Rock Band VR worth the money?

[Dumpy4Life]

How is Rock Band VR? Is it basically a free style mode or does it give you an idea of what to play?

[Arock387]

I have a PS4 guitar but no way to connect it to teh PC. So, Im not sure if I'm going to be rocking it out anytime soon unfortunately.

[esteem]

I picked it up on launch and use my Xbox One guitars. It's honestly a better deal to get the Amazon bundle, especially if you need another guitar for RB4. If you already have a guitar and don't need another one just pick it up from the Oculus store. 

As for it being worth it... It is but with a couple of caveats. It's definitely fun, but since libraries aren't interchangeable, I'm not sure I'd want to load up on DLC like I did with the XBOX. It does come with 60 songs, and they are pretty good ones. There is no real multiplayer as far as I can tell, but there are leaderboards. DLC isn't available yet, but again I'm not sure how much I'm going to "re-invest" into a separate library. I can tell you that the experience is really great, and certainly unique  Being able to move the guitar around in real time with a matching size scale is amazing. You can look at the in-game guitar and find\hit the fret buttons even if you don't have the muscle memory for them yet. I've spent quite a few hours in it already and I certainly don't regret my purchase.

As for the gameplay the main mode/story is essentially a guided freestyle. It's primarily chord based, but you can move the chords up and down the fret board to change notes as you see fit. It really helps if you know the beat of the song, as you will only see upcoming chord types, and a few combos, but it will never tell you how many times you need to strum. As far as I can tell, you never see single notes. That being said, you can generally strum once, or a ton, and still pull off a perfect as long as you're in time.

There is a "classic" mode that is just like RB4. However, I feel like they threw it in there at the last minute because it's very basic. You are in an empty black void with the highway floating in front of you. It does look cool seeing it in 3D like that, but they could have done something else. My main complaint right now with Classic mode is that there didn't appear to be a setlist option. You basically have to exit to menu for each new song. I may have missed something though, so I'll have to check again.


TL:DR - If you are a fan of the games, and want a bit more freedom/complexity than just hitting notes coming down a highway, pick this up. If you just want a VR version of RB4, you can sorta have that, but it's very limited, and honestly you will miss out on something more complex.

Oh and I've never really been a fan of RB's stylized people. So they kind of suck to me. Oh how I wish they could do VR with GH:Live

[Hedgy]

Arock387 said:

I have a PS4 guitar but no way to connect it to teh PC. So, Im not sure if I'm going to be rocking it out anytime soon unfortunately.

You can pick up a bluetooth receiver for about £5 on Amazon http://amzn.eu/4ME6J8Q

[U_n_i_v_e_r_s_a_l]

I;ll buy this if nly theres a rift special guitar that you can buy.

[falken76]

I got rid of my Rockband Guitars from my Xbox, I'm not going to spend money on another one.  The game looks pretty lame to me.  They must have real faith in it though, they gave us an accessory for this game and the guitar in the rift box.  I'd like to see a game like this with a real guitar, not a fisher price toy.  But I have no idea how they'd make it work.  If they did, I'd buy that version.

[GATOxVoS]

The game is a real nice experience. Reminds me of the days back in highschool when I played in a band, in which we had a couple shows. Only dipped my toes into the game though, so I don't know how long the good feelings will last.

The guitar play for this game makes it easy to "rock out," but if you've ever played guitar in a real setting, it will feel pretty lame after an hour or so of play. There's not enough complexity in the game. I understand they went for more of a freestyle feel to the game, but what I really wanted was a different take on their already great system of play a la previous rockband titles. Even the "virtuoso" mode is kind of upsetting, seeing as they don't ask you to change to specific cords/buttons, but instead just ask for you to change the root note.

In the end, I won't be refunding it, seeing as it is a very cool experience. You feel like your guitar play does have an impact on the sound being generated to the crowd, and that you're making music for the generated audience to rock out to. I believe that is what the developers were really going for, an experience that made you feel like you're on stage. I can see myself booting this up with a couple drinks and having a good time.

