The Games we play...
- Thread starter Ormerod
- Start date
SnooSnoo said:
I know it's "bigger league", but have you tried Backbreaker Snoo? It does for American Football games what Skate did for Skateboard games. It makes them challenging and fun. If you've not tried it, I recommend the demo.
RCF said:
Okay... Are we ready...
Let's start with the fact that Rock Band was actually Guitar Hero III.
Harmonix (essentially the people who invented the "play notes in time to real tunes" genre) approached Activision and said "we don't want to just do another Guitar Hero, we're not into just doing repeat ad infinitum sequels, we want to expand on things, and we want more time to do it."
Activision told them to bugger off and make a sequel, so they just buggered off and took their new ideas (Rock Band as it was being known) to MTV games.
Activision own the rights to the name Guitar Hero, and the engine. So they just farmed it out to another development team to produce another sequel.
Harmonix were given the room to breath and do something new - Rock Band.
If you're a dedicated "Guitar Hero man, always have been, always will be" - then you've missed the fact that Guitar Hero now has nothing to do with the original two (excellent) Guitar Hero games.
Okay, so the differences, and it IS subjective and it IS subtle.
On the face of it, both are the same. Rock Band has coloured rectangles coming down the screen to hit at a certain time, Guitar Hero has coloured circles. That's the only actual core difference when you're playing the actual game... If you can play one, then you can play the other.
The differences are in the way the game and songs, etc are presented. It's the package.
When you load up Guitar Hero, it's over the top, in your face RAWK It's an ironic nod to heavy metal and its fans. You build your band and have heavy customisation of your band members. The flexibility is superb. Everything is based around this very over the top idea though. It's all very loud and brash. As I say, it's ironic and tongue in cheek.
Then you start playing the game and you have a series of concerts. Complete a set of concerts and it opens up more. You can't play the songs until you've unlocked them on a higher tier.
That's pretty much it. There are editors for creating your own songs and things, there's a lot to the game.
Rock Band starts with a silly into movie, trying to show how "Rock" it is, but it always feels a bit silly and cheap. It's difficult to describe, but it's just not over the top enough to get away with being deliberately amusing. It's not a great start.
The main screen loads up though, and it's pretty quiet... It's got all the right noises here and there and everything, but it really is very simple. Band creation is likewise very simple. Very little in the way of character customisation here. Most of your band just end up looking like store dummies with bad wigs.
The game again is like Guitar Hero, with concerts to perform, and they unlock.
So again, it all sounds pretty similar, not much to pick between them.
It's all down to the finer details.
Guitar Hero isn't ironic. It actually takes itself too seriously and it grates with me. It's the way Activision sell it, with the same "if you don't love this, it's because YOU'RE NOT METAL ENOUGH!!!" attitude.
Suddenly, the peace and quiet, the subtleness of Rock Band is very appealing.
To add to this, Activision then bundle in "Rock legends" into Guitar Hero. They sell it on getting real rock stars in so you can perform as them, or against them in a "duel".
Like all the other "add-ons", what Activision is actually doing is making lists. We have this, Rock Band don't. We have this, Rock Band don't.
It's like they're making up for the fact that Harmonix not only dared to leave and go their own way, but then beat them to the punch and did it better, making them play catch up. Activision are still producing year on year editions and each time, they add more functions and less value.
See, they're so busy trying to have the longest list of features, they're forgetting about making the game playable. I'll admit, I've not played Guitar Hero 5, so can't comment there. However.
Rock Band 2 is pretty much the same as the original. What they've done is taken every single niggle from the original and fixed it. Every minor complaint has been fixed (or is on the list to be fixed for Rock Band 3).
Everything that was annoying about Guitar Hero III was still there in Guitar Hero World Tour. I don't want to have to complete a set list to open up the next set list and more songs. I certainly don't want to be forced to play through the entire album (or so it seemed) of a band I've never heard before to unlock more than five tracks.
GHWT was a chore to play. Okay, if you love Tool, but if not - you have to go through three of their tracks within half an hour of starting the game to try and unlock anything else. Just the idea of no more tracks until you've been forced to complete others sucks, big time.
With Rock Band, you unlock "gigs" as you complete gigs. So one song can unlock a couple more gigs to play. So the game is much more open to options. If you dislike a song at one gig, then you can generally avoid it for quite a while (if not forever). It means that opening up the game is down to your choice, not the developers.
The biggest difference for me though was the way the actual game played. In Guitar Hero III and GHWT, it just felt dull. It was all... Brash and dull. I know it's going to sound wrong, but it was all about trying to press buttons on a plastic thing at the correct time as a blob of colour passed down the screen.
I KNOW that's what the game is, but this is where I think Guitar Hero gets it wrong. It's something Harmonix understand that Activition and its farmed out developers don't get.
