Most of the songs you already bought in the DLC shop are available, too, provided that the licenses have not expired. If you bought the first three Rock Band games, you can (eventually) transfer all of your songs to Rock Band 4. The game makers expect that you either have the songs from the first three games stockpiled, a mountain of DLC, or both. There are, of course, mitigating factors for Rock Band 4's disappointing song selection.
The games aren't as similar as they used to be, but they're still the biggest names in rhythm gaming. But you'll probably recognize just a handful of songs, and they're not as good as the songs from previous games. Ditto for pop-rock fans and "Still Into You" by Paramore and "Centuries" by Fall Out Boy. Metalheads will know "Prayer" by Disturbed and "Miracle Man" by Ozzy Osbourne. Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl" and Mark Ronson's "Uptown Funk" may be fun to listen to, but they're not a ton of fun to play. Music Selection (Included)Īfter three games and mountains of downloadable content (DLC), Rock Band 4 is starting to scrape the bottom of the barrel for popular musicians. Winner: Guitar Hero Live With its clicking strum bar and clever new design, the Guitar Hero Live controller takes some getting used to, but feels like the more responsive of the two. That kind of aural feedback goes a long way in a rhythm game. The biggest advantage of the Guitar Hero controller, however, is the clicking strum bar. A guitar has six strings, so why not use six buttons to simulate one? Having two rows means you can use the same three fingers for all six of them, rather than slide your hand up and down the neck constantly. As before, the strum bar has an audible, tactile "click" that helps you know when you've hit a note properly.Īlthough it takes some time to get used to the six-button design, it actually makes a lot more sense than the five-button configuration. The top row is white, the bottom is black, and you play notes by matching both color and position. Rather than five colored buttons, you get two rows of three buttons apiece. The Guitar Hero controller, on the other hand, takes considerable departures from its predecessors.