Harmonix finally releases the rhythm game franchise’s first venture into virtual reality (VR), which features an all-new gameplay style.
Rock Band VR will be available exclusively for Oculus Rift. It is available now on the Oculus Store for $49.99 (USD). There is also a limited-edition Rock Band VR bundle on Amazon, which consists of a digital code for Rock Band VR and a wireless controller patterned after the iconic Fender Stratocaster guitar and costs $69.99 (USD)
The developer previously released a video going into details on how the new gameplay and scoring system in ‘Performance Mode’ will work, which involves chaining together power chords into combos in time to the music, following the glowing indicators on the neck of the guitar to maximise the score. There is also Rock Band VR’s ‘Classic mode’ which veers closer to the game play from previous titles in the series, as it involves getting note-perfect runs through songs.
Harmonix have compared the difference between the two modes as being akin to the difference between a frenetic live performance versus a polished studio recording.
Rock Band VR is the first title in the series to feature a storyline campaign, which features the player taking on the role of the newest guitarist for the band Autoblaster, following their rise from playing in dingy backstreet clubs into stardom and sold-out stadiums.
There are 60 songs in the core Rock Band VR soundtrack, featuring songs from well-known artists such as Avenged Sevenfold, blink-182, David Bowie, The Foo Fighters, Maroon 5 and Rage Against the Machine, among many others. Harmonix are already planning the DLC packs that will be released in future, with plans already in motion for a Aerosmith DLC pack to be released starting from April.
VRFocus will continue to bring you further news on Rock Band VR and other VR rhythm games.
I was apprehensive about the premise behind Rock Band VR. As someone that has played every entry in the Guitar Hero and Rock Band franchises — as well as lots of DLC — it felt strange to me when I learned Harmonix would shake up the fundamental formula that makes Rock Band tick. Ever since the genre rose to popularity we’ve been looking at streams of fret buttons cascading down note highways on screens telling us which buttons to press as we strum along to the music. Green, red, yellow, blue, and orange they fell, like a rainbow waterfall of sore fingers and hoarse voices.
Rock Band VR retains that traditional gameplay with its aptly titled albeit massively truncated “Classic Mode”, but much to my surprise, the real star of the show was the brand new way to play that’s been designed from the ground up with VR in mind.
At its core, the new VR mode (it’s unnamed in the game, it simply exists as the only way to play unless you specifically pick a song under “Classic Mode”) looks like a glorified freestyle session at first. If you watch someone play this way they probably won’t look at the Song Map a whole lot and may appear to just be goofing off. But in reality, it’s much more complex than that.
At the root of what makes this new mode operate is chord progression. Anyone that’s familiar with how playing an actual guitar works will probably recognize that term, but real guitar experience isn’t necessary. You can get an idea for what I mean in the GIF below:
There are seven different chords you can play, each with a different sound, and you have to play them to the beat of the song as it’s shown on the Song Map above the audience. With each section break you’re meant to switch chords and mix them together into various combos. Sometimes it will offer suggested chords for bonus points, but you’re never required to play anything in particular. Theoretically you could play the same one or two chords over and over through the whole song and you wouldn’t really “fail” in the traditional sense, but it’d be incredibly boring and dumb.
The system is made even more intricate when you’re asked to not only rack up chord combos (such as “The Alternator” which is just oscillating between two chords at each section break) but also sliding up and down the neck of the guitar at each section, which the game refers to as chord follows.
The result is that feeling out the song and knowing the rhythm ends up being more important than just staring at the Song Map. The majority of a track won’t show you which chords to play so you’ll have to find your own rhythm and mix up combos and chord follows that feel good to you. Harmonix likes to compare Classic Mode to recording a studio album since it’s full of specific notes and precision that are the same every time, whereas this new VR mode is much like playing a live show with creative freedom and variation.
Beyond the clever twisting of the traditional Rock Band formula, playing in VR inherently has its own advantages as well. You really feel like part of the band as fellow members look at you and talk to you directly before, during, and after shows. You start each set by looking at the drummer and giving him a nod. You can bang on cymbals with the neck of your guitar and even speak into the microphone or teleport around the stage. It’s the most immersive and transportive Rock Band experience ever, hands down.