I don't want to press buttons in time to blobs on the screen. That's sad, I want to pretend I'm in a real band (that's not at all sad
).Rock Band immerses you into the gig much better. The reaction of the crowd when you're doing well, the way it handles vocals... It's really difficult to spot, but Guitar Hero feels sterile. It's quiet in the actual game like Rock Band is in the menus. Yet it's the actual game that's the time you want it to be loud. Rock Band has the crowd singing the chorus back at you, it's more like "you're there". You're not just bashing buttons on a plastic instrument.
I think maybe this is what it comes down to. Guitar Hero is for "pure game" if you like. The music is pure. The mechanics for hitting the buttons is pure. It's designed to make people think they're the rock gods they're representing and I hate it.
I owned GHWT for a week and neither Minor_Furie or myself could play it any more. We tried and tried, but we both just hated it. It was so, so boring. It forced us to do things and constrained us. Vocals were really just a poor add on. It was just such a dull, dry experience.
As for the "editor"? Well, you could make your own tracks in GHWT if you wanted and it was great. Rock Band started the "Rock Band Network", were any up and coming band could submit their work to be added to Rock Band. So you could have synthesised home created work in Guitar Hero, or real live bands in Rock Band.
That's the difference in ethos between the two.
For Activision, it's a commercial product. It's designed by people in suits in a board room and given to a team who produce it, then people in suits decide if it meets their quality or not and if it's being done quickly enough to meet this year's deadline.
For Harmonix, it's a labour of love. It's a small(ish) team producing a gaming experience for their fans and the fans of the music. They're not distracted by gizmos and silly add-ons. They're making a core gaming experience which they want to make. They're not rushed and only make changes which improve the way the game is played.
Yes, I'm biased, but one is pure corporate sellout - surely Guitar Hero goes completely against everything that rock and roll actually stands for?
If you've never played either, go for the one which has the most tracks you know to be honest. Also have a look at both websites and look at what additional DLC is available. For me, the Rock Band DLC suits me much better. It's a much broader selection.
bob_3_
Giga Poster
I used to follow games and get alot, but I just don't have any money at the moment (I mean £40 for one item from a shop! sounds mental now-a-days)
But I did put some money aside and finally got Super Mario Galaxy 2 and awww, what a satisfying game to play, every movement and and task just cheers you up.
But I did put some money aside and finally got Super Mario Galaxy 2 and awww, what a satisfying game to play, every movement and and task just cheers you up.
kimahri
CF Legend
furie said:
Maybe it's just me, having played both Rock Band and Guitar Hero Pre and Post GH3. They still feel Exactly the same to me other than the previous art style and set lists.
Maybe its just me and I don't really follow Non-Video Game Music that well Nor did I want to be a Rock Star that much either but they all played too similar to make a difference.
In other news I'm so awesome I can 1CC MushihimeSama futari on Ultra! When i put it on super easy mode. :|
And since its required since it came out 11 days ago and I forgot about it.
TOUHOU 12.8, OMFG!!!!!!!!!!!!
As I said (somewhere), it's very subtle. If you have only played Guitar Hero, then you won't notice the fact Rock Band has more depth (in terms of gameplay experience) from a bit of playing. It just appears a bit short on "stuffs" initially.
If you play Rock Band a lot, then you notice how lacking Guitar Hero is.
Also, case in point with Rush's 2112. It's great news if you like Rush and like 2112. If you don't, do you really want to be forced to play an entire album just to be able to unlock the song you've been waiting for for five years - Duran Duran's Wild Boys?
If you just play them off and on, then it really makes no odds. When you play them a lot (and if you're doing vocals), the differences are really massive. It IS only due to playing a lot you'll really notice though.
Thinking of picking up Skate 3 today... It's only £19 in Tesco (hint to Bob_3, wait for a bit and then pick games up cheap ). Not sure if I'd play it too much or not. I enjoyed the first one, but I have so much else to play at the moment... It's just so cheap. Must. Resist. Bargains! :lol:
If you play Rock Band a lot, then you notice how lacking Guitar Hero is.
Also, case in point with Rush's 2112. It's great news if you like Rush and like 2112. If you don't, do you really want to be forced to play an entire album just to be able to unlock the song you've been waiting for for five years - Duran Duran's Wild Boys?
If you just play them off and on, then it really makes no odds. When you play them a lot (and if you're doing vocals), the differences are really massive. It IS only due to playing a lot you'll really notice though.
Thinking of picking up Skate 3 today... It's only £19 in Tesco (hint to Bob_3, wait for a bit and then pick games up cheap
). Not sure if I'd play it too much or not. I enjoyed the first one, but I have so much else to play at the moment... It's just so cheap. Must. Resist. Bargains! :lol:I think the difference I have with the way I play Guitar Hero and Robkband is that I only ever play them when I'm with a big group of people at a party or on holiday, so I'm only ever playing a couple of songs before giving up my place to someone else. it also means that the atmosphere isn't being created by the game, it's real people around me that are making the noise.
Quite agree. We used to have some great times with The first 3 Guitar Hero games as a group and when there's six or seven of us playing Rock Band, it just flows as people step in and out of songs they like/can do.
