[monkey butler]

Hi All

I'm getting tired of playing GH:WT and RB1, so i'm thinking about getting hold of RB2.

My main question is is it any better than Rock Band? After playing World Tour since November i do find Rock Band 1 very dated in it's look and feel, and prefer the presentation and feel of GH:WT. I'm keen to get RB2, but as it's still at least £30 not sure about buying.

Is the game significantly updated? Also, does RB2 fully support my GH:WT drum kit, which is another reason i don't play RB1 so much?

Finally, what's the deal with my RB1 content? I've heard that i can transfer it over, but no idea how, or if it would be a problem if i bought 2nd hand.

Thanks!

[Yubious]

my advice would be, transfer all the songs you can from rb1 for use on rb2,
sell rb1 on (i just sold mine of fleabay for £21), but rock band 2 and you have almost all rb1 songs plus you dlc ready for use in rb2.
its worth getting just for the extra songs, but thwe presentation hasnt really had much of an uplift, but i prefer it to guitar hero tho.

[amardilo]

Originally Posted by monkey butler

Hi All

I'm getting tired of playing GH:WT and RB1, so i'm thinking about getting hold of RB2.

My main question is is it any better than Rock Band? After playing World Tour since November i do find Rock Band 1 very dated in it's look and feel, and prefer the presentation and feel of GH:WT. I'm keen to get RB2, but as it's still at least £30 not sure about buying.

Is the game significantly updated? Also, does RB2 fully support my GH:WT drum kit, which is another reason i don't play RB1 so much?

Finally, what's the deal with my RB1 content? I've heard that i can transfer it over, but no idea how, or if it would be a problem if i bought 2nd hand.

Thanks!

You can transfer most (not all) songs on Rock Band to your hard drive and convert them to be DLC. It costs 400MS points to do it and you need a copy of RB1 (you don't need to own it just have it so you can rip the data of the disc). There is a good video on Joystiq.com showing you how to do it.

All the DLC you may have bought for Rock Band should work in Rock Band 2 so you shouldn't lose out there.

Having not played any GH games I can't really comment on the differences between the 2 but I can say the look and feel of RB2 is about the same as RB1 but it does have a slight graphical improvement and it does also have a few other minor tweeks. I don't play RB1 anymore as I find RB2 to be really good and has some nice new features like dropping people from you band

Anyway as for compatibility this link should have some nice charts to help you see if you kit will work.

Also I think Rock Band 2 comes with a redemption code to download some tracks for free (there are no big name songs/bands in there) so you might want to double check that you aren't missing anything you may want if you buy it 2nd hand. I think the list of free songs should be here.

[JonnyP24]

GH:Metallica

[chewyx]

yes definately worth getting. Its much better than GH:WT.

The gameplay between RB1 and 2 is pretty much the same with the exception of chord HOPO's which are new to RB2. The presentation is slightly more polished and it dos look better than RB1 (which IMHO looks FAR better than GH!)

Not sure what you mean by the WT drums working "fully" with RB. The orange cymbal wont work if thats what you mean but other than that, they can be used fully with RB.

As for importing the songs. If you stick RB1 in and go to options, you will see an export option. Pay the 400MSP (i think) for the transfer and it will rip the tracks to your HDD and when you boot up RB2, they will be there ready for you.

There are 20 free songs with RB2 that you will only get if you buy a new copy of RB2.

EDIT- damn, all these replies in the time it took me to write my response. Stupid work getting in the way!!

If your not sure about it, why dont you rent it first and see if you like it.

[Bursar]

RB2 also offers drum solos as well in a few songs.

[monkey butler]

Originally Posted by chewyx

yes definately worth getting. Its much better than GH:WT.

The gameplay between RB1 and 2 is pretty much the same with the exception of chord HOPO's which are new to RB2. The presentation is slightly more polished and it dos look better than RB1 (which IMHO looks FAR better than GH!)

Not sure what you mean by the WT drums working "fully" with RB. The orange cymbal wont work if thats what you mean but other than that, they can be used fully with RB.

As for importing the songs. If you stick RB1 in and go to options, you will see an export option. Pay the 400MSP (i think) for the transfer and it will rip the tracks to your HDD and when you boot up RB2, they will be there ready for you.

There are 20 free songs with RB2 that you will only get if you buy a new copy of RB2.

EDIT- damn, all these replies in the time it took me to write my response. Stupid work getting in the way!!

If your not sure about it, why dont you rent it first and see if you like it.

May need to look at a brand new copy - didn't know about the free tracks. Are there any listings anywhere as to what they are.

