Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Software, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch, Music
Rock Band out for $9.99 on the iPhone... but fails to thrill
The good news is that EA has released Rock Band for the iPhone and iPod touch, and you can pick it up from the App Store right now. The bad news is that it seems like a pretty tough sell -- despite the relatively high price tag (Tap Tap Revenge 3, a similar music game, is currently 99 cents and headed for free), there's not much new here. Sure, there is four-device Bluetooth multiplayer, and that's something that Tapulous' game has never had. But other than that, it seems like this is basically EA's cash in on the tapping concept -- the draw of Rock Band has been getting together with your friends and jamming out the hits on those fake instruments, and touching a button-less screen by yourself doesn't have the same effect. Singing is included, but you're still just tapping out notes for that -- it seems like they missed a lot of potential fun there. And even some of the fun things from the console version like the drum fills for overdrive and the character avatars are missing here.
If you don't like the 20 songs included with the game, you can download others at 50 cents (in two-song packs for a buck each), but most people probably shouldn't even bother at that price -- just stick with Tapulous' game unless you really love Rock Band and its aesthetics (even then, I haven't seen my much-beloved Harmonix mentioned anywhere with this port,
Even if you want to try this one, wait for the inevitable price drop -- if the game really lived up to its name as the premiere music experience you'll find on the consoles, it might be worth it, but all indications are, unfortunately, that it doesn't.
Gallery: Rock Band iPhone / iPod Touch
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
shippster said 9:55PM on 10-19-2009
Don't be so hard on it. Look at the reviews. Most people that paid for it are really happy so far. If you are a die hard rockband fan. Give it a shot for yourself and post your personal review here.
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Galley said 10:05PM on 10-19-2009
I haven't played it, but it looks pretty good to me. I'm fine with the $9.99 price.
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vbincubus said 10:52PM on 10-19-2009
I bought and I like better than TTR. The game as a whole looks better and the angle that the notes come down the screen makes for better gameplay imho. I think it was $10 well spent.
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Joe said 10:59PM on 10-19-2009
I bought it and after two tracks have buyer's remorse. There is awful lag on the sounds, so you really have to hit the notes about 1/4 of a second sooner than when the sound actually occurs, meaning you're constantly anticipating the music. Tap Tap, however, gets this aspect of the game spot on. The music coincides with the visuals perfectly, and rock band just doesn't.
Also, the buttons are really hard to hit if you have wide thumbs. I find myself constantly hitting the wrong buttons. It's got other bugs too, such as not registering multiple "held" contacts for over a second!! It's really awful, I would stay far far away!
I am very let down and I hope they fix this. Until then, tap tap is way better, and cheaper.
Disclaimer: I am a big fan of rock band for xbox 360 and I have loved harmonix games ever since frequency and amplitude for the ps2.
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Ben said 11:01PM on 10-19-2009
If you haven't seen Harmonix involved, you haven't looked very hard... They are on the 1st title screen along with MTV games....
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iam said 11:10PM on 10-19-2009
I'm pretty impressed with it, to be honest. Definitely feels better than TTR and is just more streamlined. For $10 you can't really go wrong.. It's not like you're paying $60 or anything. It still feels like I'm playing it though, not tapping coloured dots to the beat of a song.
I did notice a bit of a lag though (tiny tiny bit) and a landscape view would be perfect.
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ketsugi said 11:17PM on 10-19-2009
I picked this up and I really like it. The Overdrive is much easier to deploy than TTR "shake" which always messes up my ability to see the notes. The ability to play the different instrument tracks is great (provides more replayability on songs) and the song list is much better so far.
Personally I think it's better than TTR, though the price certainly is a tad high for comparison. I think it's worth $10, but others are welcome to disagree.
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Kai Cherry said 12:31AM on 10-20-2009
If you are a fan of Rock Band....get this. You will enjoy it. Without question.
Because unlike other "rhythm games" on the iPhone...this one actually looks, feels and sounds like, well, effin' Rock Band.
Comparing it to TTR is like...
No.
And I have content in TTR :) It isn't the same thing, the same feel or the same polish. Rock Band "feels" like a console game.
And at $10 and 50¢/song for track packs...it is Rock Band, bargain-style.
