LEGO Rock Band PlayStation 3

Released on 27/11/2009

• LEGO Rock Band Review

  Block Rockin' Beats

  The phenomenally successful series of LEGO-themed titles from developer TT Games has thus far concentrated on movie and comic book tie-ins. LEGO Star Wars, Indiana Jones and Batman, with their stripped down, co-operative platforming and collecting action have proven to be a potent formula for the target audience of parents and young gamers. Now that formula is being applied to the rhythm action genre.

  The LEGO Rock Band formula, as with the other LEGO games before it, is not rocket science, but it is skillfully executed. The gameplay has been tweaked to extend the appeal downwards to a younger audience. All of the acts are represented in glorious LEGO-vision, the tracklist is a mix of novelty tunes and rock classics and there are some star appearances from old-timers that will bring a smile to parents' faces.

  Join the Band

  As with regular Rock Band outings (and Guitar Hero for that matter) gameplay consists of playing along to a backing track by timing your actions with on-screen instructions. Whether you're playing bass, lead guitar or drums, the process is the same. Wannabe crooners can also take the role of vocalist if they crave the limelight of centre-stage.

  Play on Expert mode and it's as big a challenge as any Rock Band game.

  The developers have tweaked the basic play a little to fit the LEGO game remit of appealing to a broad church of gamers. Play on Expert mode and it's as big a challenge as any Rock Band game. However, there is a Super Easy mode so that tiny ankle biters can strum along to the tunes, and a game mechanic enabling younger players to get back into the action if they're not performing too well. There are even truncated versions of songs to take account of short attention spans.

  Rise to the Challenge

  Additional fun comes in the form of Power Challenges. These are bizarre but thoroughly enjoyable rock-offs in which players have to achieve a goal through the power of rock. These imaginative LEGO-themed challenges are pretty diverse and include fighting off a giant octopus, demolishing buildings, battling knights and summoning mighty rock thunderstorms. During these challenges players share a single performance meter but individuals also have to put in a bit of solo work to achieve victory.

  These challenges include fighting a giant octopus, demolishing buildings, battling knights and summoning mighty rock thunderstorms.

  The tracklist is a delight, featuring a broad range of music that should appeal to the broad target audience. Ray Parker Jr's Ghost Busters and Pink's So What should have the little ones jumping, although mercifully the game doesn't go as far as to include Pinky and Perky-style kiddie nonsense. It's rock and pop legends all the way. David Bowie, The Jackson 5, Elton John, Blur, Razorlight, Queen and Bon Jovi are among the extensive lineup of acts on offer.

  DS owners can also enjoy the delights of LEGO Rock Band with their very own version of the game. The DS release plays in a similar style to Rock Band Unplugged and features gameplay in which the player has to switch between all the available intruments over the course of a song (of which there are 25 included). DS owners will also be able to take part in multi-player games wirelessly.

  It would have been easy for LEGO Rock Band's developers to have given us a 'lite' version of the game and get away with it. Instead, this is a fully fledged Rock Band experience, but with some smart modifications making it a good fit for the LEGO audience.

  GAME's Verdict

  

  • Amusing LEGO characters.
  • Downloadable content.
  • Clever gameplay tweaks.
  • Good track list.
  • Fun power challenges.

  

  • No online play.

  Review by: Simon 'The Brick' Kirrane
  Version Tested: Multi-Format
  Review Published: 26.11.09

  Published: 26/11/2009

• LEGO Rock Band Review

  Bricking it

  To all intents and purposes, LEGO Rock Band the same as Rock Band 2 - except LEGO-themed. The scrolling notes have little LEGO studs on them and stylish rockers have been replaced with androgynous LEGO-people. The style, as with all the Lego games thus far, is adorable - so adorable you wish you could import all your Rock Band 2 tracks and adopt it as the default option. Who wants grainy camera effects and earnest-looking frontmen with pink-and-black emovers when you can have LEGO Brian May?

  Besides the presentation, a few things have been tweaked to make classic Rock Band gameplay friendlier for kids. It's impossible to fail a song, for example - you just get fewer LEGO studs as a reward for completing it. There's a new Super Easy difficulty setting too, where you just have to strum, hit a drum pad or yell "Ghostbusters!" into a microphone for three minutes without worrying about actual notes or pitch.

  Sing when you're winning

  Plus there's an automatic setting for the drum's bass pedal to help out tiny musicians who are too short to hit anything but the pads. Lastly, you can play shortened versions of songs in Free Play instead of the full four-minute versions, but the editing is rather poor.

  The tour has been renamed Story mode and is now punctuated by LEGO cut-scenes and special gigs called Rock Challenges, which have you fighting octopuses or banishing ghosts or tearing a house down with the power of rock. The cutscenes would be worth a playthrough all on their own but there's a lot of repetition. Because LEGO Rock Band only has 45 songs, you end up playing them over and over.

  The Rock Den is the hub from which you can buy new vehicles, access new gigs, watch cut-scenes, customise your band or hire new tour staff in Story mode. You can decorate it with items that you earn throughout the tour.

  Famous faces

  Guest appearances from LEGO versions of Blur, Queen, Bowie and Iggy Pop are absolutely brilliant, though their songs cannot be played as part of a setlist because they insist on their own custom venues. You can't use them for any songs other than their own, either, or recruit LEGO Brian May and LEGO Damon Albarn to your rock supergroup.

  Fun for all the family

  The tracklist itself has as much stuff for parents to enjoy as for kids. It's an unusual selection - Elton John next to KoRn, KT Tunstall a few strums away from Bryan Adams, P!nk and Vampire Weekend in the same setlist ? but it's undeniably varied. You can import the tracks into Rock Band 2 for 800 Microsoft points, but it doesn't work the other way around. You can, however, play download tracks from the store or play ones you've already bought as long as they pass a family-friendly filter. Unfortunately, though, there's no online mode.

  LEGO Rock Band's relatively small selection of songs means it's not as good value as other games of its type. However the presentation is cute, funny and genuinely appealing, especially if you've got kids.

  Besides, there are some people for whom the inclusion of the Ghostbusters theme tune alone is enough to warrant a purchase.

  

  Rocking
  + Adorable LEGO style.
  + Great variety of songs.
  + GHOSTBUSTERS!

  Rubbish
  - Small number of tracks.
  - Really a reskin of Rock Band 2.
  - No online play.

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