The other major question that i think you've answered here is that RB2 still doesn't fully support the GH drum kit that i have, which is a real shame if that's the case. I was hoping that it would see the cymbals independently.

Where's the cheapest to buy it from? Play.com or Amazon i'm guessing??

[chewyx]

* "Sons and Daughters" by The 88
* "No Regrets" by Authority Zero
* "Prequel To The Sequel" by Between the Buried and Me
* "Bounce" by The Cab
* "Get It On" by The Chevelles
* "Give It To Me" by The **bleep**tail Slippers- ha just noticed this. took this from another forum and it doesnt seem to like you mentioning a 1980's film with Tom Cruise in it!!
* "Database Corrupted" by Dealership
* "I Wanna Be Your Man" by Endeverafter
* "Ashes To Fire" by The Ghost Hounds
* "Young" by Hollywood Undead
* "The Feeling" by Kutless
* "If I Ain't Got You" by The Len Price 3
* "I'm Gone, I'm Going" by Lesley Roy
* "Burn You Down" by Opiate for the Masses
* "Magnetic Baby" by Semi-Precious Weapons
* "Like a Fool" by Shaimus
* "Crazy Tuesday" by Thenewno2
* "The Time Is Wrong" by Tickle Me Pink
* "Desperate Times, Desperate Measures" by Underoath
* "I.V." by X Japan

Id never heard of any of them but some of them are pretty good fun. If you buy a used copy, the code will probbly have been used and its a use once code so a new copy is the only way to go if you want to be guaranteed to get them.

Sadly RB doesnt recognise the GH cymbals individually so the Orange cymbal doesnt do anything. I dont think you can hack the controller either to make it work properly. I had a quick go on the GH drums before i dismantele them to use the midi port and i found playing some songs really tricky as the yellow cymbal is a hi-hat when you may need to use it as a tom or a snare. You can pick up the RB drums pretty cheap nowdays, you might want to think about picking up a set.

Dont know what difficulty you play on but expert is'nt easy to play on the GH drums particularly songs with lots of rolls (like ruch) or reversed hi-hat/snare (everlong, Mr Brightside, RttH etc)

not sure of the cheapest place to get it from. It seems to hold its value and i dont recall ever seeing it discounted. Cheapest ive seen it is about £38 on shopto. play and amazon have it for £39.99.

[monkey butler]

Originally Posted by chewyx

* "Sons and Daughters" by The 88
* "No Regrets" by Authority Zero
* "Prequel To The Sequel" by Between the Buried and Me
* "Bounce" by The Cab
* "Get It On" by The Chevelles
* "Give It To Me" by The **bleep**tail Slippers- ha just noticed this. took this from another forum and it doesnt seem to like you mentioning a 1980's film with Tom Cruise in it!!
* "Database Corrupted" by Dealership
* "I Wanna Be Your Man" by Endeverafter
* "Ashes To Fire" by The Ghost Hounds
* "Young" by Hollywood Undead
* "The Feeling" by Kutless
* "If I Ain't Got You" by The Len Price 3
* "I'm Gone, I'm Going" by Lesley Roy
* "Burn You Down" by Opiate for the Masses
* "Magnetic Baby" by Semi-Precious Weapons
* "Like a Fool" by Shaimus
* "Crazy Tuesday" by Thenewno2
* "The Time Is Wrong" by Tickle Me Pink
* "Desperate Times, Desperate Measures" by Underoath
* "I.V." by X Japan

Id never heard of any of them but some of them are pretty good fun. If you buy a used copy, the code will probbly have been used and its a use once code so a new copy is the only way to go if you want to be guaranteed to get them.

Sadly RB doesnt recognise the GH cymbals individually so the Orange cymbal doesnt do anything. I dont think you can hack the controller either to make it work properly. I had a quick go on the GH drums before i dismantele them to use the midi port and i found playing some songs really tricky as the yellow cymbal is a hi-hat when you may need to use it as a tom or a snare. You can pick up the RB drums pretty cheap nowdays, you might want to think about picking up a set.

Dont know what difficulty you play on but expert is'nt easy to play on the GH drums particularly songs with lots of rolls (like ruch) or reversed hi-hat/snare (everlong, Mr Brightside, RttH etc)

not sure of the cheapest place to get it from. It seems to hold its value and i dont recall ever seeing it discounted. Cheapest ive seen it is about £38 on shopto. play and amazon have it for £39.99.

I'l take a look at ShopTo - have an account with them already. Not sureabout the free songs though, don't like playing stuff that that they chuck at you for free in these games, much prefer to play songs i know.