Gameplay mechanics are built around this new first-person perspective as well. Once you activate overdrive by lifting your guitar upright, you can sustain it longer and get bonus points for doing things like jumping up and down, banging your head, swinging the guitar rhythmically side to side, and other similar rock star moves.
Playing songs like Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer”, the Foo Fighters’ “Everlong”, and Blink 182’s “Bored to Death” reminded me of what it felt like to dream about becoming a rock star in my bedroom a decade ago. It hearkened back to what it was like to jam away on an air guitar, eyes closed, biting my lip, while no one was watching, except this time I could look down and see a guitar in my hands tracked to my actual plastic guitar’s movements.
That feeling that you’re actually holding a guitar, playing in front of people, rocking out to your favorite songs, can’t be overstated.
But unfortunately the fame and adrenaline is short lived. The core “Story Mode” is only a collection of set lists at different venues with very light storytelling moments throughout. I started to appreciate and look forward to the minor moments of exposition with my band mates, but it never evolved beyond that. You’re always playing the guitarist (with no multiplayer or alternate position options) and you’re always part of the same band: Autoblaster. I was yearning for more customization options (like different guitar skins, more band mates, or home pad tweaks).
Beyond that, there is a “Quick Play” that allows you to play any song in the standard VR mode, create a custom set list, or play tracks in Classic Mode. Naturally, Classic Mode was appealing to me at first and it’s still satisfying to try tracks that have never been in a Rock Band game before (like the Oasis classic “Champagne Supernova”) but it comes at a huge cost.
You see, when you’re playing a song in Classic Mode, everything is stripped away around you. There’s no band behind the note highway, no crowd to watch as they cheer you on, and no venue to play at. You’re just standing in a dark black void with an enormous stream of colored buttons flying at your face. It feels like a huge and lonely missed opportunity. How can it be considered Rock Band if I’m standing by myself?
The learning curve for the new VR mode is quite high as well, as I had to play each of the two tutorial sessions twice to pick up on everything. My wife even got frustrated and returned to Classic Mode after about 5 minutes. With such a strong and varied set list of 60 tracks, it’s a shame that Classic Mode is only a trimmed down and truncated version of its former glory. Clearly the game is designed with a new audience in mind entirely — which isn’t necessarily bad since the new gameplay is fun once you understand it — but it could have been even better and more varied.
The lack of additional instrument support is baffling as well. The guitar I used was actually a PS4 bluetooth guitar since there isn’t a PC-based variant to choose from. I’d loved to have had support for a bassist by my side, even if outside of guitar, or a drummer, or at the very leastsomeone to pick up a microphone and sing along with my sick riffs. But alas, there is no band in this Rock Band as it’s a purely solo guitar affair.
Final Score:7/10 – Good
Rock Band VR is the biggest evolution the franchise has ever seen. The inclusion of the keyboard in Rock Band 3 was interesting and bringing a full compliment of plastic instruments to living rooms around the world with the original was revolutionary for a generation, but now this latest entry truly makes you feel like the star of your very own group. The Classic Mode is merely a shell of its former self, but the new VR features establish a more immersive way of playing the game than ever before. It’s lacking in a few areas, but the core of it all is too fun to ignore.
Rock Band VR releases March 23rd, 2017 exclusively for Oculus Rift with Touch. The game requires a modern Rock Band controller and it can be purchased either as a bundle or as an individual piece of software if you already have a compatible guitar controller. You can find out more information about the game’s features and compatibility on the official website. Read our Game Review Guidelines for more information on how we arrived at this score.
Put aside Ready Player One for a second, I’ve got something else to add to the VR Recommended Reading/Watching list: Robot & Frank. This short, sweet little movie from 2012, directed by Jake Schreier, doesn’t depict a dystopian future in which VR ruins our lives but instead a more plausible vision of years not too far from now in which A.I.-controlled domestic robots assist the elderly with every day care.
Jake in Robot & Frank, showing a future not too far from now.
The movie is largely unconcerned with the prospect of VR, but there are a fleeting few seconds in which it does address the topic. Frank, an aging burglar, is surveying a house belonging to Jake, a young, successful developer that has embraced the technologies of the near-future. Jake is essentially the living embodiment of the so-called millennial, grown up and living in a brave new world. Through a pair of binoculars, Frank finds him sitting alone in a room with what’s presumably a VR or AR headset on, drumming away. Our protagonist disapprovingly chuckles and proclaims “Unbelievable!” as Jake quickly tucks the device away when a girl walks into the room, suggesting some form of embarrassment.
