Rock Band Blitz

In the end I came to the conclusion that made the most sense – Rock Band Blitz is another accessory for my Rock Band experience. When you stop thinking about it as a separate product, picking up this downloadable title just makes sense.

Bloody brilliant. [Issue#90, p.90]

Blitz is a game that gives as much as you put into it. Keep an extensive music library and group of leaderboard rivals and its longevity is potentially massive. The packaged 25 songs definitely won't be enough to sate your fill, and once you get the hang of its complex systems you'll be chasing down those high scores in a fervour that you haven't experienced since the rhythm game heyday.

Rock Band Blitz works as not only an extension of the Harmonix brand, but also as a stand-alone action game full of cool power-ups and competitive leaderboards. Plus, it's a set of mostly great songs that can be played in Rock Band 3. It doesn't matter if you shred with a fake plastic guitar, retired from the road long ago or are playing for the first time; Rock Band Blitz has a little something for everybody!

After a rocky couple of years for rhythm-action, in which Guitar Hero came to an end and Rock Band 3 failed to repeat the retail success of its predecessors, it's fantastic to see Harmonix back on top with a game that reinvigorates the genre in new and interesting ways. But, more than that, it's just great to have an extremely playable reason to return to some old favourite songs.

For $15, I had an incredible time with Blitz, and I'm definitely going to be playing more of it as time goes on given the steady stream of DLC that Harmonix throws out every week.

Rock Band Blitz defines a new era of addiction for the franchise, presenting a worthwhile effort to Xbox Live Arcade that will draw you in for months at a time.

Harmonix proves rhythm games are still as alive as ever; it just lacked some creativity these last couple of years. Rock Band Blitz might start of slow, but this is soon compensated by the fresh outlook the game gives on music games.

But as long as you like rhythm games, turning it away simple because it isn't fun to watch would be a major mistake, as Blitz is one of the most enjoyable rhythm titles I've played in years. All of the nuances involved make it much more interesting than simply attempting to "get 100% of the notes," which is something truly special.

Rock Band Blitz is great. The core gameplay will keep you switching and tapping like a madman or woman, and the inability to fail allows anyone to get excited and enjoy the experience.

Playing Rock Band Blitz with the standard Xbox 360 controller was a hoot as the fast gameplay, enjoyable set list and the ability to play your existing Rock Band tunes from your library (for a price) makes Rock Band Blitz a solid buy for fans of the franchise.

In short, Rock Band Blitz is a musical bargain.

Designed specifically for Rock Band fans that have held onto their DLC. If that's you, this is great fun. [Nov 2012, p.67]

Its stripped-down approach recants the necessity of plastic contraptions to enjoy the series' extensive and vast soundtrack; and assuming your catalogue is butch enough, Blitz has more than enough staying power to maintain a headline slot.

Ultimately, Rock Band Blitz is a smart and satisfying extension to the Rock Band platform. It should be a no-brainer purchase for Rock Band enthusiasts, but it's also a worthy purchase for anyone who wants an addictive and at times chaotic rhythm title without the fuss of plastic instruments.

Harmonix tries to renew Frequency and Amplitude's game mechanics in a new game. For less than 15 euros Rock Band Blitz offers 25 new tracks that can be also played in Rock Band 3 at no additional charge.

It's a delightfully tricky exercise in plate-spinning, complicated further by the need to keep every instrument up to speed to maximise your score.

Considering this game spun off from a series that rewards diligent accuracy, the studio should be applauded for delivering a title that encourages strategy and a mild form of improvisation while still being a worthy Rock Band game.

For those who enjoy beating down their friends in score-based challenges, the Score Wars feature alone will provide an endless amount of fun.

Examined on its own merits, Rock Band Blitz offers highly tuned rhythm matching fun, and the new approach to multipliers makes score chasing a blast. Harmonix has leveraged its obscenely large music library to boost the appeal of Blitz, and the game's draw may be directly proportional to how much previous money you've already invested in the series.

Not only is the couch-friendly design a big shift for Rock Band, but so is the newfound emphasis on score rather than accuracy.

As you're juggling lanes and building up overdrive, all while nailing more hectic note passages, Rock Band Blitz effectively channels the feel of Rock Band proper, all without a plastic instrument.

The clunky social integration and overabundance of games systems strata ultimately don't negate the old-school rhythm game fun in Rock Band Blitz, and if you're already invested in the Rock Band platform, it almost seems foolish not to spend the $15 to extend the life of your library.

Almost a no-brainer if you have a lot of Rock Band 3 tracks, but the gameplay doesn't quite have that Rock Band magic.

It's not without shortcomings, nor does it reinvent the wheel, but Rock Band Blitz is a fun deviation from a recipe that Harmonix has conquered and moulded to their whim.

Rocking out to your favorite band is a blast, and the ability to instantly use all past DLC is a very smart move, but the game doesn't have the same wow factor as the original.

The lively competitive tapping of Rock Band Blitz puts an exciting spin on the entire, vast library of Rock Band songs.

Blitz proves that rhythm games can work without additional hardware, but even though it reminds sometimes of Harmonix' early masterpieces Frequency and Amplitude it lacks substance as a stand-alone-game. But throw the cross-compatibility with the instrument based brethren in the mix and you get more than 20 new songs to play for a fair price.

The best rhythm games successfully tie gameplay and music in such a way that players feel like they're part of the song. Rock Band Blitz doesn't quite bridge that gap.

Rock Band Blitz is an above-average music game and a worthy addition to the libraries of genre fans and dabblers alike.

The Harmonix experiment is only half good. The fast-paced mechanics of gameplay shifts the balance from the pure taste of song execution to exasperated hi-score.

With a nice take on the Rock Band formula, Blitz plays like nothing else - in a good way. Only some poor decisions regarding the bonus system and multiplayer drags this package down.

Rock Band Blitz can be compared to games such as Audiosurf and Amplitude: once you're in the right flow, you'll race over the musical track like a mad man and hopefully break your own or someone else's high score. For the competitive gamer, this means a lot of hours of entertainment, but other than that, Blitz hasn't got much to offer. That's a shame, because the main mechanic is simple and yet addicting.

If you're looking for a new way to play your old tunes it's a fun change of pace, but newcomers probably won't find enough here to merit a purchase.

Definitely worth spending some time with. Doubly so if you're a Rock Band enthusiast looking to expand your collection of playable songs. Owners of Rock Band 3 will definitely get their money's worth; for everyone else, there's a very enjoyable rhythm game here.

There's plenty to like here, and Blitz is an undeniably enjoyable arcade game in short bursts. But it feels like an awkward offshoot for the Rock Band name, a little desperate in its push to get people downloading more songs, and an altogether lightweight experience that is unlikely to reverse the decline of the music genre.

Oddly enough, using a standard controller instead of a plastic guitar is hardly the most jarring aspect of Rock Band Blitz. The freebie DLC still makes it a no-brainer purchase, but Rock Band fans might find themselves alienated by the strange score focus, social game elements and absent multiplayer.

Harmonix are still the masters of their craft but this feels less like a rebirth for Rock Band and more like a cash-grabbing backwards step.

Rock Band Blitz is a conflicting experience for hardcore fans. The game has its moments, but the most entertaining part of Rock Band has been effectively stripped from the game.

Rock Band Blitz is a bit like a wooden rollercoaster. When you first experience it, it's thrilling--but with each repeated ride, it starts to feel less exciting and more rickety.