Real shame about the compromised drums on Rock Band. When i get my mates over to play we fight over who wants to play drums as it's so much fun. We normally play GH:WT because it just seems to hang together and work better (plus seems to play tighter). I switch to RB1 which has much better music, but because of the lack of cymbal support it's not the full experience.

Are you saying that i can buy a Rock Band drum kit with a pair of cymbals for £40?

[PlexShaw]

Originally Posted by monkey butler

Not sureabout the free songs though, don't like playing stuff that that they chuck at you for free in these games, much prefer to play songs i know.

As I see it, these games function as a means of expanding musical tastes and can get pretty boring if you only stick to songs you know. I'd recommend you get RB2 new because some of those free tracks are really quite good IMO.

Real shame about the compromised drums on Rock Band. When i get my mates over to play we fight over who wants to play drums as it's so much fun. We normally play GH:WT because it just seems to hang together and work better (plus seems to play tighter). I switch to RB1 which has much better music, but because of the lack of cymbal support it's not the full experience.

Although I liked the idea of them in theory, in practice playing GHWT with the 5 pad plus pedal GH set was an absolute pain due to being used to the far less intimidating 4 pad layout and the shoddy build quality of the GH set I had (whoever designed the wobbly stand should be shot). In fact, I didn't start liking the drums in GH until I started playing it with the RB set.

Are you saying that i can buy a Rock Band drum kit with a pair of cymbals for £40?

No. The RB1 wired set (which is the only one officially available in the UK) does not support the additional cymbals made by Mad Catz. £40 will get you the 4 pad set, kick pedal, stand and a set of (crappy) drum sticks. The set that will be included in the Beatles bundle will work with them, as does the wireless RB2 set that may eventually be released in the UK (although it can be imported - that's what I did anyway).

All in all, get Rock Band 2 as soon as possible because it's 100% pure awesome.

[BAN5HEE]

Originally Posted by monkey butler

Hi All

I'm getting tired of playing GH:WT and RB1, so i'm thinking about getting hold of RB2.

My main question is is it any better than Rock Band? After playing World Tour since November i do find Rock Band 1 very dated in it's look and feel, and prefer the presentation and feel of GH:WT. I'm keen to get RB2, but as it's still at least £30 not sure about buying.

Is the game significantly updated? Also, does RB2 fully support my GH:WT drum kit, which is another reason i don't play RB1 so much?

Finally, what's the deal with my RB1 content? I've heard that i can transfer it over, but no idea how, or if it would be a problem if i bought 2nd hand.

Thanks!

Yes. Get it. The enhanced functionality alone makes it worth it. Being able to queue up songs to play. It really is much better then 1. A friend of mine has World tour and he prefers Rock band 2. Mainly cause it has much better songs ie: more rocky\metal then World tour, and the loads of DLC. I am going to pick up a cheap copy of world tour for myself though to get ready for Guitar Hero 5. You aren’t looking to get rid of yours are you?

[Stinja]

I have both, the only thing i miss from GHWT is Tool. RB2 is a much better product in almost every way*. The only thing i can think which GHWT does better is the track completion info.




* Obviously IMO, and with an edrum-kit for velocity info and multiple drums + cymbals. PS3 version.

[oasismark]

Originally Posted by Bursar

RB2 also offers drum solos as well in a few songs.

Does it?

What songs are they then?

[chewyx]

on disc i think spoonman has one The trees definately does. there are a couple of others but cant think off the top of my head.

Some DLC songs that have them are spaceman, Funk #49 there are loads more but i cant think of any. If you havent got these 2 and like drumming, get them. Both are fun

[Bursar]

Quite a few. Here's a video medley of some: YouTube - All Rock Band 2 Drum Solos 100% FC

[chewyx]

Which songs are they? (no sound at work)

The only one i recognise is painkiller. How could i forget painkiller when i listed the on disc songs! I still have nightmares about it!!

[Bursar]

0:00 Cool for cats
0:35 We got the beat
0:56 E-Pro
1:19 The trees
1:54 Spoonman
2:11 Painkiller intro
2:31 Painkiller ending

There's plenty of DLC with drum solos as well.

[BAN5HEE]

Originally Posted by Bursar

0:00 Cool for cats
0:35 We got the beat
0:56 E-Pro
1:19 The trees
1:54 Spoonman
2:11 Painkiller intro
2:31 Painkiller ending

There's plenty of DLC with drum solos as well.

Spoonman is a wrist killer to play on expert....