I first saw Robot & Frank around the time I started writing about VR, and this is a scene that has stayed with me as long as I’ve been reporting on it. That’s not because I necessarily agree with Schreier’s supposed skepticism about the technology, but instead because I take it as a warning. It reminds me that, no matter how incredible a virtual experience can be, you should never fully replace it with the real thing if you’re able. You shouldn’t let an immersive diving reality rob you of actually going diving at least once in your lifetime, or consider standing on top of the virtual Mount Everest to be a comparable achievement to getting there with your own two feet.
Recently I’ve been finding myself thinking about this a lot, and it comes from a conflict that relates directly back to Robot & Frank. Rock Band VR is nearly here and Rift owners are about to become Jake, sitting in that room pretending to be something they’re not.
I played Harmonix’s imminent rock god simulator for the third time last week and, as I wrote about, this was the time it finally clicked with me. Standing in front of hundreds of screaming fans and strumming along to Everlong like I was Dave Grohl himself was quite simply one of the most empowering experiences I’ve had in VR to date. It’s that rare reality in which you’re not restricted by the limits of the technology; you don’t need to worry about locomotion or haptic feedback, you have everything you need right there in your hands.
But maybe Rock Band VR feels a little too good?
As you’ll see next week, this feels real. And it’s awesome.
Hear me out before you hit the comments with a vengeance. Based on what I’ve played, Harmonix has fully achieved its vision with this iteration of the franchise, perhaps more so than any other VR developer to date. They turn you into someone else and give you an experience that just a handful of people will ever really have in their lifetime, and it’s done in a way that feels real.
Once you take the headset off, though, it means nothing.
True, Rock Band VR is going to have modes that will challenge you and give you a sense of progression as you play through setlists with your fictional band, but all of that is in service of a core thrill. It allows you to be a rock star without the hours of dedication and practice needed to develop the skills or even the worthiness to actually become a rock star. To be frank, I couldn’t help but feel a little guilty and hollow for enjoying myself so much.
As I was playing, I was reminded of that scene from Robot & Frank and I realized this was the first time I was coming up against that warning that I’d thought about so often these past few years.
But, no matter my reservations about truly embracing VR imitation, I refuse to accept that Rock Band VR is the first step toward us becoming the generation of disconnected, corporation-championing youths that Schreier depicts in his film. No one should be shamed for seeking out as immersive and convincing an entertainment medium as this.
Teomirin is a HoloLens app that teaches you to play the piano, and an important argument against VR skeptics.
I personally see Rock Band VR as the stepping stone to something bigger, anyway. I envision a day when Harmonix’s series or something similar could actually be a tool for acts that could have band practice sessions from around the world without having to shift expensive gear around. I see one of VR and AR’s biggest services being virtual music lessons that teach you how to play much better than any internet page or video ever could.
And if those apps also let anyone have fun pretending to be the biggest star on the planet or, more importantly, let people with disabilities do the same then, you know what? That’s wonderful.
So, no, I’m not telling you not to play Rock Band VR and I’m certainly not telling you to feel bad about playing it, either. In fact I’m pretty sure early next week we’ll absolutely be recommending you pick up a copy for yourself and I’ll be digging through my cupboard to find my old guitar. But I do think now is as good as time as ever to share that warning and hopefully instill some of that precaution. As VR becomes more immersive and more convincing than ever it’s increasingly important that we don’t let skeptic’s views turn true that it will consume us and rob us of the big wide world around us.
Because, at the end of the day, I want to show Schreier that his vision of the future was wrong. I want us to prove that VR is going to make us better humans because it really does, more than anything else.
Oculus has been keen to showcase the latest virtual reality (VR) content coming to Oculus Rift and Samsung Gear VR over the course of 2017. VRTV’s Nina Salomon has a video rundown featuring some of the biggest titles due to be launched.
Some of these titles you may already know about, while others might have slipped through the net. Rest assured none of them should be over looked.
Brass Tactics – VR Real-time strategy with clockwork/steampunk feel
SingSpace from Harmonix Music – ‘draw’ your music into the air, watch it react and dance in time to the beat. VR twist on classic music visualisations
Take it from someone who’s seen it happen five times; there are few things cooler than watching Dave Grohl head bang to Everlong. The Foo Fighters frontman thrashes his jet black hair back and forth as he walks towards the front of the stage, possessed in a musical ecstasy that the thousands of fans in front of him are screaming to get just a taste of. Grohl is the living embodiment of the rock god that everyone wants to be and, for a brief few minutes last week, I became him.
