Review: Rock Band Unplugged (PSP)

Before Guitar Hero, there was Amplitude, and before that, Frequency. Music games they were, and similar to Guitar Hero's 'tunnel vision', but they let the player direct the different elements of the songs together, synth, vocals, bass, etc.. Rock Band Unplugged has let Harmonix come full circle, so to speak. The four elements of guitar, bass, drums and vocals are now under one player's control, and keeping them going together transforms the game from the Simon Says to the Plate-Spinner of music games. As five buttons become four, fingers become thumbs, but the essence of Rock Band remains intact.

Those already associated with Rock Band will find the interface very familiar. Every effort has been made to make this feel right at home in the family. You can name and modify your band members, buy new kit from the 'rock shop' and tour the world much like you can in the bigger versions. Quick play is also available if you want to get stuck right in, although the ability to play any song from the offset is sadly relegated to a cheat mode in the options menu, a remnant of an archaic forced progression system. 41 songs (all of which are original recordings) can be found on the disc, which is on par with the first Rock Band game but fewer than the sequel. As the world tour is the only method of progressing and unlocking songs, you will encounter a lot of repetition from gig to gig.

Although you can reconfigure the controls, by default the d-pad's left and up buttons handle the red and yellow notes, while the triangle and circle handle green and blue respectively. As mentioned, this is an abstracted version of Rock Band, so don't expect the note charts to match what you're used to. Quick successions of notes will tend to alternate between hands, as will chords, to a point. Similarly drum rolls can see you moving back and forth across the buttons but in a way that makes sense. Vocals are handled the same way, with the notes crudely representing the pitch and any harmonies using two or more of the buttons simultaneously. It's actually a very good system, set up for some nice 'in the zone' moments.

Once you've hit all the notes in a 'phrase', the track continues automatically, and you're free to switch to another (using the shoulder buttons). If you've not missed any notes, you'll be able to pick up the next one right away, and maybe finish the whole song without any parts of the song cutting out. That's the idea, anyway. You can actually miss quite a few notes before that instrument enters the 'red' and it's easy enough to recover. Energy notes store up your overdrive, which doubles your multiplier and rescues any failed band members. As you can rack up a multiplier of up to 11, getting five stars is quite tricky. A single mistake can cascade into a whole star of difference. Fortunately most of the songs are fun to play over and over again regardless.

The soundtrack consists of a 'best of' Rock Band so far (with the game's new tracks said to be future releases for the big versions). Plucked from the discs and DLC of the existing games are such hits as Livin' On A Prayer, Carry On Wayward Son, More Than A Feeling and White Wedding, to name just a few. It also sees the return of Freezepop's Less Talk More Rokk, which is excellent, and Tenacious D's catchy Rock Your Socks Off, which has the most bizarre vocal solo you'll ever encounter towards the end. It's an excellent selection. The only down side would be if you've already played Rock Band to death and there's nothing new for you here. Even so, this game is an entirely different beast.

Playing along to all parts of the song makes this version more involving than its bigger brothers, and requires a different sort of skill. Even when you're 'strumming' along to a guitar riff, you've got to have the drum beat in mind as well, ready to switch over at the drop of a hat; or be aware of any syncopated beats, or off-kilter vocals. In a sense, each song feels more complete this way. How often would you play all parts of a song in the big version of Rock Band? Well, here you can do that every time you play. This 'extra value' might even see the game's (currently limited) downloadable content see some popularity, but it remains to be seen how far that will stretch. There is the option to focus on just one instrument as a bonus mode, which is handy for practising, but there is no multiplayer mode at all, as it wouldn't suit the style of game.

So this has all come together quite nicely. There are a couple of issues, but these are minor. Firstly, the amount of 'stuff' that is displayed on the note track can get quite obtrusive. Transparent 'missed' phrases and band groove / overdrive signifiers can get in the way of the all-important notes and throw off your timing. Rock Band has always been visually tidy but is showing signs of getting a bit messy here.

Secondly, something that will probably only affect older generation PSP players, is the occasional red/yellow combo, which requires you to hold a diagonal direction on the d-pad. As many players will attest, this can range from tricky to impossible. You can of course reconfigure the controls, but if you've got this far already on the defaults, that's easier said than done. Thankfully these combos are a rare occurrence that won't stop you from getting through the three or four songs they appear in, and it only applies to expert mode anyway.

For anyone wanting a portable Rock Band, this might be a bit abstract, but it mostly ticks all the right boxes. It doesn't have the same appeal as holding a plastic instrument and striking ridiculous poses in your living room, but given the alternative is a cramp-inducing guitar grip (care of Guitar Hero: On Tour), Unplugged is quite welcome. Certainly the presentation and attention to detail is far superior here, and stops it from feeling like a cheap knock-off. With a well-tuned learning curve and lots of great music, this is perhaps one of the more complete music games for the platform, regardless of brand, and is well worth your attention.

Rating: 8 / 10

Words by Daniel James