Ever since the reactions Harmonix had received for The Beatles Rock Band game, they knew there was a hit on their hands. Green Day Rock Band is set to mimic that success with authentications that not only define the Green Day name but leap forward for the Rock Band franchise. I sat down with lead designer Chris Foster and publicist Stephanie Myers at the MTV headquarters for a hands on of the game.
The Green Day: Rock Band will feature 47 songs including a collection of greatest hits and fan favorites, two from Insomniac, three from Nimrod and two from Warning. Most importantly the band’s most iconic albums Dookie and American Idiot in its entirety, while the third album 21st Century Breakdown can be pared with the six songs that had already been dlc before that for the completion of the record. Green Day made sure they gave fans what they wanted and tried to make the experience as true to Green Day as possible. It was important to include the entire albums of Dookie and American Idiot for that reason. Unlike the Rock Band games before this, Green Day Rock Band features full band motion capturing for all the songs, giving each one a different feel to them.
Like the Beatles Rock Band game all the songs are unlocked from the start. The challenge or maybe longevity of the game may take a hit with some season veterans of Rock Band but no one can deny this pick up and play system works. The game is actually harder then many songs in Rock Band, as some of Green Days songs can get particularly faster, especially on drums. The campaign progression and challenges will have great archival material that can be unlocked, like the Beatles Rock Band game did. Over 100 photos, and 40 minutes of video of all kinds of stuff ranging from interviews, out takes, song performances and unreleased footage. Chris Foster explained how working with MTV obviously gave them the advantage to explore a lot of rare material.
The game focuses on three venues that Green Day has played throughout their career. What I loved was the detail of each venue and the band at that particular moment. I got a chance to play a song from each venue, not only did it give a sense of being there but the style and age was captured for that time period as well. The game looks better then any Rock Band Game before it and with the motion capturing, it moved better as well.
GD: RB is shaping up nicely and is set for release in only two months. Their is no doubt that there are plenty of rhythm based games but its rare to see attention to detail like this. We’re looking forward to the various changes made in this game, along with personally learning more from Green Days catlog. Harmonix’s goal seems to be quality vs quantity and we couldn’t agree more from the results.
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