As we reported earlier this month, Everlong is one of the first tracks to be officially confirmed for Harmonix’s Rock Band VR ahead of launch next week. It’s something of a given; the song has been featured in both this series and rival Guitar Hero before as have many others on the official setlist. But what might seem like an uninspired choice takes on new life once you pull the Oculus Rift on over your face.
Or rather, I should say the Rift’s headphones.
I don’t know how they’ve done it, but Harmonix has done something to the mixes in Rock Band VR that give them a fresh new energy, the kind I’ve thought the series as a whole has needed for a while. That chunky, stompy riff that kicks in at the start of the song is given a powerful new lease of life here. It’s loud and in my face and it drowns out the crowd and my bandmates, surrounding me in a warm blanket of fuzzy noise. It feels alive.
What’s most impressive is the way the song changes sounds when you switch chords, but they never feel out of place. Rock Band VR’s new mode, which emphasizes a more liberating style of play, will have its ways to challenge you if you’re looking for the satisfaction of point scoring, but its just as compelling as a toy; something you pick up and let your imagination run wild with.
In this way, Rock Band VR isn’t so much a music playing simulation as it is a professional impersonation machine. Looking down the current setlist, I see plenty of other rock icons I want to embody: Jerry Cantrell from Alice in Chains, Noel Gallagher from Oasis, heck, I’ll even take Dave Mustaine from Megadeth if it comes without the arguing. This is less about achieving the unrivaled finesse these musicians produce and more about simply playing pretend in the best way possible.
But don’t worry — the note stream mode is still here in full effect if you want that.
Whether that’s enough for a full game we’ll find out next week, but I’m willing to bet Rock Band VR delights even some of the series’ cynics.
Die Setlist für das VR-Spiel Rock Band VR für die Oculus Rift ist bekannt gegegeben worden – und mit dabei sind Rockhelden wie Foo Fighters, Megadeath, Aerosmith, Oasis und natürlich noch viele mehr!
Mit Gitarre in VR abrocken
Rock Band ist eine sehr erfolgreiche Videospielreihe, bei der ihr hauptsächlich mit einem Controller, in Form einer Gitarre, die richtigen Akkord-Abfolgen drücken müsst. Und natürlich spielt ihr dabei mehr oder weniger bekannte Rock-Klassiker auf eurer Gitarre nach. Diesem Konzept folgt auch Rock Band VR aus dem Hause Harmonix, nur dass eure Gitarre jetzt getrackt wird und ihr euch im virtuellen Raum vor einem Publikum beweisen müsst. Somit soll das Spiel deutlich mehr Immersion bieten, als es die bisherigen Rock Band Titel geschafft haben.
Extra für Rock Band VR hat Oculus bereits seit Dezember den Touch Controllern eine spezielle Halterung beigelegt. Diese Halterung ist dazu gedacht, die Oculus Touch Controller an einer Gitarre zu befestigen und anschließend Rock Band VR zu spielen.
The Killers, Megadeath, Van Halen
Jetzt wurde die Setlist für den neuesten Teil des legendären Musikspiel-Franchise, also die spielbaren Songs, bekanntgegeben. Die Setlist findet ihr am Ende des Artikels. Das Spiel selbst soll am 23. März 2017 erscheinen und (zumindest in den USA) im Paket mit einem Original-Fender®-Stratocaster®-Controller vorbestellt werden können. Während bisher in Rock Band nur das korrekte Nachspielen gefordert war, müsst ihr in der VR Version auch beweisen, dass ihr das mehr oder weniger launische Publikum im Griff habt. Zudem wird es ein neues Spielprinzip geben. Denn neben der bereits bei Rock Band bekannten Variante soll es auch möglich sein, die Akkord-Abfolgen zu ändern. Dadurch soll man sich noch mehr wie ein Rock-Gott fühlen können.
