All hail the gods of rock...
At this year's PAX, the crown jewel of games to try (if you were there to play games instead of slumming around collecting free t-shirts to fashion into a nest of geekery like me) was Rockband. Having been relegated to drift among the rank and file, denied the opportunity to sup from the golden teat that is a media pass, I braced myself for the monstrous line of people waiting to live out, if only briefly, their childhood fantasies of rocking on stage to a crowd of eager listeners. Harmonix failed to disappoint.
Now granted, the listeners were simply eager for you to get off the stage so they could have their own moment in the pink spotlight sun, but there was a stage on which you the attendee were invited rock along with your compatriots. Who could resist the opportunity to publicly embarrass themselves in the name of fun, excitement, and bragging to less fortunate friends that you got to play Rockband?
After defeating the leviathan like line, and leveling twice in the process, I seated myself at the drum kit with my fellow rockers Mr. and Mrs. Darigol. The first thing to pique my interest was how similar to a real electronic drum kit the Rockband drums are, a similarity that isn't simply aesthetic. The Harmonix booth-monkey confided in me that when played at Expert level (something I will never do) you are essentially playing the true drum lines, in addition to the fact that unlike guitar players picking up Guitar Hero for the first time, those with previous drumming experience will find taking up the sticks easy and very natural. The fine fellow was even gracious enough to lend us his voice as we were sadly without the final piece to our inimitable crew.
Personally I found the drumming difficult (even on easy), which I was warned would be the case, but fun and something I'm really looking forward to trying once the game finally drops. Now the only decisions to make is whether to buy the full set of instruments and what to name my inevitably mind blowing band.
What say you?!