Rock Band 2 - Rock Band 2 for Xbox Review

Rock Band 2 lets you and up to 3 friends live out your dreams of being a rock star without that pesky learning to play real instruments and getting gigs.

Rock Band 2 is the fourth game by Harmonix to use fake instruments to replicate real songs. The team behind the first two Guitar Heroes before being wooed away by MTV, their last offering was the first to introduce drums and singing to the guitar-centric theme.

This latest game works with the first rock band instruments (which had some problems with weak drum kits), as well as being offered in a special edition bundle. The songs from the first Rock Band can (mostly) be carried over into Rock Band 2 for a small fee, while all the downloaded songs from Rock Band are Rock Band 2 compatible. This brings the library of songs to a massive 500 within the first 4 months of release.

The set up is simple, with 3 "Tracks" on the screen with colourful dots streaming down. Hit the correct fret button or drum pad as the dot crosses the line, and you make beautiful music. Miss, and you lose your streak. Miss a lot, and you are booed from the stage.

The game is laid back enough that rarely happens, however, and you can be saved by your team mates when things look bad. With multiple levels of difficulty, you can set the pace to whatever you feel is good for you.

The good news is that bands are realising how profitable this can be, and are allowing master tracks to be used rather than bad covers. The bad news is that these songs are going to cost you - $2 a pop. Which doesn't sound like much, until the addiction of "OMG this was my favourite song in college" clicking starts. It's like the Itunes store, but with stronger cravings.

The game can be played by yourself, though the joys of going through the "campaign" mode is worth it just to see the real world parallels between your fake band on screen and your real band in your living room. Just keep the fights down to a minimum - anything you damage will come out of your earnings from the gig...