Das Set ist allerdings noch nicht vollständig, denn insgesamt sollen 60 Songs spielbar sein. Die restlichen 39 Lieder will Oculus dann mit Veröffentlichung bekanntgeben. Immerhin können wir uns jetzt schon auf ein paar echte Rock-Evergreens wie Foo Fighters “Everlong”, Aerosmiths “Walk This Way” oder Bon Jovis “Livin’ On A Prayer freuen.
Die vorläufige Setlist für Rock Band VR:
Aerosmith – “Walk This Way”
Against The Current – “Running With The Wild Things”
Alice In Chains – “Man in the Box”
Arctic Horror – “Black Seas”
AudioDamn! – “Lights Out”
Avenged Sevenfold – “Beast and the Harlot”
Basement – “Promise Everything”
The Black Keys – “Gold On The Ceiling”
Bon Jovi – “Livin’ On A Prayer”
DragonForce – “Through The Fire And Flames”
Foo Fighters – “Everlong”
Ghost – “Cirice”
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts – “Bad Reputation”
The Killers – “When You Were Young”
Megadeth – “Hangar 18”
Oasis – “Champagne Supernova”
OneRepublic – “Counting Stars”
Paramore – “Ain’t It Fun”
The Shelters – “Rebel Heart”
Spirit Kid – “To My Romeo”
Van Halen – “Panama”
A lot of our Rock Band VR coverage thus far has been focused on how the series plays with the Oculus Rift. But, now that the game’s nearly here, we’re wondering exactly what are we going to play too.
We’ve heard a few hits like The Black Keys’ Gold On The Ceiling during hands-on demos, but developer Harmonix has remained coy on the actual setlist for the game thus far. Recently, though, the team revealed the first 21 songs to feature in the game, which we’ve listed below.
It’s a solid list of hits. Veteran Rock Band and Guitar Hero players will likely already be used to tunes like Everlong from the Foo Fighters and Livin’ On A Prayer from Bon Jovi. We also spot Through The Fire And Flame from DragonForce, the band that helped introduce Rock Band VR alongside Oculus’ Palmer Luckey back at the end of 2015.
There are set to be 60 songs in total, so there’s another 39 to be revealed before Rock Band VR hits on March 23rd. You’ll be able to play these songs in the traditional fashion, hitting the correct colored notes on time as they roll down in front of you, but this iteration of the franchise also sports a new style of play that simply asks you to make chord changes of your choosing on time. It’s a more liberating experience that’s designed to make you feel like a rock god when on stage with your band.
To play Rock Band VR you’ll need a guitar controller and an Oculus Touch controller. You’ll also find a plastic stock inside the Touch box that will fit to the end of your guitar so you can render it in game. It’s a little like a Vive tracker with Touch.
Aerosmith – “Walk This Way”
Against The Current – “Running With The Wild Things”
In a new video, Harmonix go into more detail about how the gameplay and scoring of Rock Band VR is going to work.
Firstly, there is an entirely new gameplay and scoring system built specially for virtual reality (VR). Harmonix say it tries to be closer to experience of live performing, as opposed to previous games trying to be closer to nailing a studio session.
The basic concept involves playing chords instead of single buttons, and matching the rhythm with the strum. Each chord has a corresponding colour which you have to string together in the right sequence to maximise your score. Visual cues on the guitar neck in the colours of the chords will indicate what combos to play when. For example, a fairly simple combo is alternating two different types of chords while strumming to the rhythm of the song. In effect, most of the gameplay is freestyle, with indication of what to play when being a lot looser.
The Overdrive bonus also returns. Another method of increasing the score, or for a struggling player to save themselves from failing the song. You gather Overdrive power by hitting certain blue combinations. A blue glow around the guitar head indicates overdrive bonus is ready, which is activated by lifting the neck of the guitar. You can extend ‘Overdrive’ by doing typical Rock Concert stage moves such as headbanging or jumping.
Rock Band VR is available for pre-order and will be launched on March 23rd 2017 for the Oculus Rift. You can watch the video below.
VRFocus will continue to bring your more on Rock Band VR and VR rhythm games.
So far the setlist for Rock Band VR is a variety of classic rock and modern pop-rock, with songs by Aerosmith, Van Halen, The Killers, and OneRepublic. Harmonix also revealed that Rock Band plays much differently on VR.
Harmonix announced that Rock Band VR, the game that will let Oculus Rift owners join the cartoon band of their dreams, is out soon. Players with a Rift headset and Oculus Touch controllers can pre-order it now.
