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Rock Band: Unplugged Review for PlayStation Portable (PSP)

Rock Band: Unplugged Review for PlayStation Portable (PSP)

Rock ‘n Roll on the Go!

The battle of the bands has finally found its way onto portable gaming devices. For a year now, we’ve been shredding away on our DS with the Guitar Hero On Tour franchise’s Guitar Grip and the pick stylus. Undoubtedly, Activision did an amazing job of translating their marquis music game to the world’s most popular handheld. Of course, EA, Harmonix, and MTV Games have given Activision a run for its money on home consoles; it was only a matter of time before they too would try and bring their Rock Band brand to a gaming portable.

Rock Band: Unplugged screenshot

Rather than getting in direct competition with Guitar Hero On Tour for the DS, EA decided to do away with plastic peripherals and publish Rock Band Unplugged (RBU) on the PSP. This move seems to have allowed the Rock Band franchise to bring its unique brand of music gaming to life. For starters, players will get to play as a four-piece band rather than just bass, lead, or rhythm guitar. Also, music fidelity comes through crystal clear – far superior to what can be reproduced through the DS. Finally, players will eventually have access to an enormous catalogue of songs they can download via PSN. Consequently, Rock Band Unplugged is a tremendously solid title that will let PSP owners jam on, on the go!

While many, including myself, saw the Guitar Grip and tactile strumming as the key to Activision’s success on DS, Rock Band Unplugged shows that a face button layout can be every bit as engaging and technical, if not quite as immersive. The controls in RBU are very natural and simplistic – the game essentially only employs seven different buttons to press, which can be customized in the options menu. Regardless, this simplicity belies a level of depth that matches what is offered by the competition. That being said, nailing expert guitar sections in Guitar Hero On Tour may be a bit more rewarding. However, DS rockers are never able to branch out into the other instruments that make up the band.

Rock Band Unplugged does an excellent job of incorporating drums, vocals, and two guitar types in its Tour mode. This is done by dividing each song into four tracks, having players play a bit of each track. Notes in the song aren’t just indistinguishably separated onto different platforms, they actually have their own character depending upon which instrument you’re manning. Hitting notes is simple enough; all you have to do is depress the appropriate face or D-pad button in time to the onscreen prompts, including solo and barred notes. This is all pretty standard stuff anyone moderately familiar with the music and rhythm genre will instantly recognize.

Rock Band: Unplugged screenshot

In order to stay alive in RBU, however, you’ll have to master a delicate balancing act of instruments. Players will have to successfully play though phrases (a set of musical notes) in order to keep that particular instrument playing and out of the red zone, before switching to the next instrument in need of TLC. Switching between tracks is done efficiently with the L or R shoulder buttons (though this can be altered). A player who has mastered the RBU technique will stay with each track just a few seconds before switching to the next instrument.

Of course, though balancing tracks is the game’s distinguishing feature, it is only part of it. When a certain instrument’s solo comes up in the course of a song, you will be forced to play through that solo. As with the console versions of Rock Band, you will be graded on the quality of the solo. Also, players will still be able to accrue energy in their Energy Meter and release the Overdrive to save band members or to give the entire band a major point multiplier boost.

Rock Band: Unplugged screenshot

All this hopping from one track to another takes a bit to get used to, but in the end it feels very satisfying and adds another level of complexity to the genre. If you are looking for a more traditional approach, you can go into the Extras tab at the main menu and select Warmup. This mode lets you play just a single instrument. While I’m glad this option was there, I didn’t find it to be particularly compelling.

All this hopping from one track to another takes a bit to get used to, but in the end it feels very satisfying and adds another level of complexity to the genre. If you are looking for a more traditional approach, you can go into the Extras tab at the main menu and select Warmup. This mode lets you play just a single instrument. While I’m glad this option was there, I didn’t find it to be particularly compelling.

Rock Band: Unplugged screenshot

Disappointingly, online leaderboard support and ad hoc / infrastructure jam sessions between multiple players is not an option. I would have liked to have seen some multiplayer goodies, but the single-player offerings are good enough that I’m not too discouraged. Moreover, the ability to download new tunes via the Music Store is potentially a huge boost to the game. New song prices will range from .99¢ to $1.99. While .99¢ seems competitive, we can only hope the $1.99 price point will actually cover bundled track packs – we’ll have to wait and see. Regardless of pricing, the ability to download more songs to your MemoryStick without having to switch out UMDs should provide players with convenience in addition to extended replayability.

Visually, Rock Band Unplugged is exactly what you’d expect from the Rock Band franchise. In fact, outside of a few more jaggies, they are almost identical to their console counterparts. Tipping the scales in RBU’s favor is that of music fidelity. The songs played from the UMD sound as good as any other master MP3 you’ve ever downloaded. As with Guitar Hero On Tour, slapping on a pair of headphones will markedly enhance the experience, but, as well as Vicarious Visions has been able to compress the tracks in On Tour, Rock Band Unplugged’s sound quality blows the competition out of the water. Furthermore, dividing the tracks into four constituent parts allowed the developers to accentuate specific instruments on the fly. This really enhances the experience by heightening the immersion. The only downside to the aural presentation is that I would have liked to have seen more unique songs and artists – bands like Weezer, Boston, Nirvana, and Tenacious D are all back… again.

Though the game doesn’t come with a Guitar Grip, being able to play as four different instruments and listening to ultra-crisp master tracks tends to make up for it. Though playing individual instruments may not be quite as challenging, the overall level of difficulty can be even more trying. Thankfully, for the rhythmically-challenged and casual players, four levels of difficulty mean you will be able to gradually improve your skill set and still jam on to great tunes. We’re anxious to see what else EA, Harmonix, and MTV Games can bring to the PSP in the future, as Rock Band Unplugged is an excellent first outing for the franchise on the portable platform.

RATING OUT OF 5 RATING DESCRIPTION 4.0 Graphics
Though the simple graphics aren’t going to win any awards, they’re nearly indistinguishable from previous editions released on larger consoles. 4.0 Control
The customizable controls layout is a nice touch. The face button format is surprisingly engaging despite its simplicity. 4.6 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
While I would have liked to have seen some fresh content, the sound fidelity is excellent and the ability to download songs from PSN is a nice touch. 4.0 Play Value
There is a nice selection of songs and a good level of challenge to be found. The familiar Tour (career) set up, impressive sound quality, and extra modes should have you playing for a good long while. 4.2 Overall Rating – Great
Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.

Game Features:

  • World Tour: Customize your band and head out on a world tour through 24 cities and venues.
  • Build Your Library: Expand your portable music library with DLC from the in-game Rock Band Music Store.
  • Quickplay: Pick a song and jam, or choose a set list to play multiple tracks in a row.
  • Features Over 40 Original Master Recordings: Includes tracks from rock & roll’s biggest acts of all time, including Nirvana, The Police, Weezer, The Who, Boston, Foo Fighters, Pearl Jam, and more.

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