Controller |
Rock Band - Solo buttons at the bottom of the neck and changeable guitar effects
- The Fender Stratocaster looks amazing compared with Red Octane’s toy guitar
- Some strum issues early on but quickly fixed
| Guitar Hero III - Where’s the pedal we’ve been expecting?
- Detachable neck means you can hide it away when you need to transport your controller
- Solid response and a familiar, well-honed design
|
| Winner: Guitar effects beat detachable necks every time. Rock Band |
Game Play: Round 1! |
Rock Band - In-game cues are subtle and don’t distract from game play
- More instruments to choose from
- Overdrive is way cooler than Star Power
| Guitar Hero III - Hammer-on/Pull-off notes are bright and very easy to find
- Cues are distracting and loud
- Rock Battles!
|
| Winner: “Tug-of-war”/”Face-off” versus the AI isn’t as cool unless you can do it with drums. Rock Band |
Music |
Rock Band - Fewer songs come with the game out of the box
- Song mix is more diverse and eclectic than previous titles
- The bands of Harmonix return to the bonus tour
| Guitar Hero III - More songs in the main tour
- Many more songs in the bonus tour
- Very rock and metal heavy
|
| Winner: Quantity and quality are finely balanced in this case. Tie |
Downloadable Content |
Rock Band - More songs on offer
- Better and wider selection of songs
- Cheaper price per song
| Guitar Hero III - Fewer songs
- Higher price per song
- Halo Mjolnir Mix
|
| Winner: More songs, lower price, better selection; do I need to spell it out? Rock Band |
Game Play: Round 2! |
Rock Band - Online play is very robust and works well both versus and co-op
- Same versus game modes, new name
| Guitar Hero III - Battle mode is a breath of fresh air
- No online co-op mode
|
| Winner: Playing with friends is just as important as competition. Tie |
Winner: Rock Band |
| It’s obvious it was a hard-fought battle, but overall Rock Band simply had more going for it. It has twice as many instruments, more songs available for download and at a cheaper price per song and changeable guitar effects built into the controller. Maybe one of these days we’ll see some progress from Red Octane on that pedal expansion port they’ve been putting on their newest batch of guitars. Until then, only Guitar Hero’s lower price point will save it from the awesomeness that is Rock Band. |
