Xbox owners have to buy a dongle, because Microsoft have changed the way wireless controllers connect from Xbox 360 to Xbox One, and that dongle is the first of its kind – which is, again, cool of Harmonix to even bother. It’s cool that if you own a PS4 and played Rock Band previously on a PS3, you can play with your old gear on your new game.

You see, being a sane person, last generation I spent all my time buying DLC on Xbox 360, which means, obviously, I’m playing Rock Band 4 on Xbox One, which (thanks Microsoft) means that none of my hardware works. I could never decide which of the two guitar game series’ I preferred, which is why when reviewing Rock Band 4, I had to ask Mad Catz for hardware, because a trip to my loft caused me to find two Guitar Hero controllers, a World Tour drum set, an (disgustingly expensive at the time) Ion Rocker Rock Band drum set, an empty Rock Band 2 band in a box box, and the original imported Rock Band (in a box) I grabbed way back when it first hit the USA before us UK-folk.Īnd none of these fucking plastic toys work with Rock Band 4. I play guitar to a reasonably high standard (though am self-effacing about it), and have done for many years. Some background info that will give you a bit of context, then: I love music, it’s my first love (entertainment wise, in case you’re reading this, dear), and therefore music games are one of my favourite genres. Kinda like Amiibo, I guess, only actually good and worthwhile.

That’s an obvious statement to make, but it’s one you need to hear and understand, because while Harmonix has made an effort to introduce a handful of new elements into the overall package, Rock Band 4 feels more like a service, designed to let you bring all that DLC over to your shiny new consoles, and in some cases, use the legacy hardware that you spent hundreds on back when everyone was spending absurd money on plastic toys to play games with. Like an old pair of slippers that you can comfortably slip into on a cold January evening: it’s more Rock Band. Review originally published on October 9th, 2015.

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