Review Rock Band Special Edition

Features Rock Band Special Edition
* Experience 4 music games in 1--master lead guitar, bass guitar, drums, and vocals. Music spans all genres of rock and includes many master recordings from legendary artists.
* Form your own band, create and customize your own rocker, and travel on a fast rise to fame around the world.
* Choose single-player Career mode leading a band or multiplayer as part of the band or against each other--in person or online. Supports downloadable content for never-ending challenges.
* The Rock Band Special Edition includes the Xbox 360 game, a guitar controller, drum set, and microphone.

Details Rock Band Special Edition
* Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
* Weight 19 pounds
* Media: Video Game
* Release Date: November 20, 2007

Description Rock Band Special Edition
Amazon.com Tap into your Rock & Roll fantasy as you pick your axe, form a band and tour for fame and fortune, all while sticking the rock credo of learning your instrument as you go in Rock Band. Bring the house to its feet in Rock Band For those about to rock! Solo Tour Mode Jam solo if that's your thing. View larger. Band world tour mode Or try multiplayer action. View larger. Step to the mic Step to the mic. View larger. Drum like a wildman! Or go Bonzo on the skins! View larger. Developed by Harmonix, creators of the blockbuster Guitar Hero franchise, Rock Band is an all- new platform for gamers ready to take on the challenges of the Rock & Roll lifestyle. Instruments available to players are guitar, bass, drums or vocals as they hit the road as either an aspiring superstar solo act, or for the first time in game genre history take on the true collaborative and challenging nature of music as they form a band and jam together in multiplayer action from home or around the world. Either way players will need to master their stage presence through the various game modes and polish their rock chops via the unrivaled Rock Band song list if they hope to make it out of the garage, into the clubs and finally on to the main stage. * Rock Band Special Edition for Xbox 360 includes: guitar, mic, drum kit peripherals plus software.

Extensive Game Modes. Rock Band
delivers four music games in one - challenging rockers to master lead guitar, bass guitar, drums and vocals through the five separate game modes.
* Tutorial Mode: Master the basics! No need for experience. Pick your weapon of choice and ascend from beginner to rock god.
* Practice Mode: Perfect your tune! Breakdown any part of any song at your preferred speed before hitting the main stage.
* Quickplay Mode: Instant fix of fun! Jump into any unlocked song for some quick jam time either on your own or with other players.
* Solo Tour Mode: Take it on the road! Pack up your instrument of choice and set out on the open road for a fun and challenging single player career.
* Band World Tour Mode: Conquer the world! The journey to rock stardom takes you from small town bars to world-renowned venues. Earn fame and fortune along the way to secure rock star necessities.

A Song List That Goes to Eleven!
Built on unprecedented deals with top record labels and music publishers, the mix of remastered originals and covers that make up the epic Rock Band song list puts players in the shoes of legendary artists from day one. And with the promise of additional downloadable songs and albums you are sure to be rockin’ for some time to come. In addition to the 45 tracks listed below, Rock Band will also feature 13 songs ranging from a variety of established bands to up-and- coming independent artists that can be unlocked as you play through the game. Track list includes: * Rolling Stones "Gimme Shelter"
* Aerosmith "Train Kept a Rollin'"
* The Who "Won't Get Fooled Again"
* Boston "Foreplay/Long Time"
* Mountain "Mississippi Queen"
* The Police "Next to You"
* David Bowie "Suffragette City"
* Black Sabbath "Paranoid"
* Blue Oyster Cult "Don't Fear the Reaper"
* The Ramones "Blitzkrieg Bop"
* Deep Purple "Highway Star"
* KISS "Detroit Rock City"
* Molly Hatchet "Flirtin' With Disaster"
* The Outlaws "Green Grass & High Tides"
* Sweet "Ballroom Blitz"
* Rush "Tom Sawyer"
* Bon Jovi "Wanted Dead or Alive"
* The Clash "Should I Stay or Should I Go"
* Faith No More "Epic"
* R.E.M. "Orange Crush"
* Iron Maiden "Run to the Hills"
* Foo Fighters "Learn to Fly"
* Metallica "Enter Sandman"
* Nirvana "In Bloom"
* Stone Temple Pilots "Vasoline"
* Weezer "Say It Ain't So"
* Smashing Pumpkins "Cherub Rock"
* Radiohead "Creep"
* Beastie Boys "Sabotage"
* Hole "Celebrity Skin"
* Garbage "I Think I'm Paranoid"
* Soundgarden "Black Hole Sun"
* The Hives "Main Offender"
* Queens of the Stone Age "Go With the Flow"
* The Strokes "Reptilia"
* Jet "Are You Gonna Be My Girl"
* OK Go "Here It Goes Again"
* Nine Inch Nails "The Hand That Feeds"
* Pixies "Wave of Mutilation"
* Yeah Yeah Yeahs "Maps"
* Red Hot Chili Peppers "Dani California"
* Coheed & Cambria "Welcome Home"
* Fallout Boy "Dead on Arrival"
* The Killers "When You Were Young"
* New Pornographers "Electric Version"

Description
Time to release your inner rock star! Dive into Rock Band's challenging and addicting game modes and rock out to your favorite tunes. Put together a band, play in it, and tour for fame and fortune- all while learning to master lead/bass guitar, drums and vocals. Major record labels and leading music publishers have signed on to provide unrivaled access to master recordings and legendary rock artists - from punk, metal and alternative to classic and southern rock - including many master recordings from legendary artists, including acts like Metallica, Bon Jovi, Stone Temple Pilots and the Ramones! Learn to play songs spanning all genres of rock and with access to new downloadable content, it's a new concert experience every time! Play together in your living room or across the world - Rock Band offers deep online functionality, allowing players to rock together whether they're in Rhode Island or Reykjavik. This Special Edition box includes game, guitar, microphone and drum set -- everything you need to get in the game and rock out! Call out the crowd! Vocalists can bring the crowd to their feet during Rock Band's freestyle vocal fill windows. Ad-lib your own words or shout to the crowd to raise the rock intensity of the performance. Band mates can fail out of a song for poor performance, but the band still plays on. Rescue your failing mate by busting out signature moves and blistering solos to wow the crowd with showmanship.

