Think what you want of being charged for new tracks for your games, but Rock Band has been doing a damn good job of getting new content out there every week for you. For a game that’s reliant on its varied track list for longevity (lord knows my group of friends got tired of some of the standard songs pretty damn quick) the chance to pump it up with new downloadable songs is a great one, despite the price.
Guitar Hero‘s always been behind in that regard. The price is a little more for the songs and you aren’t getting as much bang for your buck (ie, drum and microphone tracks). There also hasn’t been nearly as much variety, unless you’re a fan of some of the worst Foo Fighters songs ever made, or Velvet Revolver. Please put a bullet in your head if you are.
So besides those downloads and the admittedly cool free tracks that have popped online (the Slash and Morello boss battles, and motherfuckin’ Steve Vai doing the Halo theme) there hasn’t been much to do since you’ve beaten Guitar Hero 3.
Well, Activision just announced the latest tracks to come your way, and we’ve actually got a couple of good tracks here. First up is the "Warner/Reprise Track Pack" which will include master recordings of “No More Sorrow,” by Linkin Park, “Sleeping Giant,” by Mastadon and “Pretty Handsome Awkward,” by The Used.
Now I’m as mad as the rest of you that Mastadon is surrounded by the rest of that crap, but hopefully it will be available on its own someday.
There will also be single song downloads of some popular European bands- “So Payaso,” from Extremoduro, “Antisocial” from Trust, and “Ernten Was Wir Säen” from Die Fantastischen Vier
Plus, in the spirit of the holidays (I guess) we’ll be getting a free rendition of "We Three Kings" as recorded by Steve Ouimette.
All of these will be available this month, but no date’s been specified just yet. If they really want to get us in the holiday mood, may I make one suggestion?
Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
Guitar Hero, Rock Band, one of you make this happen.