by Alex Ramirez

Created on: December 03, 2008   Last Updated: July 20, 2011

It's hard to believe that it's been less than year since Rock Band first came out and invaded our homes. Since that time it has seemed to gain notoriety among gamers and non-gamers alike as being one of the greatest party games of all time. No one imagined that any game would be able to challenge Guitar Hero's grasp on the market, let alone a game that carried a price-tag three times as large, but somehow the first Rock Band managed to evolve the industry almost singlehandedly. Rock Band 2 may not revolutionize the genre the way the first one did, but that doesn't mean Harmonix didn't use the time between the two games to make Rock Band 1 look like nothing more than a shadow when compared to Rock Band 2.

Within moments of starting up Rock Band 2 you will notice a number of changes. Along with a few changes to the already clean interface, Harmonix has also added several new gameplay modes for everyone to enjoy: Battle of the Bands, solo and band specific challenges, a few changes to the already popular Band World Tour, a Drum Trainer, and a Freestyle Mode.

Battle of the Bands allows players to take their band, whether it is an online or offline band, to compete against other bands as they vie for the high-score of a specific set-list. The stress of trying the make the cut each week is very stressful, but that much more fulfilling at the same time. My only complaint with the Battle of the Bands is that to compete in any competitions you have to be connected to Xbox Live and the Rock Central server, which takes way too long to connect for some reason.

One of the things Harmonix immediately noticed they could improve was the solo campaign of Rock Band 1. In the first one you merely played through all the songs, in order of difficulty, until you had finally completed all the songs. In Rock Band 2 you now play through a series of challenges. While it still isn't much of a difference than the first one, it does feel much more like you are on a Band World Tour rather than on your own solo tour.

Along with getting the single-player to feel more like Band World Tour, Harmonix has put in a lot of great effort to improve the experience of the actual Band World Tour. First off, they have taken out the horrible "leader" of your band, and your character can now play any instrument. Over the course of your experience as a band you will also get the option to hire staff. These staff can improve your ratings in Europe, earn you more money, or just improve your overall PR. While

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