GameSpy: Rock Band Special Edition Wii Preview
There's little doubt that since its announcement a year ago, Wii owners have been just as hot for Rock Band as everyone else. Now, after a few months of waiting, Harmonix's hit music title is making its way to Nintendo's newest platform. We played it last week at Nintendo's media summit, and honestly, we probably put in more time on it than most of the other games on display. In other words, yes, we liked it.
If you've heard of Rock Band but aren't too familiar with how it works, check out our reviews of each version to see how it fares. We've put in our fair share of time on it across each platform, and like Nintendo's console, this version has its own distinct quirks that separate it from the others.
Visually, the display is cleaner than the PS2 game's, but is still a far cry from the detailed backdrops of the HD versions. Its tracklisting boasts tunes that aren't available on the PS2, such as Oasis' "Don't Look Back in Anger" and The B-52's "Roam" that are only available as downloadable content for 360 and PS3. However, it looks like Harmonix won't even bother to wrestle with the headache of Friends Codes; Rock Band for Wii is going to be an offline affair. The question of downloadable content is also rather vague at this point, although we're a bit pessimistic about it, considering that Guitar Hero III hasn't gotten any new tracks in its Wii version.
The peripherals all work fairly well, although the prototype drum kit on display seemed to have some problems with the kick pedal. We're willing to give Harmonix the benefit of the doubt, however, since some players reported the same problems yet others blazed through drums on Expert with scores above 90%. Rock Band Wii's Special Edition bundle will contain a microphone, wireless Fender guitar, and white drum kit (how Apple!), as well as a USB hub to expand the console's limited ports.
Unlike Guitar Hero III, which plugged a remote into the guitar controller, Rock Band employs an approach similar to the PlayStation versions: its wireless guitar connects to the console via dongle. Fortunately for Wii owners, there won't be several months' wait for extra peripherals. All of the game's extra accessories are slated to ship with the game, so if you're just looking for a microphone and a guitar for two-player action, you won't be restricted to spending big cash on the bundle (although we'd recommend the package deal for the drums).
We'd been looking forward to trying out Rock Band for Wii since Nintendo announced its presence at the company's media summit early last week. It's a bit odd that in the presence of party games like Mario Kart and Boom Blox we'd keep going back to a game that we've all played voraciously since Thanksgiving, but that's a testament to the best qualities of Harmonix's game. We had some initial misgivings about the pre-release drums but we don't think that our kick pedal issues will be indicative of the final drum kit. It looks like America's white-hot party game will fit Nintendo's white console like a glove. A finger-less one, actually; that's more rock star.
Source
Linear Mode
