Top 10 Reasons Rockband Kicks More Ass Than Guitar Hero

1. Graphics

   I will admit, when I first saw the Guitar Hero 3 graphics I thought, "Alright, this is pretty good, they've certainly got the shiny-ness down" but once Rock Band came out I laughed at Guitar Hero's graphics. Heck, I saw the Aerosmith version and laughed at those graphics. The bottom line is that Activision did not spend enough time making the graphics look nice, they were trying (and failing) at making everything look real. The Harmonix team concentrated no so much on the characters themselves, but on the areas around them, thereby making everything look more realistic. On top of that, Harmonix was better able to sync up the lead singers mouth with the vocals, as well as adding very human facial expressions. The fact that the Guitar Hero singer is a) always the same guy, and 2) looks like he was carved out of stone, makes Guitar Hero shiny, but not very pretty.

2. Number of Players

   Right out of the box (if you got the Special Edition) you could play Rock Band with at least 3 people, 4 if you didn't get rid of your old Guitar Hero guitars. This makes it actually fun to have as a party game. I mean, it sucks great big monkey balls to have a party where only two people can play at any given time. Rock Band combines karaoke with Guitar Hero (and that comparison is valid since Harmonix DID start the whole Guitar Hero thing) and adds in the piece de resistance: the drums...but more on that later. 4 is more than 2, and we will talk about game modes later.

3. Staffing

   The Harmonix team has just been doing this kind of thing longer. Sure, they may have turned over some of their code to Activision, but all in all, they have been doing this longer. Yeah, it gives them kind of an advantage, but it only makes sense that the game with the more experienced team behind it, would be a better game to play.

4. Game Modes

   Co-op mode on Guitar Hero 3 was simply the regular solo setlist, with a few changes. The guitar parts were different than the solo parts, and there wasn't always a dedicated bass line. It changed between bass and rhythm guitar. Versus mode on Guitar Hero 3 was nothing new, nothng changed from the previous ones. Either, you duke it out each playing half of the song (with player one seeming to get the advantage on many songs) or you both played the whole song at the same level, and see who got a better score. With Rock Band, the co-op mode can include anywhere from 2 to 4 people. There is a greater variety of choices as far as what you can do. You can freaking play setlists! Not just 2 songs in a row after you get to the end of a set of songs, but you can play up to 58 songs in a row (it's possible, I've done it) and on top of that, sometimes you get to choose which ones you want to play, and other times you have no idea! Band World Tour mode is one of the most amazing parts of this game. The versus modes for head to head are the same as they have always been, except for the fact that you do vocals versus vocals, and drums versus drums. There is nothing quite like a good old fashioned drum battle. While there is no solo bass mode (which there should be) all songs have a dedicated bass line for all songs.

5. Customization

   Back in the day, using the characters that were given was all well and good, we were just trying to get past Bark at the Moon. Now, as many of us have mastered what I like to call, the git-box, we need something new to keep us interested. Enter Rock Bands almost unlimited amount of customization. From the hair on your character's head, to the instrument in their hands, you can not only make your person look like you (my brother's drummer looks exactly like him) but you can create wild musicians that rival Gene Simmons for their outlandishness. Not only can you give your character tattoos, but you can mix and match hundreds of pieces of clothing, add face paint, you can even add art to your instruments. I customized the gold guitar one gets for beating the game solo on guitar with a fiery red rat on the front. Does it make any sense? No. Do I like it? Hell yes.

6. Accuracy

   I will concede the fact that Guitar Hero is in fact harder to beat than Rock Band...but here's why: It's musically inaccurate! It's been proven that when playing Guitar Hero solo, they add elements of the bass and or rhythm parts to the guitar to make them harder. Is it a more challenging gaming experience? Yes, but you can find just as many challanges with an easier track, and if one is going for an authentic guitar playing experience, extra elements shouldn't be added. If the most complicated sounding songs are actually the easiest things in the world to play, so be it. I would rather play something authentic than play something a programmer decided to put in randomly.

