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The Official Rock Revolution Discussion Thread

4K views 35 replies 12 participants last post by  jawgee 
#1 ·
Hopefully, this can be a useful spot for people who have some interest in, or even actually played Rock Revolution.


With RB2 out and GH:WT just around the corner, this game has a very short window to make an impression. What's yours?
 
#2 ·
I started the same thread in the PS3 forum and it quickly fell into the black hole of lost posts.


If you are interested in seeing the game in action, check out the following link. It has videos for all of the songs (drum charts). Based on what I saw, I might pick it up as it looks more interesting than I thought. Plus, I like the song list even though most are covers.

http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=Jarr3tt88
 
#3 ·
After runing through the first few stages of the game I thought that it was time to see if anyone else had given this one a go and discuss.


For starters, I have purchased every Guitar Hero since I for PS2 and X360 with my fair share of wired, wireless and 3rd party controllers. Reluctantly wading into the Rockband waters last fall, I have now picked up RB2 and have 100+ DLC easily for RB. GH DLC? Everything except Dragonforce...(why bother? avoid the frustration
.

Most of the time its guitar or bass for me, occasionally with a diva on the mic, filling out the band with mates online.


I like rhythm games.



With GH:WT a couple of weeks away and RB2's Endless Setlist behind me, I broke down and found a copy of Rock Revolution. Covers or not, Skid Row, Scorpions, Quiet Riot and Motley Crue just couldn't be passed up.


IMHO, although the master track recordings are (always?) preferred if they are in good shape, these covers mange to do the job without causing too much of a distraction. An example? GH:80s "Round and Round" just couldn't help itself. The covers in Rock Revolution that I have heard are for the most part, "technically accurate" but lack the nuances, or passion of the original performances. You may have heard Steve Perry's replacement and although he offers an impressive rendition, you just "know" somehow that it is different.

Gameplay:


I played RR with both the LP and Strat (no real preference besides the fact that one had dead batteries) with no problems. My guess is that the drums will be the biggest change/adjustment, especially with the getup that RR has!


The shocker was the note "runway" is completely vertical -straight from the top of the screen to the bottom with now depth or perspective to blend it in with the rest of the scenery. The "overlay" is acutally confused by the action behid the note chart that at times includes the singer who could easliy be shown in the other two-thirds of the screen that is available.


I'm not sure if the note windows are that much more difficult, but the scroll is faster and the "long notes"/sustains are thick bars that make it harder to pick out the notes in between. The HO/PO are identified with a little white center which can take some adjustment. There are counters for streaks and combos on the left, but your "fail" meter is over in the top right corner so you may not immediately know how you are "playing with fire" during a solo or "machine-gun strum." The pace of the notes, perspective might even make you a little nauseous - just sayin'
.


The stages are organized into albums with 3 songs and 3 "Challenges" (one for each) that give you the arcade-style play. Challenges I've seen so far:

- increasing difficulty throughout the song, or faster note charts with higher multipliers ...

- memorizing a few bars to be played back without a note chart


- "poison notes" wich are purposely overcharted with the challenge that you do not play the "bomb" notes. This seems like a good idea until you see that the "bomb" notes are mixed in with chords so you must play 2 out of three notes, etc. and see reference above about picking notes out of the line-up.



The crowd meter is the "Atmosphere Meter" and you get it by playing well if not totally dependent on "StarPower phrases." The Multipliers diminish instead of dropping to zero. There is a streak meter, or counter. "Strum Boxes" are kept alive by strumming and maybe a welcome change from trying to match up those really fast (and hard to read) notes.


The good thing is that you only have to pass the song or challenge version of the song to move ahead (3/6). After clearing two albums, you open up a new venue that allows you to make a custom setlist (3) of songs from the other two albums. These performances offer solo sections were you can improvise. The solo/freestyle sections are interesting but I'm not sure how purposeful the sounds are: Could you play the same solo twice, or is it somehow random? Also, if you are going for a highscore perhaps the win goes to the fastest masher. Either way, I like the possibility to take it off the rails now and then.


Content:



The character selection offers up (8?) predicatable types to get you started with a handful of unlockables. Diving right into game play, there didn't seem to be any obvious customization options and the characters are pretty dull. The animations are very limited and lack the personality that is conveyed by RB gestures or the caricature GH models. RR has a difficult time creating that sense of "being there" as part of the band -more like being part of the audience with wide crowd shots seeming to dominate. Then again, maybe the notechart is taking most of my focus and there will be a greater opportunity to appreciate the other details once the songs are more familiar.


You can "fake" animations with quick pans, angles, and other tricks but for the most part these faces seem unexpressive and they are pretty the much digital mannequins... that they are.



