Nearly anyone who played the first Rock Band could tell you how spot-on the gameplay was, so it should come to no surprise to anyone that not a lot of changes were made to the basic gameplay. I only noticed two major changes to the gameplay during my time with the game. One of those changes was the difficulty of the drums. They still challenge your skill as a drummer as much as the first one did, but it seemed like they really focused on the endurance side of it too on this one. It adds a completely different dimension of difficulty for those less-than-fit drummers. Also, all the instruments now feature their own solos. A minor change but it’s still a very welcome one.

Considering all little time you spend looking at what’s actually going on screen, it is surprising how many times I noticed several things in the background. Whether it be a funny animation or just a band member who looked like he had suddenly time traveled to the wrong decade, I just seemed to notice it a lot more in this one. The developers over at Harmonix also expanded the character creator quite a bit. It may not have the customization that the Sims 2 has, but it’s defiantly an improvement from the first game.

Next to gameplay, the most important component of any rhythm music game is, of course, the soundtrack. I have to say that Rock Band 2 has the most impressive and diverse set-list I have ever seen. I highly doubt any game will ever be able to top all the genres this game manages to encompass. Everything from Elvis Costello to Disturbed can be found in this behemoth of a soundtrack. There seems to be at least several songs devoted to certain instruments, and even more dedicated to the entire band. I can’t stress enough how impressed I was with the soundtrack, and I guarantee everyone will find at least one song they just won’t be able to play enough. On top of the already numerous set-list, you can transfer all your DLC from the first game, and for a few Microsoft Points you can also bring over a lot of your favorite songs from the first game.

Rock Band 2 manages to build upon everything the first one did right, and put together the strongest set-list I have seen. The Drum Trainer continues Rock Band’s trend of blurring the line between game and reality, and it won’t be long before musician’s first steps will be taken on a Rock Band drum-set. I would defiantly like to see Harmonix take some steps at innovating the guitar and continue the already great success of the franchise.