Official Reviews

[Sayburr]

The first review I have found is from IGN:

http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/08/...d-blitz-review

“Music games are dead… Activision was like, "OK, we'll stop shoving Guitar Hero down your throat." But Rock Band Blitz proves that not every game revolving around music needs to be banished to the Island of Misfit Toys.”

“This system is equal parts ZOMG excitement and the frustration of hindsight. I love jumping between my tracks and trying to get everyone to the temporary ceiling, but how many times did I ignore a vocal track for too long only to not have enough notes to get it whipped into shape before the checkpoint?”

“Rock Band Blitz is doing for Elton John songs what Pac-Man Championship Edition DX did for pellets. No matter how good you're doing, there's some way to milk Rock Band Blitz songs for more points, and that's rather ingenious.”

“You might see that I crushed Stephen and the Colberts' "Charlene (I'm Right Behind You)," but when you try it, you can't get close to my score. You'll need to tinker with power-ups to find the combo that gives you the edge. On the flip side, I might see you embarrass me at a beloved Weezer song, but seeing as I'm fresh out of coins, I need to go farm some by playing Boston's catalog. Rock Band Blitz is pretty great at keeping you playing and -- if you dig the formula -- loving every minute of it.”

“Rock Band Blitz is great. The core gameplay will keep you switching and tapping like a madman or woman, and the inability to fail allows anyone to get excited and enjoy the experience. Once you master that, the high scores and bragging rights will call your name and get their hooks in if you're that type of gamer. However, if you're not of the high score chasin' mentality, Rock Band Blitz might be an obsession that passes you by as there's no real draw for solo shenanigans.”

[Sayburr]

Planet Xbox: http://www.planetxbox360.com/article...d_Blitz_Review

“You know when a game has a hold on you? When you make it part of your daily routine and you didn’t really intend for it to… THAT’S when you know you’re drawn into a game of sheer addiction. That’s Rock Band Blitz for you.”

“Where Rock Band Blitz really earns its stripes is multiplayer… you can compete with others on leaderboards, and it’s here you get to test your rock god mettle, not with a stupid guitar solo on “Moves Like Jagger” – if there was one. Beating someone for a high score is a matter of pride, and you can even throw down “Score Wars” challenges both in the game and on Facebook. We can’t tell you how much temperament we created talking smack to one another over the weekend.”

“Switching back and forth between tracks is a frenetic process, but definitely rewarding once you get the hang of it. Oh, and watch out for those solo tracks, they’re worth extra points. Rock Band Blitz utilizes a fast-scrolling visual feature, so that you roam through a “rock town” each time as you play along with the music. Sometimes the road can waiver a bit much, causing you to miss some notes that are on the horizon, but it’s an interface that’s lively and unpredictable, and fun to watch even if you aren’t tapping notes like crazy. Kudos to Harmonix for sprucing it up with something that’s not the usual Rock Band stage set-up.”

“Supporting both new songs and your older packs is a brilliant idea, and the gameplay and visuals hold up well enough that you won’t mind coming back for more, even as it appears to be “the same old thing”. If there’s one party machine you should go with leading into the months of fall, it’s definitely Blitz.”

[Sayburr]

Official Xbox Magazine: http://www.oxmonline.com/rock-band-blitz-review

Not only is the couch-friendly design a big shift for Rock Band, but so is the newfound emphasis on score rather than accuracy. Missing notes on your current track won’t slow your momentum toward hitting that next multiplier milestone; they’re just missed scoring opportunities. It’s not as enticing an approach, but the addition of selectable power-ups — like one that doubles your multiplier, or another that unleashes a live pinball that rolls over notes — helps set the tone as a different and ultimately lighter kind of experience.

But Blitz’s biggest strength is undoubtedly its ability to repurpose the series’ 3,800-or-so on-disc (excluding Beatles: Rock Band and Rock Band 3) and downloadable tracks, giving fresh life to a mountain of available songs in an enjoyable manner. It’s not quite on par with a raucous multiplayer jam session, but for fans with a stack of DLC, Blitz is a worthy next-best option.

