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Rock Band 3 is a rhythm game developed by Harmonix Music Systems and published by MTV Games with physical distribution handled by EA. It was released on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Nintendo Wii on October 26, 2010.
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Why It Rocks
- Excellent sound design.
- Introduces keyboards and pro guitar gameplay.
- There are trainers to help players learn the pro instruments.
- Pro Expert is practically a note-for-note recreation of the song.
- An optional MIDI adapter allows players to use actual e-drum and keyboard setups in-game.
- Large and diverse on-disc soundtrack, spanning five decades and multiple genres.
- Highlights include "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen, "Free Bird" by Lynyrd Skynyrd, "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, "I Wanna Be Sedated" by the Ramones, and "Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple.
- Also, all 83 on-disc songs are available to play from the start.
- Drop in/drop out gameplay.
- Most loading screens are hidden behind clever animations, such as the band and/or roadies setting up the stage before a set.
- "No Fail Mode" no longer disables saving or online play.
- Over 1,500 DLC tracks are available for the game. During its lifetime, the now-defunct Rock Band Network allowed individual creators to produce playable track for the series, further expanding Rock Band's music library.
- Over 700 in-game goals to unlock.
- More in-depth character creator and more clothing options than preceding games.
- Clothing and instrument unlocks are now per profile instead of per character.
- Players can create and share custom setlists.
- Players can filter songs by multiple parameters, such as source, difficulty, genre, and decade, which is helpful for those with large song libraries. Players can also rate songs on a 5-point scale, increasing or decreasing their likelihood of appearing in random setlists.
- At the end of each song, players get in-depth statistics on how well they played the song, including a section-by-section breakdown. Also, when playing a set, the next song doesn't start right away after it loads.
- After unpausing during gameplay, the track rewinds approximately 3 seconds to allow players to get into sync to keep their combo going.
Bad Qualities
- Despite having more customization options, players are limited to just 10 custom characters and one band per profile.
- Some achievements/trophies require either DLC or specific instruments to unlock. Some in-game items also require specific instruments to unlock.
- Pro guitar has a rather high price of entry.
- The plastic Fender Mustang pro guitar controller is more expensive than a standard 5-button controller, costing $150 at launch and finding one today is rare.
- The Squier Stratocaster pro guitar controller, which is an actual stringed guitar with additional electronics to allow it to interface with the game, is even more expensive, more than twice the cost of a normal Squire Stratocaster, and rare. Also, while the Squier Stratocaster is console-neutral, it requires a separate MIDI adapter.
- For DLC songs that have pro guitar support, the pro guitar chart costs an extra dollar.
- Periodically, certain DLC songs have to be delisted from the Music Store due to music licensing agreements expiring. However, Harmonix does attempt to give advance notice when songs have to be removed, and users who purchased the song(s) in question prior to their removal from the store can still play the songs and redownload them if necessary.
- The entire Rock Band Network catalog was delisted in February 2018. Also, due to technical and licensing restrictions, RBN content cannot be carried over to Rock Band 4.
- Songs released prior to Rock Band 3 do not have keyboard support and only a select few have harmony vocals support. This was likely due to licensing and technical issues.
- "All Instruments Mode" disables online play, relegating it to local play. Also, vocalists are not scored.
- Since no new instrument controllers are being manufactured, finding gear secondhand can be difficult and expensive.
Reception
Rock Band 3 received universal acclaim by critics. Many critics consider Rock Band 3 one of the best games of 2010 as well as the pinnacle of the rhythm genre. Critics praised the inclusion of the keyboard instrument, which opened up the game to more artists and genres. Pro mode was also well-received, but many critics lamented the high cost of the peripherals as well as the learning curve needed to master the mode.
Despite its accolades, the game sold below expectations due to the over-saturation of instrument-based rhythm games in 2009 as well as the economic recession of the same year.
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