Though, is this a game that I would want to put time in to compete on the leaderboards? No. Would rather play Rockband 4 for that kind of experience.

[Zenbane]

Nice writeup @Xsjadia

I have played live starting in highschool, up through college and beyond. I have never been a big Rock Band kinda person since it never felt natural to me. I considered getting this VR version after reading so many reviews, but I was concerned that the cost for the software + the (fake) guitar might end up leaving me regretful. I think you're the first person with a similar background to my own that provided an honest assessment.

I will likely wait to invest in this until potential future updates make it worthwhile for those of us who have spent years doing the real thing.

[Anonymous]

I play real guitar and never tried these types of games before. But after watching some videos posted on youtube, I think I'm sold on it. I'll definitely be picking it up soon. 🙂 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jZucPXgxBI

[GATOxVoS]

Thanks @Zenbane. I think you have the right idea of what to do. If you haven't really gotten into the way the Rockband games play (simplification of playing an instrument), this latest installation probably won't get you on board. But if it goes on sale, or you get bored and have some extra cash lying around, it wouldn't be a bad pickup.

After having a couple said drinks, I've come to enjoy the Rockband VR experience. After playing through many more songs, I'm starting to get the feel for what the developers intended for the users, and it is quite the nice experience. If I could describe this game with a title, it would be "Rockband VR: Rhythm Guitar Hero," as you'll find yourself playing your chords, contributing to the sound that's being created, and adding your own flair to popular songs. 

With many (if not all) of the songs, the game will guide you as to what kind of "chords" should be played in order to keep with the original sound of the song. But after the first iteration of sections in the song, the game will leave it up to you as to whether you want to stick with the original chords (I have found that in some songs, "freestyling" it can work to create interesting music, but for others, it just mucks up the sound). I've found this system quite nice, as I do not know many of the songs changes, and as such, the system compensates for that.

I find myself checking the "chord board" to see what I need to play, but only so I can turn around and check out the rest of the view while playing. The developers did a pretty decent job in re-creating the stage experience. It's not a completely "live" experience that you would have during a live show, but just like Virtual Reality's true intent, it imitates the experience pretty well. I love trying to make awkward eye contact with the other members in the band. Sometimes they seem like other real band members, at others, they seem to be annoyed with my constant watchful eye, lol.

The cons of the game though are apparent, but few:
-The lag created by the wireless connection is apparent, but the developers have introduced algorithms in order to compensate. Though, what ends up happening is when changing from chord to chord, you may have a 1-2 count delay in the chord change, as well as with strumming speed changes (1/4s 1/8s 1/16s) they too have a 1-2 count delay. Though, this mainly happens when you are trying to freestyle. When the chords are defined for you, they seem to play much more accurately. Though, all this compensation provides for a pretty believable sound experience coming out of the amplifier positioned behind you.
-On virtuoso mode (having to change the "root" note of your chord by changing the lowest pressed button on the guitar) gets a little agitating when playing a chord that spans 4 buttons, as you will just be switching between the lower position and the higher position, over and over again. This feels very awkward.

The best experience by far that I have had in this game is playing a solo. When you begin to gear up for a solo, lights all around you begin to appear, hyping you up for what's to come. When it's time to shred, you play your notes as they shoot colored energy balls into the crowd for every note hit. Sure the solo is in NO WAY playing the notes that I am attempting to communicate to the fake guitar, so I usually just end up spamming the buttons and strum bar. But in some ways, that makes it all the more fun.

TL;DR - Rockband VR is a really cool experience, that you may have to put in a little extra time to learn how the developers want you to play the game, seeing as it is a departure in gameplay from their previous titles. Musicians might have to dumb down their expectations of a music game to really enjoy, but if it can be tolerated, the experience to be on stage and "play" music is worth it.