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Yesterday we kicked off our month-long IGN First coverage of Rock Band 4 a mega-preview revealing some of the game's big new features. Today we return with the above video: a look at Rock Band 4's new-and-improved guitar, drums, and microphone. Harmonix Product Manager Daniel Sussman talks us through the upgraded gear.

GUITAR: The guitar certainly feels mostly the same. The prototype I handled lacked the faux-wood-grain finish the Rock Band 2 guitars had, but that could change between now and the final guitar. The frets seemed quieter and seemed to have less travel, which I liked. The strum bar feels a bit stiffer – in a good way – and is still silent. It does not click. It's possible that it may just not be broken-in, though, and may feel almost identical to previous RB guitars once you've rocked out with it for a while.



DRUMS: It's tough to tell any difference in actually playing them (albeit briefly), but Sussman insisted that the improvements are there, under the hood (er...drum toms), inside the "clamshells," as Sussman put it. The Rock Band 4 drums look, sound, and feel the same, having been based off of the most recent iteration of the kit (from The Beatles: Rock Band). Harmonix and co-publisher MadCatz will offer a new Cymbals Kit, sold separately. Sussman told me that the Rock Band 2 Cymbals Kit will still work if, like me, you've got one. The kick pedal is identical, save for perhaps a different imprint on the metal kickplate. Extra pedals will be sold separately if you want to have a second kick pedal.

It's tough to tell any difference in actually playing them (albeit briefly), but Sussman insisted that the improvements are there, under the hood (er...drum toms), inside the "clamshells," as Sussman put it. The Rock Band 4 drums look, sound, and feel the same, having been based off of the most recent iteration of the kit (from The Beatles: Rock Band). Harmonix and co-publisher MadCatz will offer a new Cymbals Kit, sold separately. Sussman told me that the Rock Band 2 Cymbals Kit will still work if, like me, you've got one. The kick pedal is identical, save for perhaps a different imprint on the metal kickplate. Extra pedals will be sold separately if you want to have a second kick pedal. MICROPHONE: I didn't actually get to try the new mic, but Harmonix told me that it is simply a better-quality device than they used before, with higher gains that allow you to sing quieter and still be accurate, as well as higher thresholds that, oppositely, allow you to sing louder without garbling the mic. And Rock Band 4 will support the vocal harmonies feature introduced in the Beatles game.

In case you missed it, here's the original announcement of Rock Band 4 from back in March, as well as our in-depth interview with Harmonix co-founder Alex Rigopulos. And be sure to keep track of all of our Rock Band 4 awesomeness this month!

Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s Executive Editor of Previews and Xbox Guru-in-Chief. Follow him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan , catch him on Podcast Unlocked , and drop-ship him Taylor Ham sandwiches from New Jersey whenever possible.