The venues look fairly decent but they come accross as sterile. There are some interesting twists, though and perhaps its just a style preference. (Even GH:ON Tour had some interesting ones -Aircraft Carrier!) Maybe it just needs more fog juice. Edit: The "Vegas Strip" and "Rooftop" venues are pretty cool.


Songs? You may miss the 200+ songs in RB when you are revisiting tracks within each stage. Covers aside you still can get a good feel for the songs and, IMHO, the hair metal is a perfect match for this type of game. This way you can have some fun and not take it too seriously. This type of game is enjoyable like "costume party" and I think it takes the fun out to play too much thinking music. This isn't cello hero, or anything.


The songs are listed under their cover band's name so if there is a track that you are not familiar with don't be put off by the unknown group
. Originally, the idea of covers didn't bother me much - you wouldn't be playing in that band anyway, right? But the quality of master tracks help to put you in the moment. Of course, GH franchise takes that a little further by now offering a chance to play against, or as those bands. It's all good.


Maybe I'll find some players online to round out the band and take a look at that "recording studio."

White Room, Spirit of Radio, Youth Gone Wild, In the Still of the Night ...



I realize that the focus and appeal of RR, RB and GH:WT will be the "band play" and that this is basically my impressions of the single player mode.


Well, that's my "stream of consciousness"/wall of text post for now. (I don't think I've created a thread since getting error codes on HD DVD's
).

My $0.02

Considering what games I've spent money on lately, this is one that will at least offer a significant amount of play in a genre that I enjoy. Without the requirement to purchase other instruments, this becomes even more accessible. Rock Revolution may not get a lot of use as new RB dlc, or GH:WT hit the streets, but its at minimum a good rental and one that I don't feel I've wasted my money on.


Maybe, in some small way, this will motivate RB to release more of the RR catalog.
 
#5 ·
Just in case you didn't know... this game is only guitar/bass and drums.


Not much luck finding band members online, but there is a leaderboard so they do exist.


Solo parts: Buttons/button combinations are loaded to trigger preset phrases that I believe can be performed consistently if you hit the same buttons with the same timing. This is a nice bit of freedom that you can experiment with during "new venue performances" vs. the "complete a song" performances. You may be familiar with "RPS" patterns on keyboards, but you definately will be teleported back to the "Casio-inspired" autoband feature for rehearsals and recordings.


For the Studio, you can hit certain button combinations to call up chords while using a variety of guitars (alt rock, blues, heavy metal ... but also acoustic and banjo) and basses (funk, synth, distorted ...).


I have not tried the drums, yet and hopefully some of you from the "The Official Rockband (Drum Mod) Thread" will give it a try soon.
 
#6 ·
i've had a blast with this...i cant wait for their drum peripheral to drop next month, i dont own any of the other rhythm games, but ive certainly played them enough to be pretty well experienced...borrowed a friends extra drum kit (not sure why he had two) to play this and snagged a used guitar off clist..i think i prefer they button keying interface in this to some of the other games...going to go pester my gf to play with me now...
 
#8 ·
Thanks for your impressions, I've been waiting to hear something about this game. I really like what I see from the set list... Pantera, Quiet Riot, Twisted Sister, Skid Row, all good stuff. I don't mind the covers as long as they are done well. I don't think the first Guitar Hero even had a master track, and I still enjoyed it. I found Rockband 2 to be utterly disappointing in the song department, especially on guitar. Except for a few standouts(Testament), the majority of that game was more of a chore than anything.
 
#9 ·
The drum tracks are a lot less challenging once you realize that the kick is the orange note in the middle and you got into options and pick the "5-lane" chart that matches the RB kit. There is a 7-lane kit for the RR set.


It takes some getting used to, but once you stop looking for the orange line I agree that this seems a little easier to read - especially if you have a baptism by fire with a 7-lane chart while still looking for the orange bar.



The fill sections limit you to certain drums which seems cheap compared to the flexibility of fills in RB.
 
#10 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by eatenbacktolife /forum/post/14897792


Thanks for your impressions, I've been waiting to hear something about this game. I really like what I see from the set list... Pantera, Quiet Riot, Twisted Sister, Skid Row, all good stuff. I don't mind the covers as long as they are done well. I don't think the first Guitar Hero even had a master track, and I still enjoyed it. I found Rockband 2 to be utterly disappointing in the song department, especially on guitar. Except for a few standouts(Testament), the majority of that game was more of a chore than anything.

all of the bonus tracks in GH1 were masters including Zack wylde's band.
 
#11 ·
You ever see a movie so derivative and poorly made, you can't believe people took the time and effort to make it? And halfway though the movie you can't wait for it to end... so you watch it over and over again?