Quite Possibly the Greatest Party Game Ever Made, December 11, 2007
By Mr. Bey (Riverside, CT United States)

This Christmas season many people and parents are thinking about whether or not to buy Rock Band or Guitar Hero 3. I bought Guitar Hero 3 when it came out but the truth is I only bought Guitar Hero 3 so I could have the extra guitar controller. Guitar Hero 3 is a fun game but if you're a parent who's looking to decide which one to buy there's really no competition. Rock Band may be $170 but it's been many years since I felt that I got this much value out of one game. Rock Ban's replay ability downright massacres Guitar Hero 3's. Rock Band may be a lot of money but I think you'll win parent of the year award if you buy Rock Band Special Edition. Harmonix, the original Guitar Hero creators have once again revolutionized the way we play video games with Rock Band. Rock Band's main game play is meant to be its multiplayer where four people create their own characters in a band and travel to various places around the world playing gigs and earning fans and money. A new feature introduced in Rock Band is that you are penalized in the game for failing or restarting a song during world tour. As you gain fans you gain people like sound technicians who in reality do nothing but look cool in the game. The world tour should supply you with many hours of game play even more if you aren't using the same four people as your band mates.The solo career is basically the same thing as Guitar Hero's except it should give you a lot of much needed extra practice with drums, vocals, and guitar if you need it. I found the guitar parts to be much easier than Guitar Hero's but at the same time more enjoyable because hard and expert are not all about pushing the same two buttons over and over again as fast as you can. It's quite fun. I'm a bassist so I was disappointed about the lack of bass career mode but the bass lines can be rather boring so I don't exactly blame them. The drum parts are very hard at first but you should get the hang out it. Singing is a different story, I still haven't mastered it. Despite what people might tell you, Rock Band's single player is just as fun as Guitar Hero and gives you more stuff to do.
Rock Band fixed some of the annoying things about Guitar Hero. Rock Band shows you how many stars you have earned and how close you are to the next one while you are playing so you get a sense of where you need to improve. However I felt that the Rock Band guitar was not as good as the Guitar Hero 3 wireless guitar. The set list is great but contained fewer songs than Guitar Hero, but there are more downloadable songs and Harmonix have announced more for the future. I was very impressed with the selection of songs the game had, every genre is represented in the game.Guitar Hero is a great game but Rock Band has taken Guitar Hero's basis and built so much more on top of it. Rock Band so far has destroyed every party game I've ever played and this game is the must have game of the year. I would still buy Guitar Hero 3 for the controller, but if you're only going to buy one Rock Band is the one for you.

Great drums, shady guitar controller, November 27, 2007
By shivatrance (rehoboth, DE USA)

I, like most fans of the Guitar Hero series, have been anticipating the arrival of this game since I first learned of its development back in July. When I first saw the photos of the guitar controller I became ecstatic. It looked like the guitar controller I have always wanted since I actually own a real Stratocaster made to the Eric Clapton "Blackie" design. The controller looks almost exactly like my real guitar! So with that combined with the fact that the game was created by the original development team fir Guitar Hero I and II, Needless to say I was quivering with anticipation.
The is no doubt that the guitar gameplay is very similar to the Guitar Hero series. For some reason though, I seem to have a harder time focusing on the notes in Rock Band since they are little rectangles instead of fat circles like in GH. But the song list is amazing and that certainly makes up for some cons. However there is one thing I cannot get over:
The Guitar controller sucks. There. I said it. The construction of the unit is just the cheapest of cheap plastic. When you are playing it, you feel as though you have to be careful not to break it. Yeah, the buttons are designed better in my opinion but the plastic actually bends under minimal pressure. WTF!?!?! And while I was excited about the buttons on the lower fretboard for solos, they are almost too narrow to be played by average adult hands. So now I will find myself plugging in my GH3 controller for Rock Band.But there is a huge plus side: The drums. They are just incredibly fun to play. And while they may not be built like real drums but rather electonic drumpad abominations from the 1980's they seem as though they can stand up to some abuse. They are pretty hard to rock out to on the advanced levels making them a fun and addicting challenge. I have a good friend who is a drummer and he picked them up and did amazing on his first go do they are pretty realistic as you can get. The developers claim that if you can play the drums on expert level on the game than you are basically playing drums for real. Pretty neat.The mic. I think this is alright. Works well but seems to almost force you to not sing in your natural singing voice. Instead they really want you to sound like the person singing the original song. Hard to sing like Roger Daultry one song and then switch to Billy Corgan the next. This feature seems to be almost designed for parties. All in all a solid game. The song list is great and does not disappoint. Like I said, I just found the guitar controller and game play to be a letdown. At least the drums are great. But hey, you may feel differently. Have fun with it.