The music genre of games is getting a little stale lately. There are more band-themed games on the market than I can count on one hand. Exclusivity deals are a huge factor, with Guitar Hero stealing the mainstream “sellout” acts while Rock Band tries to nab the older performers (I’d crack a Green Day remark, but let’s face it, I’m not reviewing that game now am I?). People always giving the gamers the same old statement: “Why don’t you play a real instrument?” I don’t know, Mr. Call of Duty, why don’t you join the real army and get shot with a real bullet to your real face? It’s a video game, of course!

First of all, let’s go ahead and explain what makes this game different from other music games. First of all, one of the two big additions. A keyboard! The band-completing peripheral can be either played on a stand, or as a keytar with an included strap. The control is similar to that of a Guitar. The 5 color notes going from Green, Red, Yellow, Blue and Orange, are represented by C-D-E-F-G on the keyboards, respectively (or for the less musically inclined, look below). It functions like Guitar in that respect, without the strumming. You can also even play the Guitar part using the controller (once you get far enough with Guitar, you can also play Keyboard parts using the Guitar controller).

The second big addition, Pro Mode! I haven’t had any personal experience with Pro Guitar, because I can’t afford a > $100 controller that I’d only really care to use for a few Achievements and for reviewing purposes. I can, however, discuss Pro Drums and Pro Keys in detail. Pro Drums require 3 cymbal add-ons to the regular Drum Kit controller (Rock Band 2 and later), and require them to be hit as different notes than their similarly-colored drum counterparts, further emulating a “true” drum experience, and teaching basic fundamentals. Pro Keys use the entire 25-key controller to the fullest, using both octaves to hit all the notes in the song as they’re actually played (not counting, of course, more extreme octave changes). These are a little hard to get used to, even for versed keyboard entusiasts. Reading the music on a Rock Band stream will naturally differ from reading sheet music, so understand that it will take a little more than Pro Mode to actually get you into the real instrument to a more profecient level, and in no means serves as an effective replacement to a real-live tutor and practice. It does, however, get you a nice and relaxed head start, as well as adding a new dimension to how you play and enjoy the game.

Another “new” addition is Vocal Harmonies, which was present in The Beatles: Rock Band as one of the defining aspects of the game. Up to three vocalists can take individual song parts and proceed to play them normally, with their own little “Band Unison” style bonuses to boot. This allows to sing the lead and back-up parts with other singers, allowing for up to 7 different players to make the band. Some songs, however, don’t have 3 vocal parts. Instead, there might be 2, or in other cases, the Solo Vocals are required, lacking more than one vocal part through the song. Predictably, the list of songs that currently enable all 7 instruments (Guitar, Bass, Drums, Keys, and 3 Singers) is small right now. DLC is everything in this genre, however. Select past DLC will be upgraded to include these new features, but for now, just enjoy what’s on the disc. Plenty to enjoy.

The song list is a new standard for rhythm games, spanning many classics from the 60s and 70s to newer “hits” from this generation of music. Honestly, I’m more of an oldies fan, so I had more fun playing “Break On Through (To The Other Side)” by The Doors and “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen than I did with newer songs like “Antibodies” by Poni Hoax and “Oh My God” by Ida Maria. Plenty of middle ground to soothe both old and new, such as the late Ronnie James Dio’s “Rainbow in the Dark”, “Foolin’” by Def Leppard, even “The Power of Love” by Huey Lewis and the News, made famous by the movie Back to the Future. Your mileage may vary, however; as with all music games, the set list can make or break any game for any one person. Though one personal issue I had with the song selection was that so many either lacked a Keyboard part, or had so little of it that it’s just really boring to play. There are a few songs that have a very involving Keyboard part all the way through, but these are few and far between. Of course, once again, DLC is promising to fix this issue, provided you’re willing to shell out a few bucks for those options. Even Billy Joel’s in on the craze now, bringing his ever hyped “Piano Man” and quite a few other songs to the mix in December. Of course, if you’re willing to shell out a LOT of money, there’s over 2000 different songs available, including the first two Rock Band exports, as well as exports for the Lego, AC/DC and Green Day games, and a plethora of DLC spanning all decades and genres.