That's my feelings on Rock Revolution. It's terrible... and I can't quit playing it.
Some quick thoughts:


props:

-great track list

-reasonable covers (not good, but I've heard worse)

-solid single-player experience, something Rock Band seems to be moving away from

-overdrive/star power adds to the score, and can be activated anytime on drums

-works with ION Drum Rocker (in 5 lane mode*)

-Achievements come fast and easy


crap:

-generic and cheap looking/sounding everything, from characters, mo-cap, samples, venues, audience

-the flat chart runway with kick "dot" (drums) confusing, adds unfair difficulty and forces memorization

-*using 5 lanes on drums limits to single blue tom!


questionable:

-the video game elements (poison notes, memorizing sections, etc.) are a nice change of pace... but they are also very hard, confusing and/or frustrating.


I'm not sure if I like that last thing or not. So far it seems optional, and it taps into more "gamey" feel. And playing the "recording sessions" made me realize how locked into the charts I am, because I suddenly had two left arms when the charts went blank!



I don't know who this dog of a game is for; it fails on just about all counts. I feel sorry for little Billy who is expecting Rock Band or Guitar Hero: World Tour for Christmas... and Grandma buys him this one.


But still, its different from Rock Band and I've had a pretty good amount of fun playing it -- despite it being crap.
 
#13 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by TheWinstonWolf /forum/post/14921777


its probably too harsh to say this game fails in all areas...before my box went rrod i was having a blast with the game...i think when the actual drum kit comes out it will be that much easier to play...

Well... if Rock Band or Guitar Hero didn't exist, it wouldn't be a failure. But comparatively speaking, I can't think of one area where its better then those games.


But, as you said, fun can still be had.
 
#15 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris Rein /forum/post/14923121


This game is out?


Interesting.


Talk about not making a marketing effort here!

i've seen the commercial for it dozens of times on cable, which is more than i can say when the original RB was released almost a year ago...
 
#16 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by DaverJ /forum/post/14922195


Well... if Rock Band or Guitar Hero didn't exist, it wouldn't be a failure. But comparatively speaking, I can't think of one area where its better then those games.


But, as you said, fun can still be had.

DaverJ,


You always have good and honest opinions about RB gameplay and songs so I am using your review as a reason why I am probably going to pick this game up. I use a Roland Drumkit to play RB1 & 2 on my PS3 so I will be limited to playing the 5 note charts. However, I am hoping that Seth will create a firmware update for his adaptor that will allow it to expand to the full 7 inputs. This will provide a very realistic feel with the ability to play my entire kit. I know he is looking into it for GHWT since that uses 6 note charts but if he can add a 7th, I am fully onboard for Rock Revolution.
 
#17 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by mpkelley20 /forum/post/14923947


DaverJ,


You always have good and honest opinions about RB gameplay and songs so I am using your review as a reason why I am probably going to pick this game up. I use a Roland Drumkit to play RB1 & 2 on my PS3 so I will be limited to playing the 5 note charts. However, I am hoping that Seth will create a firmware update for his adaptor that will allow it to expand to the full 7 inputs. This will provide a very realistic feel with the ability to play my entire kit. I know he is looking into it for GHWT since that uses 6 note charts but if he can add a 7th, I am fully onboard for Rock Revolution.

Thanks for the compliment mpkelley20!



I don't know if 7 flat lanes would make this game better or worse... with the kick drum as one of those lanes, it feels weird and is often confusing. The best way to play RR is to memorize the charts.


I forgot to mention that Rock Revolution is $10 cheaper than most new games, which is a nice plus. But, as Chris Rein said, its a busy game season with a lot of better purchases on the shelves than this one.


Still, this game is definitely a rental, if for nothing else to simply to satisfy curiosity. And when it drops in price I'll probably snag it because there's a good selection of fun songs to play.
 
#19 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by DaverJ /forum/post/14924080


Thanks for the compliment mpkelley20!



I don't know if 7 flat lanes would make this game better or worse... with the kick drum as one of those lanes, it feels weird and is often confusing. The best way to play RR is to memorize the charts.

A rare few may ever play this game as intended with the RR kit -I didn't see it where I bought the game. It was a nice surprise that the game was a little cheaper.


After getting used to the location of the orange note, I actually found it easier since I would miss the orange "line" kick notes often. This of course, is one of many reasons why I play the GUITAR parts.



Since RR uses all of the controllers that are already here, it isn't a big deal to play it. More drum pads might be interesting, but I wouldn't advise anyone to go an pick one up in a world that already includes RB2 and GH:WT.
 
#20 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by DaverJ /forum/post/14924080


Thanks for the compliment mpkelley20!



I don't know if 7 flat lanes would make this game better or worse... with the kick drum as one of those lanes, it feels weird and is often confusing. The best way to play RR is to memorize the charts.


