ROCK BAND Reloaded Review

By Andrew Nesvadba, on December 3, 2010

Publisher: Electronic Arts
Genre: Entertainment
Released: 2 Dec, 2010
Size: 152.6 MB
Price: $4.99

PROS

Vocal recognition for singing band members.
Broad selection of modern and classic songs.

CONS

Tilt-activated star-power registers poorly.
No band/member creation features.

VERDICT

ROCK BAND Reloaded is a solid rhythm game title with the usual variety of instruments, but while singing is a great addition it doesn't make up for the rest of the game's encore performance.

Full Review
App Store Info

With over a year since the previous release of ROCK BAND on the App Store, Electronic Arts and Harmonix have finally released their next in the series, Reloaded. Much like the first release you're given 15 songs in the initial pack and a handful of paid and free song packs on offer right away. However the real standout feature with this release is the ability to sing your way to victory.

Players can choose to jump in to the role of playing the guitar, bass, drums or vocals of a band and instead of being treated to a narrow vertical orientation a far more comfortable horizontal view is now used. Vocalists can choose to either sing in to the iDevices microphone (or preferably the headphone mic) or tap out the vocal rhythm much like an instrument. The rhythm patterns are sharp and as polished as you'd expect from Harmonix, however outside of a few sustains and slides there's nothing we haven't seen before.

And this is fairly indicative of the whole of Reloaded, because despite some superficial changes and the addition of a vocal recognizer, the game lacks the polish and depth that's sorely needed for this genre. While a tour mode is available there's no band customization, rendering it all but moot to the quick play mode. Also, while the horizontal mode is more comfortable, the lack of a vertical option means your virtual band is all but obscured while playing.

ROCK BAND Reloaded is an improvement over what was a great title last year and still a great purchase for rhythm game fans, but for those already burned out it won't give you your second-wind.

Screenshots