Rock Band 4

Pros: the gameplay is still awesome and enables us to use old instruments is a cool move by the developer. Cons: calibrating is way more of a challenge than it should be, and the lack of Rock Band 3 songs and online multiplayer is a downer. In this case, however, the good outweighs the bad.

Even with its lack of features, Rock Band 4 is still as fun as the series has ever been with friends. Expect the score to rise as Harmonix comes good with updates and new content. [Issue#263, p.64]

Do you want to play in a band? Then Rock Band 4 is your best friend. It's only a shame that it's too expensive.

Our gripes about the game’s seemingly random cuts aside, we can’t deny this is the best party game available on the new consoles.

Rock Band 4 is fun like hell, but is less interesting and complete than the gorgeous previous chapter of this epic franchise.

Rock Band 4 is bare bones sequel to a spectacular game and your mileage will depend on how desperate you are to play these games on the newer consoles.

While its setlist does underwhelm in some areas, and the online multiplayer mode is not ready yet, Rock Band 4 still feels like the music platform that Harmonix set out to make.

Rock Band 4 is not exactly Rock Band 2 for PS4 and Xbox One, but it's not that far off either. Harmonix sacrifices new ideas on the altar of compatibility; you can use former instruments, you can play all the tracks you already had, and all this is pretty good. But Rock Band 4 could have done with some graphics improvements and a few more new features.

The most refined version of Rock Band yet available, but not as essential as it once was.

Harmonix has brought the music genre back from the dead with a solid experience in Rock Band 4. All the fun you had with the series is back, with a few extra parts missing this time around. Nothing is particularly new here though, so if you haven't been yearning for the good old days, you might want to wait to see how this new platform develops.

Rock Band 4 recaptures the unadulterated gratification that made the series such a hit half a decade ago, but mainly because it’s a relatively unchanged, repackaged Rock Band 2. A lack of content and general stagnation hold this particular iteration of Rock Band back, but new ideas like Freestyle Solos genuinely enhance the core experience, which remains a sincere and joyful celebration of music.

The huge DLC library does not have a great setup and the compatibility list for controllers does not work perfectly either. It takes so long to get started, and even though playing is still a great experience, all the stuff around it is simply too distracting. Especially because the game does not have a strong online multiplayer or interesting visuals.

In comparison to Guitar Hero Live the new Rock Band game is way too conservative. There’s a certain tradition in the music business: when a performer grows a beer belly and can’t climb to the top of the charts anymore, you send him to tour Japan, so he can grab some more money from a bit more loyal local fans. After seeing Rock Band’s current shape all I can say to it is “sayonara”. [12/2015, p.63]

Harmonix bills Rock Band 4 as a platform that will grow and improve with the future, but for now, the new game offers little reason to upgrade from Rock Band 3, with a weaker soundtrack, fewer modes, and more promises of exciting features than actual, demonstrable ones.

Even for those players who successfully manage to import their robust libraries from previous generations, the Rock Band 4 experience is little more than an expensive new coat of paint.