I forgot to mention that Rock Revolution is $10 cheaper than most new games, which is a nice plus. But, as Chris Rein said, its a busy game season with a lot of better purchases on the shelves than this one.


Still, this game is definitely a rental, if for nothing else to simply to satisfy curiosity. And when it drops in price I'll probably snag it because there's a good selection of fun songs to play.

I'm sure it will be confusing but I have some experiecne playing DTXMania (Drummania) on my PC using my Roland kit. since it is made by Konami (at least the Drummania arcade version), the setup and gameplay should be similar in Rock Revolution. It uses at least 7 charted notes and some songs available for download actually use 8 (a second crash). It is way harder than RB. Go check out Skitsos (spelling?) youtube videos of DTXMania in action. Even if you are not interested in the game at all, hearing the songs that people play in the game is quite funny!


While Rock Revolution is no Drummania, it COULD still be more like real drumming if I can get my kit to work right.


Maybe I will wait until the prices drop as others suggested. Being on a PS3, I just got RB2 and there is plenty to play in that game. Based on some of the recent songs it has thrown at me, I have a feeling it will take some time to get through on expert!
 
#21 ·
Multiplayer is pathetic.


-only the part you are playing is visible.

-difficulty setting is locked across all band members


-no bass career, either.


I still think that the setlist has some really good songs, but this is really a single player experience. This is reinforced by the fact that I have yet to find any match to play searching at ANY difficulty for ANY song on ANY instrument.


....wait, am I the only person who has this game? ;-)


It won't matter this time tomorrow. (GHWT)
 
#22 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by cueCrew /forum/post/14939492


Multiplayer is pathetic.


-only the part you are playing is visible.

-difficulty setting is locked across all band members


-no bass career, either.

-seemingly shifting calibration based on connection quality?



I don't know if it was because I was dead tired last night and worn out from playing for a couple hours at a Rock Band party... and I should mention my guitar skills have gone down the crapper now that I've been playing drums almost exclusively for the past year. Last night was the first time even trying guitar in Rock Revolution.


So that a lot of variables on my end to really complain about a game defect, but that won't stop me: there were times playing multiplayer on Hard guitar were I was nailing every note/chord for 30 seconds, only to suddenly not be able to hit a single note (even easy ones) for a minute!



CueCrew was the host and reporting a low quality in-game connection on his end from me, but mine showed full strength for both of us.


A better attempt would have been if I played drums, but it was too late for that. I'm willing to give it another shot under better conditions... but that's not going to change the fact that the multiplayer mode is basically two simultaneous single-player sessions with shared results after the song.
 
#24 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by NoThru22 /forum/post/14939908


Two free songs came out on Xbox Live last night for this game. They are original songs, I believe.

Thanks for the heads up!



I just downloaded them and gave each a playthrough on Hard drums. That's probably the last I hear 'em.
With no research, I'm guessing they are developer band's tracks.


"She's the Bug" is a poor-man's Red Hot Chili Peppers: generic-sounding background rock-funk. Some nice syncopated snare hits.


"No Pain, No Gain" is Avenged Sevenfold-lite. At first it sounds like it might be decent, and actually I like it better than a small handful of tracks in RB2. But the almost every track in Revolution is fun to play on drums for the most part, so no real need for the minor leagues.


===


I just played the Rock Revolution cover of Ratt's "Round and Round" on Drum/expert, a track I play a lot of in Rock Band 2. The chart is about as basic as it gets... they included the occasional fast double-kick, but didn't chart the triplets on the ride at all. Also, this is a good example of how lame a single, isolated tom is because the RB2 version has some fun fills down the kit. The only hard part of the song, the galloping section after the guitar solo (right after last time he sings "...we'll put your on your shellllllfffffffff!") is thankfully easier than RB2. Not accurate in RR, mind you, but still... damn that's a hard section in RB!
 
#25 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by DaverJ /forum/post/14940099


I just played the Rock Revolution cover of Ratt's "Round and Round" on Drum/expert, a track I play a lot of in Rock Band 2. The chart is about as basic as it gets... they included the occasional fast double-kick, but didn't chart the triplets on the ride at all. Also, this is a good example of how lame a single, isolated tom is because the RB2 version has some fun fills down the kit. The only hard part of the song, the galloping section after the guitar solo (right after last time he sings "...we'll put your on your shellllllfffffffff!") is thankfully easier than RB2. Not accurate in RR, mind you, but still... damn that's a hard section in RB!

The HO/PO seem to be limited to a certain note value and above - you don't seem to get really fast "trill"-type notes, either. IN R&R, there is that HO/PO y-b-o and back again that is a reliable streak-killer for me that doesn't exist in the RR version.


I'm not sure that I miss them that much because it was just "mash time" for me, anyway.
 
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