I have to admit that, as more Rock Band and Guitar Hero titles came along, I started to get rather tired of them. I honestly was hoping Harmonix would stop with the minor upgrades and stick with releasing more DLC, because those of us who love to pretend-play instruments can’t help but buy all of the new releases of the game. It’s getting expensive! Those of you who have been holding off buying Rock Band 3 because of that very reason are are wondering if shelling out more money — for not only the game but also for the keyboard — is worth it. I say yes, it is.
When word came that Rock Band 3 would feature a new instrument — the keyboard / keytar — I rolled my eyes. Really? A keyboard? “How quaint,” as Scotty would say. But, as the release date for the game loomed, and the list of new songs was leaked, my curiosity was piqued. Could playing a keyboard on Rock Band actually be fun? Would buying yet another instrument for my virtual band be a worthwhile purchase? Or would it simply humiliate me in front of Deb even more?
The first song I tried with the 25-key keyboard was Roxette’s ‘The Look.’ Playing the keyboard, as it turns out, is quite similar to playing the game’s guitar. I was a bit rusty on that, since I’ve been almost all drums these days, so picking up this song was a little difficult for me at first. What I did learn, though, was that you do not need to use the only keys that have color bars over them to get the job done. As it turns out, the color scale repeats up and down the instrument, so you can space your hands apart, allowing you to assign, say, green-red-yellow to your left hand, blue-orange to the right. Or, if you get to a quick, tricky section of a song, reach a finger over to hit that blue note with your left hand once in a while, or to the yellow note with your right. Of course, this only works if you’re not in keytar mode.
Here’s the real reason buying a keyboard is worthwhile: it doubles as a guitar or bass. This was something I wasn’t aware of going into the game, and seeing that I could select from three instruments to play the keyboard to was a great surprise. Finally I was able to play songs with both a guitar and a bass if I wanted to, without having to buy another guitar! No more fighting over who had to sing — we could all play instruments!
Playing the keytar as a guitar/bass is an interesting experience, especially if you’re really used to playing the Rock Band or Guitar Hero guitar all these years. In some ways it’s easier, and in others it’s a bit more difficult. With the traditional guitar controller, you hold the colored note(s) down, then hit the strum pad at the same time. When you have a succession of notes, you’re strumming that white piece of plastic like a sex-deprived monkey. The keytar, though, does not require a strum pad. Instead, you simply hit the notes as you see them appear. Where the “strumming” comes in, though, is rapidly striking the keyboard keys as the notes appear; this can be a pretty tiring exercise on those long solos!
Lastly, let me quickly mention another big addition to Rock Band 3, and that’s “Pro” mode. While I haven’t yet been able to master this enough to play full songs yet, I have tried the in-game lessons for the keyboard. The lessons, as it turns out, are rather well done for teaching a complete newb of things like scales and what the black and white keys mean, then all the way up to really testing out your skills with complex movements and chords. Just for the possibility of learning some real, basic piano/keyboard skills alone, I’m interested in finishing this section up. Be forewarned, though — you could be tearing your hair out by the end of a lesson for not being perfect, stopping you from progressing further.
With the addition of Pro mode, I have to admit I’m suddenly a little more interested in getting the cymbal attachments for my drum set, to see how well I can do. It just scares me of the kind of investment we’re talking about when all’s said and done — several hundred bucks on a game for playing pretend? Part of me says, “hell yeah!” while my wallet silently weeps.
So far, if I had one criticism for Rock Band 3, it’d be that I cannot easily allow instrument players to participate in the new harmonies feature. Each instrument has a port for a headset, so why oh why can’t they just use those as a way of singing along in the harmonies, without my having to bring in more controllers? It’s stupid.
You can pick up Rock Band 3 in stores now, and there’s a game-keyboard package, too, if you’ve already got the rest of the set.
[Disclaimer: This review was based on a complimentary review copy provided to CliqueClack by the game’s publisher.]
Clacked by Keith McDuffee 
on Nov 09, 2010 @ 15:00 EST5EDT
You need a TV to play. I see the connection…