![]() ![]() ![]() Rock Band 4 only slightly refines the fake-rocking experience that I first fell in love with over eight years ago now, but it does a good job proving that games based on pretending to be rock gods were more than a passing fad. Harmonix has had five years to let players and the industry at large get over the hangover from those years of a rhythm gaming binge-five years to figure out how exactly to get players excited about strapping on some plastic instruments again. By the time Rock Band 3 failed to reinvigorate the genre in 2010 with the addition of a keyboard accessory and "Pro mode," it seemed like the whole idea of playing fake instruments in front of a game console was a fad whose time had already come and gone. ![]() Series like Rock Band and Guitar Hero were the hottest things in the industry, bringing in billions of dollars right up until the sudden point where they weren't. ![]() In the years since, the entire gaming world seems to have overdosed on rhythm games as a genre and is now going cold turkey during the recovery. Seriously, watch the video linked in the last sentence and tell me the connection between that room of sleep-deprived, slightly drunk, E3-addled partiers is anything but magical. Even after years of playing Karaoke Revolution and Guitar Hero obsessively, the game instantly impressed me with its amazing ability to turn a room of strangers into an instant party unified by the power of rock. Links: Amazon | Official websiteI still remember the first time I played Rock Band at an impromptu party full of in-the-know press and developers in a cramped suite off to the side of E3 2007. Price: $60 (game alone $80 on Xbox One) $130 (with one guitar) $250 (w/ drums, one guitar, and mic) ![]()
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