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Release Date: October 2008
ESRB Rating: Teen
Genre: Music
Publisher: MTV Games
Developer: Harmonix Music Systems

When pimping his studio's ubiquitous band simulator in the press, Harmonix cofounder Alex Rigopulos is fond of calling Rock Band a "platform for music," like Apple's iPod and iTunes. In that sense, Rock Band 2 is more like a system update than a sequel. It's a collection of interface tweaks and non-earth-shattering new features designed to make the Rock Band experience more enjoyable and less frustrating. You get backward compatibility for all your downloaded material and 55 of the original game's 58 songs (after ponying up $5), an easier-to-navigate library, game-changing rule sets (the No Fail mode definitely makes drunken-party play less stressful for beginners), daily updated online challenges (Battle of the Bands), tougher, quieter, wireless hardware (if you're made of money), and, most notably, a couple of drum-training modes that teach aspiring pizza-delivery boys real-life drum beats and fills.

The real attraction here is the game's Sticky Fingers-like bulge of music. With 84 tunes on the disc (all are original recordings) and 20 free downloads form the online store, Rock Band 2 is simply the cheapest way to beef up your library. Not to belittle the selections here -- music taste is extremely personal, of course, and no matter what your preferences are, you'll likely end up despising 10 or 15 songs. But Rock Band 2's offerings are ambitious compared to the original game's lineup, with several major gets that would have seemed impossible just a year ago. Who ever thought they'd be able to play a classic Bob Dylan song in a videogame? Or "Psycho Killer" by the Talking Heads?

Unfortunately, both songs are a bit of a failure as rhythm-game material, holding true to the strange truism that music you like in real life often doesn't make the cut in game form. But that's part of Harmonix's approach to the genre, often forgoing a great game experience in favor of a great music experience. So, just like the first game, you'll find songs here that entertain on one instrument and bore on another. And like the first game, at higher levels of play, you'll experience the sensation of real musicianship, plastic instruments be damned. Who cares how many gems are on the screen when, for a few minutes in the company of good friends, you can have a taste of what it feels like to be Dave Grohl, pounding his way through the monstrous, spiraling tom fills of "Everlong" -- albeit with lightweight sticks and drums that sit about an inch away from each other.

Along with the positive tweaks, Rock Band 2 has its share of negatives. I'm no fan of unlockable content, and I don't think anyone should have to jump through hoops to access material that they've already spent good money for. The forcible song unlocks of the original game were bad enough, but Rock Band 2 has taken it to an extreme. Gone is the straightforward, linear trip through the game's setlist, replaced here with the familiar tour mode and a new challenge mode. Both force you to play though the same songs again and again in order to make new songs available in your library. I don't know about you, but the first thing I wanted to do with Rock Band 2 was invite a bunch of people over for cocktails and rock, and it was such a bummer to be limited to the songs I could unlock in four or five hours of solo play. Gamers are used to these unlocking regimes, but the whole thing was baffling to my nongamer friends, especially considering that songs you buy online are immediately available (of course!). Next time around, this unyielding structure needs to go. And with the increasing number of songs available, I was desperate for a way to hide songs I didn't like from the library menu. They just take up space and party time, and if one more person comes to my apartment and demands to sing "Say It Ain't So," I'm going break the disc in half.