Rock Revolution

(Konami for PS3)
By Mike Delano

Rock Revolution is Konami’s late entry into the exploding music game genre, and it’s a baffling one. It has the familiar falling notes-style gameplay and most of the other elements of a modern-day music game, from an eclectic soundtrack to support for more than one instrument (guitar, drums, and bass). It even has a studio for creating your own music, but like Guitar Hero World Tour’s recent attempt at the same, it’s too complicated to be accessible or enjoyable for most gamers. Where Rock Revolution stands apart from the Rock Band or Guitar Hero franchises is in its utter lack of heart or style. Its creators settled for lousy cover songs instead of now-standard master recordings. The presentation, from the box art to the menus to the characters and venues, lacks any sort of personality. And while playing, it’s impossible not to ask yourself if your time wouldn’t be better spent playing any of the other, far superior, music games on the market. At the very least, maybe the game’s inclusion of “Holy Wars… The Punishment Due” and “Youth Gone Wild” will inspire other, better music games to add these long-overdue songs to their playlists.
(www.konami.com)