-K
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Martin said 8:36AM on 10-20-2009
Your post is how I sounded before I bought the game. Joe's post above more accurately reflects how I feel now.
I just can't get into the game, and I've tried numerous times to get past my hang-ups. And this is coming from someone that typically plays RB2 about 3 hours a day.
I think landscape mode with a layout mirroring the PSP's Unplugged would be a big improvement.
pudge said 12:39PM on 10-20-2009
Kai ... you know I can rock out the bass on the real Rock Band. 100% Expert on difficult songs. Yet I am failing Easy bass on Warm-Up songs on my iPhone.
Something ain't right. I really want to love this app. :-)
Jansperus said 12:56AM on 10-20-2009
Does anybody have opinions on how it is compared to Guitar Rock Tour? I have the first game of that and it was enjoyable. Considering buying the second one, but might buy Rock Band instead.
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Beanie said 2:40AM on 10-20-2009
Get Rock Band definitely. I don't think you'll be disappointed if you liked Guitar Rock Tour, especially if you're a fan of the console version. Also, Rock Band has the music store, which adds plenty of replayability. Hope this helps you decide.
Beanie said 2:39AM on 10-20-2009
I like how this post says everyone hates it, but the majority of the comments are positive.
I spent the $10 and I am really impressed with it. It's so much more immersive than TTR3, Rock Band also has waayyy better graphics. They also started putting free tracks in the music store, so, I expect that will be a regular thing for iPhone Rock Band. It's really great to play with headphones and the replay factor is definitely there. Bit pricey compared to other apps, but, hey, it's a AAA app, and it's still 1/3 the price of a DS game.
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Starbucks said 2:56AM on 10-20-2009
Ahm Mike, did you actually PLAY that game? Quite frankly, it seems to me like you did not.
How could one miss the Harmonix splash screen?
Plus, there are zilch gameplay observations in this article and a whole lot of "seems" and "users pointed outs".
In my opinion, TTR doesn't even play in the same league as Rock Band. I downloaded it yesterday and think it's worth every penny of the 9,99 price tag.
It's very polished and responsive and the gameplay is spot-on.
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Arpz said 6:18AM on 10-20-2009
Once again, another post from Schramm where he doesn't know the details. They're mentioned on the splash screen, it's something so easy to find/notice but yet you've jumped the gun and posted this crap. I can always tell which are your posts, Schramm, because of the lack of knowledge demonstrated. It's the same at WoW.com, you just seem to have a passing interest in a few different things that get promoted elsewhere, but fail to have any in-depth knowledge on any subject. Lame.
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Chinook said 7:13AM on 10-20-2009
Awesome review.
Do you guys think you might add a tag for game reviews in which the game being reviewed wasn't actually played? They are funny.
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Martin said 8:39AM on 10-20-2009
Does anyone else have to hold their device at an odd angle to keep from covering up the speaker? Wouldn't be a problem with headphones, I suppose, but it's annoying to me, 'cause I want to put my left pinky right where the iPhone 3Gs' speaker is.
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Chris said 9:14AM on 10-20-2009
How is this acceptable? To review a game in which the reviewer hasn't even played the game. I agree with Arpz completely. This is tacky and TUAW shouldn't allow this. I expect better, as a daily reader, but I also think TUAW should have higher standards. This makes everyone involved look ignorant.
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Drew said 10:14AM on 10-20-2009
Can I have a job at Weblogs? Apparently you don't have to actually USE the products you review. It's pretty obvious that the reviewer hasn't even played the game. Take a look at the reviews on iTunes...4 1/2 stars. Obviously they did something right. I actually DID buy the game, and it's a blast...definitely pricey, and I maybe should have waited for the price drop, but having your choice of guitar, bass, drums and vocal is still great.
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danieltalexander said 10:41AM on 10-20-2009
"Sure, when the App Store first started up, it was the Wild West -- both prices and quality were all over the place. But at this point, Apple's review system has more or less settled down, and blogs like ours are full of recommendations, with enough free apps to last any rabid app user most of their iPhone time. If you have any interest in an app at all, a couple of bucks shouldn't be enough to give you pause -- either pick it up and make sure the dev gets their due (small as that may be), or move on to find an app you'd rather buy."
Follow your own advice.
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