7. Peripherals

   This part always causes issues, but I will state boldly and proudly that I like the Rock Band guitar controller much more than I like the Guitar Hero controller. The Rock Band one does not need to pressed down as hard, the buttons are more even with one another, it looks a little more like a real guitar, and I like to think of the higher up fret buttons as an extra challenge for solo sections. I believe most people have a problem with the strum bar, which is silent unless you have used it a lot (then it creaks quietly) and while most people hate not being able to hear their fingers clacking, and most likely think they are going to break the damn thing, I find the lack of noise better because 1) I can hear the track better, and b) it forces me to move faster, more gently, thereby increasing the speed at which I can play even more. The drums and mic peripherals are top notch, and I like how they send a splitter for the usb port with the special edition. It's thoughtful, and it truly means you can play right out of the box. Granted, there were some issues with the drums and the guitar at first, but Harmonix replaced them free of charge and since I got my new guitar, I have only worn out the spring in the whammy bar (which I've done with at least 2 Guitar Hero Controllers). Oh, and my drum pedal has not broken, so I have no issues with that.
8. Interface- Yes, the little bars instead of circles take some getting used to, but once you make the transition, they are much more accurate and help you see notes in the beats more easily. On top of that, the more subdued colors keep the screen from getting overly blazing bright, which is an issue in my mind with Guitar Hero. Aside from that, the whole Star Power dot gauge in Guitar Hero pisses me off. Not only does it look silly, but it hardly gives you a good idea of how much Star Power you actually have! Rock Bands bar for an Energy gauge is much more accurate, and let's you see, in great detail, just how much more you have before it runs out. An innovation in Rock Band that I'd like to mention here is that you do not lose future Energy phrases if you go into Overdrive, like you lose Star Power phrases when you activate your Star Power in Guitar Hero. I like being able to keep the Overdrive going for 3 to 4 Energy phrases, whereas once you use Star Power in Guitar Hero, you can't get any more until it wears off, and you start from scratch. Continuous building Energy makes for higher scores and more score getting strategy as far as when to activate your Energy. The 4 person screen in Rock Band, while somewhat tiny sometimes, is well put together and keeps everything clear for everyone (unless you have a really tiny T.V.). Gutar Hero doesn't get very cluttered because it only has two parts. Oh darn.

9. Song Lists

   I was very disappointed with Guitar Hero 3's song list. Sure, it was challenging, but there was not the variety of song style as there was in the previous Guitar Heroes. Once you got down far enough, it was all Hard Rock or Metal...and don't get me started on how much the bonus songs were a let down. Rock Band's list was much more varied, and I liked how the spread out the Metal, Hard Rock, Classic Rock, and just weird stuff into every little nook and cranny. Now, I realize that the bonus songs are songs made by much of the production staff of Harmonix (that's right, they're sending their own bands' songs at you) but personally, I like it. I like the bands that work on the Harmonix staff, and I think it's because of their music connection that they make a better game. Not only that, but almost all of the songs on Rock Band are master tracks from the bands themselves. Guitar Hero boasts only a few. One more point goes to Rock Band for its much more varied, much larger, and overall better downloadable content. The Rock Band DLC is not only a varied bunch of music, but there's a hell of a lot more of it. To cap it all off, most of the individual songs for Rock Band are cheaper than those for Guitar Hero. Money-wise and music-wise Rock Band is just the superior choice.

10. Fun Factor

    For me, the most important part of this is that I am having fun. Sure, Guitar Hero is fun, but at times its fun in the 'oh my god I can't finish Raining Blood to save my soul, why don't I just gouge out my eyes and play blind' sort of way. While Rock Band doesn't have as many songs of that difficulty to do that to you, it is also more fun because you can get more into the music. More and more people will be able to beat, and enjoy these songs. There comes a point where the difficulty of games gets so high that they become unenjoyable to play anymore, and I thnk that Guitar Hero has battered that point into oblivion. With all of its innovations, the drums, the vocals, 4 person multi-player versus and co-op, online co-op and versus, as well as an ever-expanding library of great music, Rock Band can only be THE choice for the discriminating music game enthusiest.

There is my list...will it change when Guitar Hero 4 and Rock Band 2 come out? Probably not...sure, GH is getting drums, vocals, and a music creator, but their drum controller looks like it makes even less sense than the Rock Band one, and how are they going to compete with Rock Band 2's proposed 80 some songs that come on the disc with the game? That's not including bonus songs I believe (correct me if I'm wrong). On top of that, the music creator can only create instrumentals. Big whoop. As of now I have given up on Guitar Hero, especially after the disaster that is the one for the DS, but maybe they can win me back one day...we will see, but my heart will always be with Harmonix. Cheers!