The Career is much simpler and more focused on different goals and objectives than Rock Band 2. Unlike Rock Band 2 and its tendency to make you play the same songs over and over again, Rock Band 3 has you playing many songs (some requiring DLC, so if you intend to pass EVERY Career goal and obtain EVERY Achievement/Trophy, prepare to shell out about $25 worth of DLC) with some sort of goal in mind, from getting certain star rankings, certain streaks, and some just have you play pre-made or you-made playlists that have a certain theme in mind (for example, one requires you to play 5 songs from bands that had Dave Grohl in it, be it officially or for recording/touring, and they have to be DLC). If you’ve exported the other Rock Band games/expansions, you will see some challenges dedicated to those games, as well. While it’s a lot less boring than Rock Band 2′s career, it will take you longer to obtain 100% completion. Not to mention it requires compatibility for all instruments, including for Pro Mode. Completionists, consider yourself warned.

Online multiplayer is also in. No real innovations here, unfortunately. Focuses primarily on the teamwork aspect of the game as opposed to one-on-one competition, and does what it does best. One “flaw” is that it doesn’t bring about Guitar Hero 5′s 4-of-1-instrument gameplay, which would have been a nice addition for those who have friends too scared to move away from their Guitar familiarity, but this isn’t Guitar Hero. This is a band game, and focuses primarily on gameplay as a band. How well does it stand up to Guitar Hero 6? Rock Band 3 is a little more intuitive, and focuses more on band fun and other instruments, where its rival focuses heavily on the “hardcore” solo Guitar players. So if you only have enough money for one of the two, that’s your basis. Like your Dragonforce and general difficulty? Have fun with Guitar Hero. Like having fun with friends and prefer a little variety? Rock Band’s your gig. I will say right now, however, that both games do what they claim to do just fine; Guitar Hero 6 as a pure Guitar game is amazing. Rock Band 3, however, is your one stop for the full band experience, with much more variety available on disc (not to mention exports and DLC), and it stands the test of time as a party game. It’s expensive, but it serves multiple purposes. To get into the music, both hits you love and songs you didn’t know you love (or hate). It can teach you to better understand the fundamentals of making music, straight from a game developed by real musicians. It will give you an excuse to sing to the top of your lungs to a Queen song, and it will be worth the burning lungs you get an hour later.

Before I wrap this up, I’ll detail the Rock Band 2 export, since many people don’t seem to understand how to do it. The Rock Band 2 unique code on the back of that game’s instruction manual, the same one you use for the free 20 songs. Go to the Rock Band 3 main menu, go to “Get More Songs” and then to “Redeem Code” and put that code in. It costs $10, and you get all the songs on the disc except for “Any Way You Want It”, “Battery”, “Give it Away”, “Let There Be Rock”, and “Spoonman”. Nine additional songs, by the Harmonix bands (“A Jagged Gorgeous Winter”, “Conventional Lover”, “Get Clean”, “Night Lies”, “Rob The Prez-O-Dent”, “Shoulder to the Plow”, “Supreme Girl”, “Visions” and “Welcome to the Neighborhood”) are also absent from the export, however have also been noted to be an upcoming free DLC pack, presumably with added keyboards, harmonies and Pro charts where applicable.

This is the definitive music game, and the best way to get a party going with up to 7 players at once. If you’re new to the genre, prepare to shell out some big bucks, however. If you know where to look, a decent price to expect to shell out for everything you need to enjoy the game is around $250, with an additional $200 or so counting full Pro Mode functionality. Pretty expensive game including disc, peripherals, and any DLC and expansions you may want to pick up, but if you’ve got the money to spend, or are a returning vet with enough instruments and DLC in tow, it’s an easy decision. The game is fun. Simple as that.