Rock Band 3: Keytar Hero

Rock Band 3: Keytar Hero

CSU Cauldron

Date: 10/28/2010, Rockband 3

Rock Band 3, the latest way to pretend you’re a real rock star from Harmonix has dropped this week, with new goodies abound. First and most importantly, the new keyboard peripheral allows a new and exciting way to rock out, provided you have the skill. In addition to the new peripheral, the opportunity to harmonize on vocals has returned from Beatles Rock Band, as well as an entirely re-worked menu/tour system allows the gamer to focus on his or her own avatar instead of worrying about having to play your own band when you want to progress in the game or towards achievements.

Gone are the days of losing fans simply for playing a difficulty you are not prepared for (or being awful), as are the days of having to grind through Bon Jovi and Boston songs to earn enough money to buy that sweet new nerd blue glowing drum set or guitar. Now once you’ve earned fans for completing the latest Flaming Lips song, they stick with you no matter how badly you bomb any song thereafter. This is a pleasant change for those who are concerned with getting 1,000,000 fans as quickly as possible and keeping every one of those fickle minions loyal to you. If, by some cruel twist of fate you get stuck playing one of the new obscenely hard Phish or Chicago songs in a random setlist, you will not be penalized for playing like it’s your first time again or failing miserably trying to impress your buddies or significant other. The example of getting stuck playing a stupidly hard song in a random setlist should be less and less likely as you play, since the inception of a ‘review’ system. This allows you to rate songs after playing them, making the ones more highly rated more likely to get thrown at you in a random set list.

Playing the keyboard is hard. It’s a complete blast once you get used to it, but it’s damn hard. Starting on such classics like In a Big Country, Centerfold, and Here I Go Again did make starting on the keyboard a little easier since everyone on earth should be familiar with at least one of those trashy 80’s songs.  The two modes available on each instrument are regular and ‘pro’ mode. On drums, guitar and bass, you will need special cymbals or completely new axes, with the easiest switch being on the keyboard. In regular mode, you have five keys to use, with each key being a different color. In pro mode, you have the whole two octave keyboard to play with, adding quite a bit of a challenge. Once you figure out how to arrange your fingers, or fingers and thumb, regular mode becomes a ton easier and playing the keyboard strapped on like a guitar was immensely fun on those familiar songs.

The tracks that come with this version of the game are as varied and vast as have been available on any of the game disks. Featuring 83 tracks, as well as all of the downloaded tracks you have ever purchased, this is the definitive game for fans of the ‘rhythm’ game. Spanning five decades and numerous genres, the feel of this game is massive from the outset. From Jimi Hendrix to The Ramones to Dire Straits to Rilo Kiley to Amy Winehouse, there is a little something for everyone.

Not everything in the game is amazing however, the new menu system, now called a shell, is really confusing and each gamer profile is only allowed one band. You can no longer hoard band names because they are clever or you think you may need a youtube acceptable band name for that insanely good run you want to post are over and you must now go with the first nonsensical you can come up with. Sorry everyone, Emo Burrito is also taken. The loading screens are a lot more interesting, showing clips of your single band either bumming around or driving somewhere or even taking an overpriced taxi ride to the store. In this version, you don’t have to grind through easy songs to make enough cash to buy things, you just have to play through the game and things are unlocked as you play, so that skull guitar or superhero outfit you’ve been eyeing will come in time.

This game is a blast, whether you have a room full of 7 people or are just playing in the privacy of your own hovel, and you should be prepared to sink a ton of hours as well as cash into this title as you strive towards being the ultimate keytarist. Buy It Now.