Rock Band: Unplugged

I've always been a fan of MTV's Unplugged series. It takes performers that you know and love and gives you a stripped down yet enjoyable experience. Its that concept makes Rock Band: Unplugged's title a lot more appropriate than I thought it was the first time I heard of the game.

I'm sure you've all heard about Rock Band by now, right? It's that game that's filling up your living room (or your friend's living room) with fake plastic instruments. You know, the one that makes you feel like a rock star while playing it? (Although, you probably don't look like a rock star while playing it...) You know the one. Well, Rock Band: Unplugged tries to take that experience, strip it of the fake plastic instruments and serve it up to you on the go with the PSP.

I'll admit that I was skeptical that a portable version of Rock Band would work. The Guitar Hero franchise went portable with their DS version and had mixed results. Rock Revolution... well, Rock Revolution kinda failed as a console game and a portable game. But a lot of what makes Rock Band fun is playing on those fake plastic instruments and playing on those fake plastic instruments with up to three of your friends. So taking those two core elements out of the equation sounds like a recipe for disaster. Surprisingly, it's not.

Will Rock Band: Unplugged make you feel like a rock star while playing it? Probably not. Is Rock Band: Unplugged an enjoyable experience? I think so, yes. Recognizing the fact that two of the core elements for Rock Band's success weren't feasible on a portable platform, Harmonix, Rock Band: Unplugged's developer, changed the equation. What's the same? There are still four tracks for each song: guitar, bass, drums and vocals. You're still matching notes as they scroll down the fret bar to the song you're playing. But that's where the similarities end. Instead of four different people playing four different tracks, you're a one man band playing all four tracks at once. Each of the tracks consists of "phrases" that, once completed successfully, allows that track to play on its own for a while while you switch to another track. So instead of feeling like a rock star, it kinda makes you feel like you're spinning plates on poles. But that's not such a bad thing.

Arguably, the most important thing about any music game is the music and while there are only 41 tracks in the game, those tracks span a wide variety of genres and decades from the Jackson 5's ABC to System of a Down's Chop Suey. What is a little disappointing are the number of songs that have already appeared in previous Rock Band games. I mean Spoonman? Really? Haven't we heard enough of that song yet? On the brighter side, it seems that Harmonix is as dedicated to delivering downloadable content for Unplugged as it is for its plugged in big brother. Although it remains to be seen if there will be Unplugged exclusive songs coming as downloadable content.

The other big part of the Rock Band series is the character customization and unfortunately this is where Unplugged's pint-size doesn't quite measure up. While you can customize your fab four, your variety is limited. Can you create your Rock Band version of the crew of the starship Enterprise? (Or as I've been trying to do my Rock Band version of Sex Bob-omb?) Probably not. But at least you can change your characters' appearances without having to create a whole new character. (Sex changes on the fly!) But since the game takes place on such a small screen instead of your (probably) much bigger TV, the only time you'll ever see the characters is when you're making them.

What is also a little disappointing is the lack of any multiplayer modes, either infrastructure or ad hoc. I can kind of rationalize the decision because of how key the track switching mechanic is to the challenge and reward of the game but it would have been a nice bonus. (Plus the potential sale of three other copies of the game...) One of the things I find disheartening about PSP games in general is that they're generally just PS2 games except portable. Very few games take advantage of the PSP hardware and ad hoc multiplayer is something that could have been included.

Rating

Recommendations

Before I sign off for this week, I'm going to have to warn you guys there may be a lot more PSP and DS reviews in Another Videogame Webcomic's future because... my PS3 died! Well, not died exactly but it's totally not working. What it does do is beep at me and keeps my rental games inside the steel trap that is the bluray player. Anyway, Sony's repair fee is $150... not cheap. So, we're brewing ideas for some sort of fundraiser where we can raise enough money to get the PS3 fixed. Unless you guys actually like reviews of a bunch of PSP and DS games? In the meantime, do you guys have any horror stories to share about your PS3s, Xbox 360s or any other gaming console going kaput? Share your pain. We'd like to hear. Is there a support group?