Rock Lives On, on the PSP?
Final Verdict: 5/5 Stars
The Good: Great port while staying true to the Rock Band experience. Good song list. Fun, hectic, gameplay.
The Bad: Poor load times. Some minor frame rate issues.
I have logged about 15-20 hours and just completed the world tour. Let me get this out of the way: This game is freaking awesome. Granted I was a huge fan of frequency and have fond memories of that game, but I remember one thing... that game was really hard. I guess RBU takes a page out that book. The learning curve is steep! I have played tons of rhythm/music games so I assumed it would be safe to jump into the world tour on expert and I was quickly humbled by the warm up songs. I was forced to play through the majority of the world tour on hard until I finally had some confidence on my ability to play. So lets get onto the gameplay.
This game doesn't play like Rock Band... well, you still have the world tour mode, similar to the 360/PS3 version of RB1 and 2, but the actual gameplay is just like Frequency/Amplitude. For those of you who didn't play those games, it works like this: You control all four instruments by switching back and forth. You have to clear small sections (you must get 100%) to lock the instrument in something like an auto play mode. This way you can switch to another instrument and not worry. Now do this for all four instruments at once and you can appreciate the difficulty and sheer insanity that actually makes this game totally awesome. You still are playing note charts that look exactly like what you find in RB, and in fact the game is skinned and looks exactly like RB. You play with up, left, triangle, square (default controls that is) which correspond to the green, red, yellow, and blue notes. You switch tracks with the shoulder buttons and deploy overdrive with the x or down arrow. Learning how to switch and manage your instruments is all the fun of this game, it is a total rush. Now for the technical side.
The load times suck, it's a PSP game, get used to it. It isn't something that completely breaks up the game play, but it takes a while to load up the set. The frame rate is fine most of the time, but I have noticed a few laggy moments when overdrive is first engaged and there are tons of notes flying by. Another problem is that it can be very hard to hit chords (actually what is hard is hitting both buttons without accidently hitting one a split second ahead). Also, it can be a bit hard to put up with the fast parts, (most notably, the drum sections in "Less Talk More Rock") and sometimes it can be hard to tell if it is a chord or just fast notes. Luckily there are orange lines to let you know the notes are chords (for all instruments, not just drums). You can customize your controls all you want, I haven't messed with it personally, though I am sure it might be helpful. My major complaint is that there isn't a breakneck speed mode like in RB2, I guess I am spoiled.
The verdict? This game is totally awesome. The shortcomings are easily forgotten when you five star your first song and get that good feeling of mastering four instruments simultaneously. The song list is a bit short (compared to RB2 that is) but it is still a solid set, not to mention DLC is forthcoming. If you have a PSP, like music, like puzzles, or just like good games, you need to check this out. It is a refreshing take on a classic formula and it is a great way to port the Rock Band experience to a portable system. Guitar Hero take note, this is how to port a music game to a portable system.
