Rockband 3

I purchased Rock Band 3 with the Wireless Keyboard and the Pro Drum-kit, as I was a massive fan of the drum sections in Rock Band 1 & 2, and I had a hope that the Wireless Keyboard might be a gateway to actually learning how to play keys / piano. I already own most of the Rock Band & Guitar Hero games, so I used the GH2 Explorer for the guitar sections and the USB microphone from the original Rock Band.

The track list is, for the most part, superb. Songs like 'Free Bird' and 'No One Knows' make a welcome return. Other songs (such as 'Rehab' by Amy Winehouse) seem a bit out-of-place. That said, most of the tracks from Rock Band 1 & 2 are exportable to your hard disk and playable in RB3 (I have done this successfully, there are several forums giving details on how this is actually done). Add those to any DLC you may have already acquired and you'll most likely have a pretty formidable playlist.

The game mechanics are pretty good - you have the Tour type progression and a Career mode that presents a number of challenges to beat, which actually isn't as transparent as it should be - though it makes sense once you've worked with it a little. I started out working through and completing the Road Challenges before I even realized there were Career challenges to beat. There is plenty of content in terms of game play modes, though, so you won't be struggling in looking for things to do.

Even if you are buying the game on its own and using your old peripherals, you could still probably score this game 4 stars out of 5. What makes this a 5 star product for me, however, is the new peripherals - though it's noteworthy that you have to spend a considerable amount of cash to get the most out of RB3.

The Wireless Keyboard is a masterstroke on the part of Harmonix, and I've massively enjoyed using this. It's not easy - especially if you've never used a keyboard (like me) - but once you practice a bit, there are some really great experiences to find. Playing 'Bohemian Rhapsody' on Hard Pro Keys or higher - once it clicks - is a fantastic experience. The only downside is that currently, there isn't the range of material for Keyboard yet, but at time of writing there are now sets available from The Doors and John Lennon. Harmonix have always been consistent in releasing DLC, and I sincerely hope that upgrades will be forthcoming for the material already available - as long as it's not TOO expensive, of course.

The Mad Catz Pro Drum-kit includes cymbals and a means for connecting a double-kick pedal (not included with the standard kit). All the songs include mappings for the Pro Drum kits, so you won't have to purchase 'upgrades' like you would for the Pro Guitar or the Keyboard. The Pro Drum-kit does feel more like playing an actual drum-kit than the RB1 version, but it's not an evolution to the series in the way the Keyboard is. If you really enjoyed the drum sessions (as I do) you'll probably get the value from this purchase, but otherwise you'd be better using your RB1 kit. I would also note that my RB3 Pro Drum-kit had to be returned after a few weeks due to one of the cymbals going faulty, though I'm not sure if this is a typical fault at this time.

In summary, if you already own RB1 or RB2 and are thinking of buying RB3, I would wholeheartedly recommend this purchase with the Wireless Keyboard. The Pro Drum-kit is probably a decent buy if you don't own the RB1 or the Beatles Kit already, or you really enjoy the Drum modes. The game itself is easily the best of the trilogy in terms of accessibility, track list and customization, and even as a stand-alone product it presents great value-for-money.

Rockband 3 is here, and brings with it 'Pro' mode and a keyboard, more songs and more fun.

Here's a breakdown of Pro mode for the peripherals that support it;

Pro Drums: Basically, they've added the necessity of HAVING to use cymbals, thus you have to buy a new drumset to accomodate this, unless you own the ION Drum Rocker.

Pro Guitar/ Bass: Completely different to their standard counterparts, you now have to find the right fret and actually strum strings in order to play the songs, I haven't been able to try this mode because I don't have the Pro Guitar for it.

Pro Keys: Essentially what you're doing with Pro Keys is playing the actual synth/ piano parts of a song, on a small-scale (16-key, I believe) keyboard, complete with wammy touchpad and overdrive button. If you do get the keyboard peripheral (which you should!) I would recommend going through the tutorials first, as you really need to know which key is which in Pro mode.

As for songs, I am really impressed with what Harmonix has offered this time, there is a huge amount of variety in songs this time, and, of course, there is the massive DLC store which also includes 'Rock Band Network' songs which allows you to download songs that have been user-created, allowing even MORE songs to be downloading, you might need to invest in a bigger hard drive!! There are also the obligatory 'Ultra-hard' song(s), this time being "Caught in a Mosh", "Beast and the Harlot" and "Llama", this means that there will be some songs that you wont be able to do straight away and will need to practice them.

This is a brilliant example of how Harmonix has made a reputation for having good party games, think about it, which would you rather have at a party (out of RB3 and GH:WOR), one which has a variety of songs that most people will know, or one that basically only includes rock songs? The answer, Rock Band 3 because it has the most songs that people will know and/ or like. If you get a group of friends round, it's all fun, someone wailing on the drums, someone rocking out on guitar/ bass and someone screeching into the mic. Of course, if you want to download songs you'll need your credit card at hand, because you'll likely keep spotting songs you like and 500MS points doesn't go very far when each song is around 160MS points (£1.99ish) of course there are songs that are free, and some that cost 80MS points (£0.75) but they're all worth it. You'll also need a bigger hard drive due to all the songs, my Rock Band 2 data is 4.3Gb, with Rock Band 1 and 3 being less than 1Gb so it soon takes up space.

Overall, I would REALLY recommend this game to anyone who liked the previous two and anyone who has friends round on a regular basis, or if you have parties on a regular basis.

Also, for everyone who keeps putting "daylight robbery" as a tag, IT ONLY COSTS MORE IF YOU BUY THE COMPLETE BAND VERSION, plus, you dont HAVE to buy the new peripherals if you already have the older ones, you aren't missing out on much.

I've played pretty much every music game and can safely say that Rock Band 3 is the best one yet.

The first thing that strikes you when you load up the game, is how much cleaner the menu system looks compared to RB and RB2. So you have hundreds of songs in your library (after you've imported from any other Rock band game you have), the new sorting system is much more in depth. You can also rate songs so that when you play a party shuffle, the songs that you don't like are unlikely to appear. The only gripe at this time is that every time you load up the game you will want to change the sorting as it defaults back.

Now we come to the games set-list. It is without doubt the strongest on-disc setlist yet, but in my opinion doesn't have enough guitar based tracks. Free Bird, No one Knows, Here I Go Again are all great. But songs like Rehab and most offer songs in the 2000s feel out of place. In particular the songs choices from the 2000s and 1960s is too weak.

However to make up for this there are currently nearly 2000 songs available for download that will work in Rock Band 3 and more songs are being added every Tuesday. Launch DLC was the greatest hits from The Doors, which will be great to play on keyboard in particular.

I haven't tried any of the new instruments yet however, my GH: World Tour guitar has just stopped working properly so I will be purchasing a RB3 Fender Stratocaster to replace it. The keyboard I will probably purchase later, see what DLC comes out first. Currently, roughly 60 songs out of 509 in my collection have keyboard.

I highly recommend Rock Band 3, whether you want to play on your own or as a group. Its great fun and will last for ages!