metal, and New Wave songs to pick. The ability to play The Replacements, Devo, and Journey in the same game, is A-OK.

For PS2, Rock Band 2 is a worthy sequel. It packs as much into this game as the PS2 can allow. For having a delayed release date, it also looks like they solved their Manufacturing bugs from the original RB on the PS2.

Enjoy!

I've read the other reviews here and think another voice from the negative side is needed.

Unfortunately, I'm one of the users that can't enjoy the game fully. I have a "fat" PS2 that has worked great for many years. Out of the box, the disc booted fine, which is better than some who never get past the Disc Read Error message, but was only able to play for 5 minutes before the game froze up. I used my long-lost Atari 2600 and NES skills to blow on the disc and inside the PS2, tried again, and made it about 10 minutes before it froze up again.

Realizing something was wrong, I did some research and found that the game was pressed as a dual-layer disc, which some PS2 units have difficulty reading. Various users have contacted Harmonix and/or Sony to be told that the disc was pressed as a dual-layer in error. The best option many are given is to return their PS2 to Sony, where they will replace the laser for a fee that is determined by whether they detect "excessive wear" on the system. No matter what, this is a lot of money, time and effort to get a $50.00 game to work as it should.

I found other resources that gave instruction on how to reset the position of the PS2 laser, under the theory that the preset location is too close or too far from the disc to effectively read dual-layer discs. I can say that this resulted in over 30 minutes of play time (three clicks to the right was the sweet spot), but it still freezes up. I also tried turning the PS2 updside-down during play, recalling that this worked for the original Playstation when it reached its last legs, which gave another 15-20 minutes, but still not great. The freeze-up can occur during loading, or most annoyingly, in the middle of a song.

So the options are pretty limited here. No refunds on opened video merchandise, and an exchange would be useless, as all accounts indicate this is a global problem with dual-layer discs, not the specific one I purchased. It wouldn't be worth my time or money to try to upgrade my PS2 for this one game, since upgrading to PS3 could be a possibility in the future, especially when they finally cut the price back. In the end, I'll keep watching official Harmonix/Sony statements to see if either/both own up to this unacceptable situation, and hope they either release a single-layer version or reimburse customers fully for products they admit won't work without additional consumer expense. No "quit whining and get a PS3" comments, please. They shouldn't have released a PS2 version if they weren't going to take care to get it right.

From what I have been able to play, the game looks like a definite upgrade from RB1, with great songs, upgraded gameplay that allows more flexibility, and more. Unfortunately, I can't vouch for more than that.

This might be one of the most impressive games I have seen for the PS2. I've been playing guitar games since GHII, and Rock Band II is without a doubt the best of the genre.

The play quality is flawless, the graphics are perfect, and to be honest it looks even better than Rock Band I. All of the instruments I have (GH2, GH3, RB1 guitars and RB1 drums) play without a hitch or hint of lag.

The game play is much improved over RB1. They still don't allow custom avitars (apparently they just can't do 4 avitars plus the 4 tracks) however they do have a much improved tour mode, much better ratings on the songs for complexity, and a much better training mode. Game play is a lot more fun; you can have people join you as you progress, and it's a lot less linear. You get groupies, tour bus, airplane, manager, the works.

In short it's a lot of fun. The songs are all pretty neat, and the vocal quality is much improved over RB1.

Overall I have to say that Harmonix really did an excellent job with this port of Rock Band to the PS2. They took their time, and the result is an amazing product. I'm not sure how they fit it all on a single DVD, but this pretty much takes the Emotion Engines of the PS2 to the absolute limit.

Chris

I got this game a day earlier than Amazon told me I'd receive it. Already a plus. This has more songs than the original, you get to see a music video in the background when you do the Battle of the Bands. My son and I started on medium as soon as we got the game because we already had enough practice on the original Rock Band. We've been playing this game every night since we got it. The Rock Band 2 version has a few more songs that I'm into (i.e. Duran Duran and the Go-go's) compared to more of what I consider 'rock' songs so I definitely like this version better. We like it!

Rock Band 1 was a great game and I had so much fun with it that there was no question about getting Rock Band 2 the moment it was available. I bought the Rock Band 2 stand alone CD without the instruments because I have them from Rock Band 1.

