Green Day: Rock Band

The Short

Pros

- 47 songs, including the albums Dookie and American Idiot in their entirety

- Excellent, fun charting throughout make songs a blast to play

- Drum and bass parts are especially enjoyable to play

- Three part harmonies are back, and usually simpler than in The Beatles: Rock Band

- Exportable to Rock Band 3, complete with harmony support

- All songs are unlocked in quickplay from the start

- Menus have a slick style that fits the band

Cons

- While The Beatles: Rock Band was an entire UI overhaul, Green Day is less detailed

- Misses some tracks from 21st Century Breakdown, but they are purchasable from the store with harmonies support

- Only three venues for the entire game

- Guitar parts can get a little chord-heavy

- The heavy censorship required for some songs gets pretty ridiculous

- If you don't like Green Day, there is literally no reason for you to buy this game

If you've been reading all my reviews in a row, screens like this are probably looking really familiar

The Long

Let me confess something before I start: before I got Green Day: Rock Band I was only a passing Green Day fan. Sure, I listened to Dookie like everybody who grew up in the 90s, and I listened to American Idiot enough that I could recognize most of the tunes, and everybody has heard Time of Your Life before. But when I heard that Rock Band's next single-band centered game was going to be Green Day I was a bit disappointed. I mean...really? Guitar Hero did Metallica and Aerosmith (though the latter game sucked pretty bad), and we got...Green Day? Off the top of my head I can think of six or seven bands that would be better deserving (Queen or The Rolling Stones come to mind). So why freaking Green Day?

As it turns out, Green Day works really well, for two main reasons. First, it's a band that contributed heavily to the way current modern punk/alternative sounds (Dookie, along with The Offspring's Smash set up a sound that still carries over today) as well as writing one hell of a rock opera (American Idiot) that also pioneered modern music. Because of this, it serves as a good foil to The Beatles: Rock Band; it's essentially it's hipper, more modern cousin. Secondly, Green Day: Rock Band is full of music that isn't just catchy, it translates really well into video game notes. Bassist Mike Dirnt is extremely talented, making what us usually the "boring" part of Rock Band a total blast to play. Welcome to Paradise, for instance, is way more fun on bass than guitar. 

Though I still think it's a weird pick

So the point is this: is Green Day: Rock Band worth it? Well, as someone who was just a passing Green Day fan...I'd say yes, it is. If you straight up hate Green Day you obviously should avoid it, but if you have even the slightest interest (and come on...you know you listened to Dookie) you'll find one of the richest Rock Band experiences to date, coupled with some of the funnest songs on the platform. Yes. Really. With Green Day. 

First off, they did right by the fans by including full albums of Dookie and American Idiot, as well as the rest of 21st Century Breakdown (which I had heard literally none of before this game; I totally forgot that album even existed). The six missing tracks from the latter album came out earlier on their DLC store, and you can either buy them separate (they'll show up in-game if you do) or if you buy the Green Day: Rock Band Plus version you get a free export as well as those six songs for free. Not too bad. 

The motion capture stuff is also pretty dang good

Secondly, they charted the songs really well, and included full harmonies on all their songs. When I say "charted" I mean "how they wrote the notes for plastic guitars/drums." Believe it or not there is a sort of science to making a song fun to play, and either you hit it or you don't. The Beatles: Rock Band suffered a little because the source material could be so out there, making some awesome songs to listen to but not play with a toy guitar. Green Day, as a band, tends to stick to a certain punk-rock formula, which works really well in a game setting. It does have the unfortunate side effect of the songs all starting to sound "samey," but that could be said of 90% of the bands out there. The singing, especially, is standout. Billy Jo must have the exact same vocal range as me, because I found I could sing every song comfortably without having to strain too far in either direction. The harmonies are also easier than The Beatles: Rock Band, which makes them funner to sight-sing. Add on the fact that these songs are catchy as hell, and you have one of the best setlists in a Rock Band game. Yes. Really. On the Green Day game. I know, I was surprised too.

It's not all fun and sunshine, though. As you've seen from comparing gameplay screenshots with those of The Beatles: Rock Band, they didn't really mix stuff up much with regard to the visual style for this iteration. The Beatles: Rock Band has a super funky style about it: everything from the menues to the way Overdrive looked to the note highway was styled to fit the theme. Green Day: Rock Band just says "screw it" and looks like Rock Band 2. Which is fine, I guess, but it makes it seem more like an inferior product that The Beatles: Rock Band. It's the little things, Harmonix.

Man, the 90s were awesome. 

This idea of "we threw this game together at the last minute" is only reinforced by the venues. There are only three. For the entire game. Which, compared to the fact every single song in The Beatles: Rock Band had its own unique background thing going on, is a bit disappointing. You get a sort of warehouse/garage that shows them playing during the Dookie era, you have them playing in that London theater where they recored the live Bullet in a Bible album for the American Idiot songs, and you have...some other place for the 21st Century Breakdown. Hey, I don't fact-check these things; I go off memory, and I really don't know much about the history behind that album. I like the album now, if that's helpful, but yeah...sort of dropped off the Green Day train after American Idiot.

A benefit of having a band where all its members are still, you know, alive is the fact that they motion captured the trio for most of the songs. Which means the stage performances (even if it's only on three stages) looks pretty authentic. It makes for a fun show to watch (even if Green Day's costumes got really stupid after American Idiot) and adds a lot of needed flavor to the game.

The fact I liked this game was a huge surprise. The fact I liked it a lot was just plain weird. The fact my wife likes it is just plain unbelievable.  

Like most of my other Rock Band related reviews, you can export the songs from Green Day: Rock Band for a paltry sum of $10. Since you can get the game for around $15, you are looking at $25 for some of the funnest songs on the platform. As someone who was generally indifferent about Green Day, I can say that this game turned both myself and my wife (who hadn't even heard of them before this game) into fans. The songs are catchy, the singing is just the right amount of challenge, and the songs are fun to play. And that, ultimately, is what determines a good Rock Band experience. 

For me, this game is a solid four out of five. If you just love the crap out of Green Day, feel free to add a star to the final score. If you hate their guts, take four stars away. If you are totally indifferent, I'd suggest going and listening to a few of their songs before making a final decision. Green Day: Rock Band certainly isn't for everybody, but for a fan of Rock Band (and now Green Day) it's a must-buy.