After last year's Beatles: Rock Band, Harmonix gained some serious street cred within the music industry. The game featured imaginative dreamscapes and the best live scenes ever seen in a music video game.
The game was handled with such care that many crowned Harmonix the kings of single band-centric games, even though it was their first compared to Neversoft's three (Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen). The project was such a success that Harmonix even decided to continue their journey in single-band games with a band that had a completely different style, but a comparably devoted fanbase: Green Day.
While there's no denying that Green Day is not as huge as the Beatles, the desire to have more of them in music games has been overwhelming. Hits such as "American Idiot" and "Basket Case" have been requested by fans since the first Guitar Hero game and now those dreams have been realized through Green Day: Rock Band.
Harmonix likely wants to avoid comparisons to the work of art that is The Beatles: Rock Band, but there's no getting around it; this game is built on the foundation laid forth by that game. The menus are all virtually the same, the song select screen is the same and its the only other Rock Band game (until Rock Band 3, that is) to feature harmonies.
That's not to say the concept is the same as The Beatles: Rock Band, however. Green Day is very much it's own game, having to do more with featuring a band rather than acting as an artistic tribute to the band much in the way that The Beatles: Rock Band was.
Presentation
The game might be the best looking Rock Band title in terms of overall finish. Lego Rock Band was cute, The Beatles was incredibly artistic, but not as sharp looking, and Rock Band 2 is looking more dated by the day, so seeing the character models and fan interactions in this title is a refreshing change.
Billie Joe Armstrong looks great in each era, though it seems that he looks more realistic the later in his career you get. Mike Dirnt looks great throughout and features great animations from the way his plucks his bass to the way he approaches the mic to sing the backing vocals, but something about drummer, Tre Cool just looks slightly off. He looks enough like his real-life counterpart, but he has a more cartoony quality about him than the other members of the band do. His animations are very well down, however. The drumming looks more fluid than in any game to date, particularly the bass pedal. It's also great to see Cool's antics when the drums fade away and he either messes around behind the kit or he will end up running around the stage messing around.
The stage effects are perhaps the best part of the presentation aspect. This represents the first time in the Rock Band series that the stage features projector effects showing scenes going on in other portions of the stage. The pyrotechnics are flawlessly timed with each song, which is something that will hopefully translate when the songs are exported. The most subtle addition is when fans will rarely jump on stage. It's never the focal point, but somethings you'll catch them in the background, which is a nice touch by Harmonix.
The only real issue with the presentation lies in the crowd. The volume of the crowd is too low, especially when they are singing along. With songs like "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" and "Boulevard of Broken Dreams", the crowd should be singing as loud, if not louder than Armstrong. Perhaps they didn't want to overshadow the band being featured, but those songs are great singalongs in which fans know every word. Also, the fans don't really have as much detail as they did in The Beatles: Rock Band, which is a small, yet somewhat troubling aspect of the title.
Features
Green Day: Rock Band doesn't have as many features as one might like. It has the same feature-set as The Beatles: Rock Band, but the history isn't as deeply explored as it was with The Beatles.
The career mode has everything you've come to expect from a Rock Band title. You play through all the songs on the disc and as you do, you'll witness three separate eras within the Green Day timeline.
You'll play through the Dookie era, the American Idiot era, and finally, the 21st Century Breakdown era, each of which takes place at an iconic concerts that occurred during those actual eras. Just like The Beatles: Rock Band, each song has a specific era assigned to it, which means whenever you play "When I Come Around", it will be as Dookie era Green Day.
As you progress through career mode, you'll unlock pictures from across Green Day's career, some of which have never been seen before. Unlike The Beatles: Rock Band, however, none of the pictures have stories or information grouped with each photo. Progressing through career mode will also unlock various challenges that do litlte more than group songs from the disc into playlists to unlock more photos.
Perhaps the best feature is the fact that all the songs can be exported to the main Rock Band platform, which means players can now have over 50 Green Day songs in their Rock Band setlist if they so choose. The export itself costs $10 and requires the unique owner ID to be unused, which encourages people to buy the title new.
Gameplay
The gameplay has and always will be where Harmonix excels. Their Rock Band engine is the most precise and despite there being a few questionable charting decisions, they are few and far between.
The biggest issue lies in the overall excitement of the charts themselves. This might be the first time in the history of Guitar Hero or Rock Band that the guitar is the dullest instrument to play in the game. That was to be expected however, as Billie Joe Armstrong isn't exactly known for his guitar solos. That's not to say that all of the guitar charts are a bore. There are a decent amount of fun guitar parts, but none that will really challenge any of the top players.
Drums, on the other hand, have plenty to offer in terms of fun and difficulty. Tre Cool has some absolutely insane drum parts and they are put to good use throughout this game. The songs are full of inventive and unique parts that feature punk beats and plenty of rolls. The game is definitely not for drumming novices, so approach this game with that in mind if you plan on beating on the skins.
The bass parts, provided by Mike Dirnt, are surprisingly involved and fun. This is incredibly refreshing, as the bass guitar is generally the boring younger brother of the lead guitar, particularly in the Rock Band series where open notes aren't implemented.
Finally, the game flourishes on vocals. Armstrong's vocal hooks are catchy and a blast to sing along to. There are enough huge hits on the game to make vocals really enjoyable, particularly in a party setting.
The Verdict
Green Day: Rock Band might not be the gem that The Beatles: Rock Band was, nor is it the most exciting game on guitar, but by no means does that make it a bad game. The game is full of huge hits and deep cuts that span Green Day's illustrious career. The fact that you can export the entire setlist to the main platform is just the icing on the cake.
The game isn't going to stand out in a lineup of Rock Band titles, but if you're a Green Day fan, or a drummer, then you would definitely be foolish to glance over this game. If you're a guitarist that is just looking for a few more songs to play until Rock Band 3 comes out, then you might be better off spending your money on downloadable content and Rock Band Network tracks.
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