We built this game
We built this game with L-E-G-O-S
Welcome to a world of pure imagination, and sadly it isn’t the world of Willy Wonka. Though some would say it was just as colorful and enchanting. If there is one thing that we’ve grown up with that has followed us into our adulthood it would be Legos. So this shouldn’t be too much of a shock to see it in our video games. Its success is another thing that the gamerbase should have predicted from the get-go.
Traveller’s Tales, the developer responsible for reanimating this childhood classic toy in a digital form would want to find a concept that was new and family oriented. Perhaps another developer, who has a thriving game series that wouldn’t have to modify much to appeal to a general audience, someone like: Harmonix perhaps. Bingo. Merge together the love of yester toy with music from the decades and you’ve got Lego RockBand.
Visuals:
There is really only one thing I can say about the graphics: LEGOS. Everything is made out of Legos. There isn’t much detail to be had in a simple red, yellow, green or blue block. However for capturing the essence of what Legos are meant to do (which is inspire imagination), it does exactly that and then a little more. The customization feature is very similar to its’ big brother and sister games. It does have it limitations though, but those are simply in place to reinforce the Lego universe. At the end of it, if a person has an issue with the limitation of a Lego rocker’s style, then don’t play it. Play RockBand or RockBand2.
Result: 5 of 5
Gameplay:
Single Player:
Everyone is a solo artist before they decide they want friends. Once they have friends, it is instinctive that they would want to make a band. However the really cute thing about this game is that in single player you actually get a bit of story during the campaign. Granted, it is all very cookie-cutter but it is still refreshing to see and experience (especially since neither RockBand nor Guitar Hero decided to include it.)
There are also special alternative venues that are interactive. These places also depict the beautifully destructive awesomeness that is rock. No Lego people were harmed in the making of this game. However like all things multiplayer oriented, the game isn’t as engaging unless you are playing with someone else.
Result: 3 of 5
So quickly to the multiplayer mobile!
Multiplayer:
Just like its’ predecessors RockBand and RockBand2, most of the emphasis lies in its’ multiplayer. However in the realm of childhood, blame isn’t something practiced. Mistakes don’t occur in this magical land of red, green, yellow and blue. ”Failure” is a word that this age range won’t experience until the third grade. The game effortlessly mirrors this world we all secretly desire to go back to. It is shown through the “ Super easy” mode and “recovery phases” options presented in the game.
Even though this game seems to be watered down a bit, don’t be quick to assume that the other difficulties are cakewalks. They are just are challenging as we’ve come to expect them to be. Warner Bros would never put itself in a light that would make children believe they couldn’t do anything. So the game does allow for gaming growth, which is essential if you want to keep the kiddies interested.
This game could be a great way to have play dates for your smaller children (if you have them). It is a way to entertain up to four kids at a time, think of it as controlled rock chaos.
Result: 5 of 5
Music Selection:
The choices in this installment are not the water logged, saccharin injected “children” versions that we’d expect out of a children’s game. (So sorry Kids Bop) I mean there are some covers of popular song, but they aren’t no named, unpopular artists doing them.
Here is a small peek and some of the songs you’ll get in this game. Ok it’s all of them but…in the spirit of the holidays I couldn’t leave them out.
• All American Rejects, "Swing, Swing"
• The Kooks, "Naïve"
• The Automatic, "Monster"
• KoRn, "Word Up!"
• Blink-182, "Aliens Exist"
• KT Tunstall, "Suddenly I See"
• Blur, "Song 2"
• Lostprophets, "Rooftops"
• Bon Jovi, "You Give Love a Bad Name"
• P!NK, "So What"
• Boys like Girls, "Thunder"
• The Police, “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic"
• Bryan Adams, "Summer of 69"
• The Primitives, "Crash"
• Carl Douglas, "Kung Fu Fighting"
• Queen, "We Are The Champions"
• The Coral, "Dreaming of You"
• Queen, "We Will Rock You"
• Counting Crows, "Accidentally in Love"
• Rascal Flatts, "Life is a Highway"
• David Bowie, "Let's Dance"
• Ray Parker Jr., "Ghostbusters"
• Elton John, "Crocodile Rock"
• Razorlight, "Stumble and Fall"
• Europe, "The Final Countdown"
• Spin Doctors, "Two Princes"
• Everlife, "Real Wild Child"
• Spinal Tap, "Short & Sweet"
• Foo Fighters, "Breakout"
• Steve Harly, "Make Me Smile"
• Good Charlotte, "Girls & Boys"
• Sum 41, "In Too Deep"
• The Hives, "Tick Tick Boom!"
• Supergrass, "Grace"
• Iggy Pop, "The Passenger"
• Tom Petty, "Free Fallin"
• Incubus, "Dig"
• T-Rex, "Ride a White Swan"
• Jackson 5, "I Want You Back"
• Vampire Weekend, "A-Punk"
• Jimi Hendrix, "Fire"
• We the Kings, "Check Yes Juliet"
• Kaiser Chiefs, "Ruby"
• The Zutons, "Valerie"
• Katrina & The Waves, "Walking on Sunshine"
Result: 4 of 5
Downloadable Content:
A shining grace to this game is that with a great setlist like this, we are able to import them over to RockBand2. So many have seen this as an expense trackpack. Just like other RockBand games, content will be made available through the online store. So just like budding young kids, this game has the potential to grow.
Result: 5 of 5
Shortcomings:
The only pitfall that I have noticed has nothing to do with the game out side of a lack luster single player mode. The question on my mind is: Why release this so late? North America got an 11/03/09 release date, where the UK (11/27/09) and our mates in AUS (11/25/09) just got their releases fairly recently.
Most of the gamerbase didn’t see a need to release another RockBand game. At this years’ E3, this game was right next to the Beatles RockBand booth. Those who took time out to play Lego RockBand were just riding it off as “just another” rhythm based game. Reception was moderately high considering the overwhelming sense of “Meh” that came from the venue. To give this game the hype it deserved maybe MTV Games/Time Warner should have released it after the first Lego games came out.
Speculations about this late release date center around the notion that if a game releases right before the start of the holiday season that sales will increase. Perhaps MTV Games/Time Warner felt that Lego RockBand would be overlooked and stepped up their game by setting up a deal with Old Navy. (If you aren’t an Old Navy shopper than this deal wouldn’t affect you). Then again, this could have been just a way to spread their product around to places where one wouldn’t see gaming influence. Talk about a way to get their name out there.
Overall Result: 22 of 25:
Gaming families with young children should seek this game out for the holiday season. It is definitely present for the whole family. And even if you don’t have wee ones to entertain,
Happy Holidays!
Labels: DS, Games, MTV, Nintendo, Pandalicious, PS3, Rhythm Based Games, XBox-360
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