[O] = yes
[X] = no
{~} = undecided
Song Choice [O] Rockband had great songs in the past with songs from artists such as Bon Jovi, Rush, Metallica, and more. Now they ave brought back some of these artists and more. Unlike Guitar Hero who attempted to find popular songs (La Bamba and Beat It is well known) they tried (and succeded) to keep the "Rock" in Rockband.
Gameplay [O] The gameplay of Rockband has not changed much, which is good. The Overdrive/saving techniques, instruments, and scoring system have all stayed true to the franchise. Some details have been added such as the ability to make a setlist of songs to play all in a row, which can only improve things.
Career {~} The Career mode really shows a lot of creativity. The "Create A Character" mode is great (look at the bottom of the article to see my character and band) and it makes you feel like a true rockstar, working your way through better and better gigs, hiring staff and earning tour buses. There are only 84 songs in the game, however, and you may have to play each around 7 times in the whole career, including the Mystery Setlists and the Make Your Own Setlist gigs.
Online Play [O] Rockband's online play has everything the World Tour people forgot to add. There are many varieties of online play such as 1 on 1 tug-of-war and 1 on 1, score duel for any instrument. You can even connect multiple consoles (which doesn't really sound like much unless you read part 1)
Instruments [X] While the instruments were a significant improvement from the poorly reviewed original Rockband controllers, there really was nothing new brought into the franchise in terms of the instruments. The drums are the same, and so is the guitar. The mic never gets any changes, so I am noot using this to judge anything. Harmonix attempted to sell some cymbals to attatch to the drums, but they are known to work horribly, either too sensitive or not sensitive enough.
Variety [O] Rockband 2 has made sure not to have any 2 songs from the same artists, besides the Downloadable Content. Speaking of DLC, Harmonix is realeasing about 5-10 songs a week, and some albums randomly. That's a total of 500+ songs (not even counting the on-disk songs) and rising. Stoll not more than a few songs by the same artist.
Difficulty [X] Anyone who has played Guitar Hero and Rockband knows that Rockband has a obviously easier chart (see Links section). The relation has been less noticable in Rockband 2, but it is still pretty evident.
Final Count[X] = 2
[O] = 4
{~} = 1
LINKShttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_songs_in_Rock_Band_2(List of songs in Rockband 2)
http://ui01.gamespot.com/1280/rockband2instruments_2.png(The instruments. Same thing as Rockband 1 pretty much)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkhhgA38LvE(Rockband+Guitar Hero[3] comparison of difficulty)
http://www.rockband.com/wallpaper/3120502/2(My character Xious. He's not done, so don't be TOO hard on me)
http://www.rockband.com/wallpaper/3120538/1(My band, The Overdrives [we couldn't think of a name]. I'm vocals BTW. On the right is our guitarist, and on the left is our drummer)
