Massive Rock Band 2 playtest!

by Nick Haywood on 21 August 2008, 20:42

Tags: Rock Band, Rock Band 2, Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA), Xbox 360, PS3, Simulation

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qaozp

Add to My Vault: x

Transfer yor DLC tracks to Rock Band 2

One of my biggest bugbears with Rock Band was that it’s pretty damn expensive to get a full set of band equipment. So when the new drums were wheeled out, my very first though, apart from how good they were, is that I’m going to have to shell out all over again to play Rock Band 2. But that isn’t the case at all. Harmonix are happy to go on the record to say that both versions of Rock Band will work with either the old or new style instruments… so if, like me, you’re more of a drummer than a strummer, you can buy Rock band 2 and, when funds allow, upgrade your drum kit. Even better, you don’t have to buy all the cymbals at once, you can add these as you go… and the extra kick pedal too.

So you can use your old kit… but what about all those downloaded songs? Well, and this is probably a first in terms of DLC and games, all of your DLC tracks will slot straight into Rock Band 2. Yep, when you slap the Rock Band 2 disk into your console for the first time it’ll check what DLC songs you have and make them all available within the game. No re-downloading, no buying again, nothing… they’re just there.

Perhaps just as cool is that you’ll be able to import many of the original Rock band tracks into Rock Band 2 as well. John didn’t want to be tied down to an exact figure as there’s differences in licensing and tracks for different regions but the vast majority of RB tracks can be transferred across.

Now, the first question I asked before our demo began was if Stairway was in the track list… and once again I did my best Wayne’s World impression when I was told ‘No Stairway’. But it will be mine, oh yes. Because if Harmonix aren’t going to put Stairway into Rock Band 2, I’ll damn well do it myself with the drum-jam session. All you have to do is burn a CD in MP3 of your favourite tracks, pop that into the drive while Rock Band 2 is running and you can then select and jam along to your favourite tracks. Ok, so it’s not as good as playing the game with your fave track but it’s the next best thing…