A cunningly simple title to an unbelievable gaming experience, Rock Band can be ultimately described as a true testament to the successful blending of the two seemingly most distant categories in gaming, rhythm and cooperative.

Rock Band is exactly what it says it is…you pick the instrument of your choice in a band, choosing between guitar, bass, drums, or vocals, and rip it on stage with a score meter being your objective measure of progress.

However, the one biggest feature that sets this rhythm game apart from every other rhythm game before it is that it incorporates not just the ability of one or two instruments together, but up to four to truly work together to play songs just as bands in real life have to truly work together to create music.

Graphically, it sets new bounds for what can be achieved visually in a musical game, which usually tend to have either slightly cartoony images on screen, real music videos just playing in the background, or flashes of patterns and colors that tend to match the tempo of the song you are playing at the time.

Rock Band’s visual style approach definitely takes a turn for the slightly more realistic, looking more like what you would see in a real underground concert or what you would watch in older classic music videos and live concert DVDs, and does so magnificently. The tracks themselves are cleanly polished, and the notes all have a sleek and modern look to them that all together complement the background action very well.

As with any music game, the one element that is critically important are the songs, and I’m very glad to say that Rock Band delivers greatly to a broad spectrum of music lovers. The game is not specifically dedicated for one instrument like most other rhythm games, and who really knows how many true variations of rock music exist? Chances are if you’ve been alive some time for the past forty years, you’ll find a song in this game that you’ll not only recognize, but appreciate as well.

From extremely popular current bands such as Red Hot Chili Peppers and Queens of the Stone Age to rock icons such as The Who and Metallica, the song list is sure to strike a chord with anyone who has a taste for rock music of any decade. Not only that, but there are new additions put up weekly to expand your song collection that does a wonderful job of keeping the game alive even after you thought you’d heard it all.

The single-player doesn’t differ too much from that of Guitar Hero, you still have a single track representing the notation of your instrument that you play according to the rhythm of that instrument in the song, with Overdrive (the new equivalent of Star Power, an ability used to either double your score or keep your crowd entertained at your not-so-shining moments).

A neat thing to know is that this time, Overdrive can be added on as you are using it, so you can earn while you burn, and extend the time you stay in Overdrive as long as you can nail the section while you are still in it, whereas Guitar Hero simply overrode the sections if you already had Star Power active.

However, one unique thing about the game is that each instrument has some way to “improvise” within the song, something that has never been done before in the way of Harmonix’s earlier projects of Rock Band.

For example, the drums activate their Overdrive by playing fills, which basically come as long solid lines that allow the player to play literally whatever they wish, and then ending their moment in a big crash to release the energy and let the crowd go nuts.

The singer has moments where they can literally say anything, from the classic “Yeah!” or “Whooo!” to the most random thing that pops in their heads (My personal favorite: Toasty! MK style), and Overdrive can be activated. For guitar/bass, there are sections known as Big Rock Endings where everyone can freestyle and do whatever they wish where they can live out their ultimate shredding dreams.

But it is in the multiplayer aspect where this game truly deserves its glory. One grand thing is that there is very minimal lag between consoles that play this online, and consoles are able to carry guest players (so for example, you can have a three-man band at home, and have another player online join you for a full band).

The game truly delivers a sense of band cohesiveness in the way that each member must do their part in both playing the song properly AND support each other that rivals even the most demanding of cooperative shooters. The main reason this is possible is that each member is individually capable of releasing their Overdrive, as opposed to the early iterations of co-op for Guitar Hero where both members had to activate Star Power together for it to work. This, in turn, can cause Overdrive to be used in a variety of ways.

For example, each member can individually survive or fail out, but if any band members have failed out, it is up to the remaining band members to revive them using Overdrive. If one player is struggling through an exceptionally tough section for their track, the other players can provide support by activating their own Overdrive and it would give the support as Overdrive would for single-players to all band members involved.

And if each player is playing well during segments where they all would receive Overdrive a “Unison Bonus” can be achieved where they get double the amount of Overdrive added on to their meters. It normally takes up to four sections to fill the bar, but the bonus adds another section immediately if all band members (vocals excluded) are able to play their section perfectly at the same time.

There are some issues, however, with the PS3 version of the game, as well as some complaints. The peripherals used in the game are stable enough as their own, but for those who are expecting their PS3 Guitar Hero guitars to be compatible with Rock Band, you will be disappointed.

Unlike its 360 and PS2 counterparts, oddly the PS3 Les Pauls do not work at all with Rock Band. There has been a patch made to remedy this issue, but due to issues of compensation and legality, this patch has sadly not been made available to the public, which puts the PS3 players in need of an extra guitar at a fix.

Recently there have been advents of third-party guitars that are reported to be compatible with both Guitar Hero 3 and Rock Band, as well as adapters that would allow your PS2 Gibson SG guitars from Guitar Hero(es) 1&2 to play on Rock Band on PS3.

Also, with a game that places heavy focus on team cooperation, another oddity of the PS3 version is that it does not include voice chat, which can greatly complicate things between players during songs if they need to get a message across in mid-song, a feature that 360 players have been able to enjoy from the beginning.

Aside from minor drawbacks, this game truly is a spectacular combination of many beloved gaming features integrated seamlessly into a wonderful package. All I can possibly say is this: if you have a love for music, gaming, or any combination thereof, you have no reason not to try this game out for yourself, and make sure you bring a couple buds over with you!