Review: AC/DC Live: Rock Band Track Pack

Background

After an eight year absence from recording, on October 20th 2008, AC/DC released their sixteenth studio, Black Ice. This was a return to form for the band and a marketing milestone for the music industry. While selling their new album exclusively at Wal-Mart, over 784,000 copies flew off of store shelves in the first week. Not only was Black Ice the best selling record that week, but it was the second biggest album debut of the entire year and marked only the second time in the band’s 30-year history, that they managed to hold the #1 position in weekly sales.

In hopes of riding this gravy train to more pay dirt, Harmonix recently released the AC/DC Live: Rock Band Track Pack. This standalone product consists of eighteen of the band’s biggest hits, all digitally remastered from the groundbreaking Live at Donington record. So will this game cash in on the revived legacy of one of the greatest rock bands ever, or is it nothing more than another chance to help subsidize the retirement fund for a group of rapid aging rockers?

The Story

This will be the easiest portion of the entire review, because there is no story, world tour or online mode to speak of. Even the elaborate Rock Band character creator has been thrown to the wayside, instead only allowing you to input your name. Your avatar is then randomly generated and follows you through the course of the entire game. There are not even options to upgrade your avatar, because there is no money system or path for upgrades. The game is nothing more than a mindless trudge through rock history, but look at the bright side, at least you will get the opportunity to know what Ozzie Osbourne felt like…

The Good

So you don’t own a copy of Rock Band 1 or 2? Well you are in luck, because the game is a standalone product. This means that those of you who own a guitar from Guitar Hero, will finally get the opportunity to rock out, Rock Band style. While this is hardly a selling point, it is good to know that in the increasingly fragmenting music game market, that everybody can play AC/DC Live without worries of compatibilities or allegiances.

Both the Rock Band and Guitar Hero set lists have been known to have a throwaway track here and there. On AC/DC Live there is not a single track on the disc that is not a crowd pleasing hit. No longer are you forced to wade through ten crappy songs to get to your four favorites, because you have eighteen tracks of concentrated rock greatness, guaranteed to assault both your fingers and your eardrums.

A staple of Rock Band has been the ensemble focused note charts and this is no exception. Every instrument has its chance to shine, inspiring the inner rock god inside of all participants. Though the instruments are balanced, that does not mean that these songs are easy, in fact they are very much the opposite. Even the most skilled players will be pushed to their limits both physically mentally, with some songs clocking in at a whopping ten minutes long. You will have to bring your A-game if you are hoping to withstand the challenge.

The Bad

Among the most obvious of criticisms is the fact that despite the game being released after Rock Band 2, it is still based off of the original Rock Band’s graphics and gameplay engine. While this is more of a minor criticism, some lingering issues that were present in the original Rock Band make a return, such as fret charts becoming difficult to see due to contrast issues with the background. Also, this means that you do not have the option to play through the set list using only the bass guitar part, because the bass is only available if 2 guitars are present.

A secondary concern is that the game only offers a measly two hundred and fifty achievement points. Considering the price tag of the game, and the fact that it is a standalone product, there should be a full one thousand achievement points ripe for the harvesting. As a bit of a side note, Microsoft has a standard of only allowing a grand total of two hundred and fifty achievement points for expansion content to a game. So does this mean that this will be the only expansion pack released for Rock Band?

The Ugly

Much like Black Ice, AC/DC Live is only available for purchase exclusively at Wal-Mart. This means that not only will you be unable to buy it at your local video game shop, but most likely you will not be able to trade it in there either. Sadly, anyone who is even remotely interested in the game is forced to make the trek to their nearest redneck nexus. One would assume that the members of AC/DC are being handsomely rewarded for this lucrative marketing agreement, but is it really worth giving up your soul?

Now to get to the biggest problem facing the game, the forty dollar price tag! Sure these may be eighteen of the greatest rock songs of all time, but if they were all available as individual tracks in Rock Band, the music would be four dollars cheaper than the sticker price of the disc. So what does the extra four dollars cover, the achievement points? It is hard to justify a product with such a high sticker price, especially when there are numerous outstanding tracks available as downloadable content that are a comparable experience

One unique selling point of the game is that after you have successfully completed all of the songs, you have the ability to import the tracks into either Rock Band 1 or 2. Unfortunately, this is also the most irritating part of the whole experience! Instead of ripping the tracks in the same manner as importing the original Rock Band tracks into Rock Band 2, you are forced to use a download code written on the back of the instruction manual to re-download the songs onto your console. This means that both Microsoft and Sony already have the content sitting on their servers, which begs the question: why is this not a premium DLC pack? It has already worked for The Who, so it makes no sense for AC/DC not to be doing the same.

Conclusion

AC/DC Live: Rock Band Track Pack is a hardcore collection of some of the greatest rock songs of all time. The note charts are solid, the game play is challenging and who doesn’t love an inebriated night trying to stumble your way through some of your favorite music. This is definitely a game that is worth renting for a weekend play through, but it is difficult to recommend for purchasing because of the steep cost and technical limitations.

Score: 5.5

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