By now, your opinion is probably set on the Rock Band franchise and rhythm games in general. This game is basically the same, with a few tweaks. But since I bought and am reviewing the guitar bundle, allow me to say that this may be the worst hardware I've ever played with, and I bought a launch copy of Guitar Hero and dealt with the early RB1 strats. I have bought two controllers overall, and both have similar problems: frequent disconnects even with fresh batteries. Not registering notes. Registering strums when no hand is on the guitar. Freezes where a single note (usually yellow or blue) will freeze and no other input can be registered until the batteries are pulled.



For that alone, I almost gave this bundle a 1. But it's not all bad.



The game itself I would give a four. I'm kind of burned that there's no pro keys in this version, because it was the main reason I played Rock Band 3 and bought DLC. Still, I understand it wasn't popular, and that's fine. I like to sing and the new vocal freestyles make singing even more fun.



One of the big drawbacks to Rock Band 4 is the soundtrack (this is what costs the game a star in my rating). This is probably my least enjoyed soundtrack as far as full band games have gone, and a major step down from 3. Fortunately, you can export other soundtracks to the game. Unfortunately, you need to have played them and registered them to your account on the same platform, so as a former Xbox 360 player, many songs are lost to me forever now that I only own a PS4.



One of the things about the soundtracks is at this point, they're only an issue for new players and cross-platform players. You may have hundreds or even thousands of songs, including rather stellar cuts from the first 3 games, Blitz, Green Day, or Lego Rock Band. This is only an issue for new adopters or people switching console platforms, but as someone in one of those groups, I think the soundtrack is atrocious and forgettable. A few good songs stand out, but most of the time the best I can hope for is "huh? Oh yeah, that song. That's okay, I guess."



This wouldn't be so bad, but the tour mode (and the Rivals "Rockudrama" expansion) still rely on random songs, primarily. In quickplay, for parties, etc, you can complete ignore it. If you want to complete the game or unlock instruments and outfits, however, you may have to play "The Wolf" 80 times. Or even "I Bet My Life," a song that bores me from a band I kind of enjoy.



Guitar freestyle solos are also quite fun, barring my hardware issues. There is structure to them, so it's not just "mash buttons" like the Big Rock Endings of prior games. Both high and low frets are used in a somewhat authentic way. The big problem I have is that the sound is the same no matter what song you're in. This sounds really bad in some songs, but your mileage may vary and you can turn them off if you prefer the classic solo style.



Still, if you can't play them, what's the point? I don't know if my guitar issues are widespread, but getting two with similar problems really leaves me thinking the worst. I'm torn between giving up altogether and just karaoke-ing it or trying the new rivals Jaguar controller in hopes that, like prior Rock Band games, the hardware revisions make all the difference. My favourite thing to do is to play guitar or bass while singing, which has been awesome in helping me sing and play real guitar at the same time, but it's so frustrating when you get dropped notes and extra strums and constant disconnects. I haven't even tried drums because I'm worried I'll run into similar issues.



Harmonix has found some ways to make old gameplay fresh, and if you have reliable hardware you might as well give it a shot. I'm just not sure about new adopters or transfers.



Game: 4/5

Guitar: 0/5