To those who have never played RB1 or any of the Guitar Hero games, this is a video game where using supplied instruments (like guitars and drums) you can "play" along with songs shown on screen. In effect you are the rock band. For a full review of gameplay you can google for their website.

Instruments: (I have Playstation 2)
The new drum set is supposed to be better and I might get that one once my old drum set breaks. The problem with the drum set (both RB1 and RB2) is that the outside drums only have 1 point of attachment and when caught up in the music, you tend to bang your drums as hard as possible so those will eventually break. If you don't want to buy new drums you can set the drums on a low table without the legs, or put tripods underneath the outside drums which is what I have done.

I already have 3 guitars, from the Rock Band1, Dreamgear and the one from Guitar Hero World Tour. All work without a hitch. Both OEM guitars are much higher quality than the Dreamgear guitar and I recommend you get an OEM guitar if you need an extra one.

The mic is from RB1 and works with RB2 as well as GH World Tour (GHWT).

Gameplay:
What can I say, it's just great! The music comes across loud and strong, I love the song selections, and Harmonix has just done a great job putting the music to frets. The difficulties are just right for each selection. The visuals are great too. The touring and extras are OK, but it's the music which is the main selling point of the game. I think they should just continue selling track packs for different types of music. There is really not that much need to put in any bells and whistles.

Comparison with Guitar Hero World Tour: RB1 and RB2 are much better. I just like the visuals better. I think the Rock Band programming is better, I think they did a much better job of mating the music to the on screen frets. The GHWT menu is less player friendly to go through, less instinctive. To me, there is just no comparison. Rock Band rocks!

A word on PS2. It's too bad that PS2 doesn't have all the dowloadable and extra stuff that Xbox or PS3 has, but then neither does the Wii. The good thing is that the PS2 stuff is usually cheaper and I can often find the PS2 track packs and older games on sale! RB2 is $10 cheaper on the PS2 than everything else. As long as you don't care about the downloadable stuff I think PS2 is just great, everything else just works the same. Just hope they continue to support PS2 down the line, but if they don't, I'll have gotten my money's worth already.

I love the game, but on Playstation 2 it doesn't have character creator or the ability to make money like the X-Box has. VERY disappointed with that. Being able to create your own character and make/spend money is what playing in a band is about. Seriously considering buying a different console just to play this game properly.

I used to play video games quite often and could've been considered a 'gamer' at one point. I usually hate these simon says type games like dance dance revolution. I never really liked guitar hero much and was more interested in games that required thought, talent and had a good story. When rockband came out i was intrigued. Drums, singer, bass and guitar seemed like it could be interesting and it undoubtedly was. I love playing games with my friends and not alone. This is the perfect game for anyone. It doesnt matter if you've never played a video game before you can play this AND have fun. For people who arent as good they can select a easy difficulty. for more experienced players they can select hard or expert. all four players can be on their own seperate difficulty. my mom is in her mid 40's and has a blast playing the drums, she never played a video game before but its great.

Moving on, Rockband 2 isn't a whole lot different. All the instruments work still and the songs are much more appealing to me as a 22 yr old i didnt know many of the classic rock songs from the first rockband. there are a few different game modes, they try and have you follow like a venue like playing different cities and things, i dont really care about that crap. its the same thing as just playing them all in a row in my opinion. there are a few challenge modes i havent done them all yet. Overall this is a great game and at just under thirty bucks it was a great buy as well.

A couple people have said it didnt play on the older ps2 systems which made me very very nervous in purchasing it. I have the original ps2 system from when it came out like 7 years ago or something. It still runs and had no problem with this game. I'm very happy with it.

This game is awesome! Great song selection. Very diverse. Classic stuff and newer stuff, but they are all good. If you like Rock Band, get it. Totally worth it

It has an excellent song selection. It is compatible with RB1 drums and definitely more challenging than the RB1. Everything is great except there is one song, "Feel the Pain" by Dinosaur Jr., that will not play all the way through. Although, it could just be our PS2 just does not like the song.

We have the first rockband and was getting tired of all the old songs so we decided to buy the second one. It was a lot of fun. It has a different set up as to open new levels of songs but it was totally fun. I would recommend this to anyone looking for some fun.