As a party game, both are fine, but as a game to play through with myself and Minor_Furie, Rock Band works much much better in that environment. It IS like comparing crumbly cheese and hard cheese. As long as you like cheese, you're probably going to be okay
As a party game, both are fine, but as a game to play through with myself and Minor_Furie, Rock Band works much much better in that environment. It IS like comparing crumbly cheese and hard cheese. As long as you like cheese, you're probably going to be okay
dropthefloor93
Hyper Poster
Personally i used to play World of Warcraft RELIGIOUSLY. now I once in a while will play Metroid Prime 1 and Metroid Fusion. I <3 the metroid series.
But all of those Call of Duty Modern Warfare addicts that have nothing better to do than to play Lacrosse and COD are just bollocks to me. Someone did a bomb threat at my school so he could get himself along with his friends out of school so they could be home when the free map pack code for COD4MW2 was released.
****ing bollocks
But all of those Call of Duty Modern Warfare addicts that have nothing better to do than to play Lacrosse and COD are just bollocks to me. Someone did a bomb threat at my school so he could get himself along with his friends out of school so they could be home when the free map pack code for COD4MW2 was released.
****ing bollocks
dropthefloor93
Hyper Poster
^I Haven't played since march 2010. I uninstalled it and threw away the game...
it was for the better
-No Sleep
-No Life
-All my dreams looked like WoW raids
it was for the better
-No Sleep
-No Life
-All my dreams looked like WoW raids
Nic
Strata Poster
I also thought that GH went downhill after Harmonix left. Apart from anything else, I just don't think that the notes sync with with music as well in GH3 as they did in the first two. As such, I find it harder to play, and not because I'm rubbish (For what it's worth, I find it impossible to play on the X Box too, as I'm used to PS2. No idea why, but I do). Yeah, so I kinda lost interest about halfway through playing 3, and haven't really touched it since.
I've only played RB once, and that was on a dodgy cracked copy that kept crashing. From what I saw, it was good. Trouble with RB is that it costs too much to buy all the bits... not to mention the amount of space it takes up. Yes, I'm sure it'd plummeted in price now from when it came out, but still.
So yeah, GH was fun for a while, but I'm kinda over it now
I've only played RB once, and that was on a dodgy cracked copy that kept crashing. From what I saw, it was good. Trouble with RB is that it costs too much to buy all the bits... not to mention the amount of space it takes up. Yes, I'm sure it'd plummeted in price now from when it came out, but still.
So yeah, GH was fun for a while, but I'm kinda over it now
I have a spare Microphone... Not sure if the GH guitar for PS2 will work on the PS2 version of Rock Band though, but you'd be halfway there then. Having you singing along to Song 2 at 3:30 a.m. would be a good way to get back at "the people upstairs"
(Song 2 only available on Lego Rock Band ).
(Song 2 only available on Lego Rock Band
).
CMonster
Giga Poster
In the GH series, I've only played 3 and WT, and I vastly prefered 3. I really liked that game, liked the songs, gameplay, everything.
GHWT I didn't like at all. I don't know why, I just didn't like it. The gameplay, whatever, I just got bored really quickly.
HAven't really played Rock Band that much, but from the two or three songs I've done, it was fun.
GHWT I didn't like at all. I don't know why, I just didn't like it. The gameplay, whatever, I just got bored really quickly.
HAven't really played Rock Band that much, but from the two or three songs I've done, it was fun.
Nic:
http://uk.gamespot.com/features/6183555/index.html
You CAN use your PS2 GH guitar with Rock Band for the PS2. Should be able to pick up Rock Band for bugger all and I can furnish you with a Mic if you want to experience it?
Love Singstar
Madame_furie accused me of strangling cat doing "Summer of 69". So I dropped an octave and then Minor_Furie accused me of strangling a Rhino.
Obviously not my finest song... :lol:
http://uk.gamespot.com/features/6183555/index.html
You CAN use your PS2 GH guitar with Rock Band for the PS2. Should be able to pick up Rock Band for bugger all and I can furnish you with a Mic if you want to experience it?
Love Singstar
Madame_furie accused me of strangling cat doing "Summer of 69". So I dropped an octave and then Minor_Furie accused me of strangling a Rhino.
Obviously not my finest song... :lol:
Nic
Strata Poster
Apparently you can use one of the singstar mic's for rock band
http://boardsus.playstation.com/t5/Sing ... p/34892299
*toddles off to ebay*
http://boardsus.playstation.com/t5/Sing ... p/34892299
*toddles off to ebay*
Mushroom
Goon of the Year
Been playing Worms Reloaded =D Great to go back to a classic series =D Been playing Benin at it, close match 1st time out, even with a dodgy keyboard (which has now been replaced) but I won. But he beat me at a Rope Race.
Anyone else going to get this? Its out now via Steam for £18
Anyone else going to get this? Its out now via Steam for £18