I’ve finally gotten around to playing Rockband2, and I’m surprised by how much I like it. I haven’t played drums or bass yet and have only played with two people so far (I’m waiting on the guitar hero band kit).

Song Selection
In every set there’s been at least on song that excited me. I can proudly say that one of them was Livin’ on a Prayer, because that’s karaoke GOLD. Equally, there have been a couple that I hated, but that’s good diversity, I imagine.

World Tour Mode
This is all I’ve done so far, and I like the way it’s organized. It’s not at linear as guitar Hero (I never played the first rock band, so I don’t know how it compares). I like the option to jump all over the continent playing different shows, but I suppose that’s a little unrealistic. You seem to have more options regarding your tour: who to hire (which reminds me of the crew in Need For Speed Carbon) whether or not to play 4x or nothing shows or to play benefit shows.

Gameplay
My favorite feature of the game play is the stars filling up on screen while you play. In Guitar Hero it was a bit of a crap shoot; you didn’t know your star rating until you finished. I also like the separated solo sections within songs and the solo rating. The ability to save a band member is also nice, and better than the star power option in Guitar Hero. Again, these might be features from the first Rockband which I didn’t play.

Details
The character options aren’t stellar, but they are present. Making a rocker that looks like you, or the rock star you wish to be is better than picking one of Guitar Hero’s generics. As I continue to play, it seems that more customization options will become available through clothing and accessories.

I’ll keep doing the tour mode before investigating anything else, but you can color me impressed so far. The plan for tonight is to download some songs, which I believe I can incorporate into my tour set lists.

First Impressions take place in the first hour of playing a game. These list the excitement (or disappointments) felt initially. It’s like unboxing, but with gameplay instead. Ungaming? That doesn’t sound right…