1 year ago
Good List Get! Rock Band: Unplugged
Good List Get! is a weekly article where I briefly discuss and list the Awesome and Not Awesome of a game. While I can’t possibly list everything that rocks or doesn’t rock about a game, I’d like to think that this list sparks some thought about game design.
This week’s game is a new port of the mega hit music game Rock Band, for the PSP.
Awesome:
Track switching during a song is awesome, and involves using the L and R shoulder buttons to switch through instruments. It’s absolutely rad and makes for a really different feeling Rock Band experience. This was such a phenomenal design choice as it really makes up for not being able to play with other people as in the console version.
Vocals are now like any other instrument and if the PSP had a mic, I’m sure they would’ve used it, but then again since it’s a portable game, sing/shouting into your PSP may make you look like an idiot.
My band is called The Hoots, we have an owl logo, and it’s comprised of my girlfriend, my dog, Malcom X on drums, and I. Go Malik El-Shabazz!
PSP screen is lit up with real-time Rock Band graphics instead of an FMV like the pathetic Wii version.
While this deals with taste, I have to say I enjoy the song selection overall.
Wildly it has a fully function music store to download music using WiFi to your PSP.
I don’t miss the clutter-prone periphreals, the d-pad and face buttons work just fine, if not better than plastic USB instruments.
The PSP has superior sound to the DS, so plugging in your headphones won’t amplify the crap decibels because Rock Band: Unplugged sound great with headphones. Ahem, unlike Guitar Hero: On Tour.
You can create your own band, just like the console releases. You can’t create your own logo, but you can choose from some moderately okay to great artist designed logos.
Not Awesome:
The “rock hard/devil horns” aesthetics have got to go. It’s annoying and while the game has good graphic design and typeface choices; it’s so typical that it hurts the game and depletes some of it’s legitimacy.
Character creation and band creation is weak, but at least it’s there.
I’m really uncomfortable buying digital music for my PSP game, in fact so uncomfortable that it almost seems bizarre to buy such locked down songs. Even though they’re special Rock Band versions, shouldn’t I at least be emailed links to download the real mp3s? Some musicians and labels are trying to use music games as a legitimate form of DRM, and I’m not buying it or into it. Give it up already.
If you’ve already own any other versions of Rock Band, this one really does not offer much more than it’s bigger console brothers. That is unless, you have money to throw around and want to give it a spin anyway.
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