[www1221]

IGN's review is so bad. So many things wrong and that first line is complete bull****

[Sayburr]

The Verge: http://www.theverge.com/gaming/2012/...-feedback-loop

Even on its surface, Rock Band Blitz represents an experiment. The idea is genius, when you think about it: create a comparatively cheap, arcade game framework for users to experience years of Rock Band content in a new way… there’s a game in Rock Band Blitz, and thankfully, developer Harmonix hasn’t taken an easy sell as an excuse to phone in something forgettable.

“The addition of such heavy Facebook integration would be great, if not for how heavily Rock Band Blitz leans on it. Some things that are easy on Facebook are inexplicably limited within the game itself. Score wars? In Facebook, you select from a dropdown menu of friends who have linked the game to their profile and pick a song. In the game itself, you're presented with random songs with random friends to challenge — there's no way to be specific in either capacity, at least that I could find… The problem: power-ups are 200-250 coins, there are four power-up slots, and finishing a song earns 300-500 coins. Simple math doesn't lie — playing Rock Band Blitz alone doesn't cough up the in-game credits to compete with friends who are reaping currency like crazy through Facebook-exclusive challenges.”

“But more importantly, it's fun. Rock Band Blitz's multiplier system makes for a frantic game of chicken with checkpoints and the meter on the side indicating how far ahead your closest leaderboard rival is score-wise. And as you're juggling lanes and building up overdrive, all while nailing more hectic note passages, Rock Band Blitz effectively channels the feel of Rock Band proper, all without a plastic instrument. And even after the furor over instrument-based music games has largely burned away, it's great to rekindle that kind of excitement and sense of musicality.”

[Sayburr]

JoyStiq: http://www.joystiq.com/2012/08/27/ro...riginal-score/

Rock Band Blitz is basically criticism-proof. No matter what qualms I may have about the XBLA/PSN game, they'll end with a recommendation that you should, without a doubt, purchase it.

Oddly enough, using a standard controller instead of a plastic guitar is hardly the most jarring aspect of Rock Band Blitz. The freebie DLC still makes it a no-brainer purchase, but Rock Band fans might find themselves alienated by the strange score focus, social game elements and absent multiplayer.

[Sayburr]

Games Radar: http://www.gamesradar.com/rock-band-blitz-review/

Not a very good review with this one:

[it] is a bit like a wooden rollercoaster. When you first experience it, it’s thrilling-but with each repeated ride, it stats to fell less exciting and more rickety.

two-button jamming works great when you’re in the groove of a familiar song, but for more difficult levels or songs you’ve never heard, the hardest bits devolve into button mashing. Blitz doesn’t necessarily penalize you for this, since instead of chained note combos, it values the amount of notes played before seemingly random intervals. Once you pass through these intervals, Blitz checks to see if you’ve been properly tending to each track, and adjusts your multiplier accordingly.

Regrettably, one of Blitz’s best assets is also its primary weakness. There are a plethora of fun power-ups to unlock, which you can mix and match ‘til you’ve found your optimal set-up. They include beefed-up point values, spreading fire-notes, bouncing purple pinballs, and point-boosting shockwaves, and more. They’re all a blast to use; the problem is, they don’t last. Each time you play a song, you’ll need to spend “Blitz Coins” to use power-ups, a currency granted after each song or via Facebook-interconnected goals. They’re not microtransactions for real-world cash--but seeing as how it’s nearly impossible to get a good score without them, you’ll often be forced to farm coins just to compete with your buddy’s scores. It feels like the sort of grinding you’d find in free-to-play games, not in a title in this genre.

Although the premise is good, it ultimately falls short, and you might be better off just picking another instrument from your typical choice and rediscovering Rock Band with another play style.

[Sayburr]

ShackNews- http://www.shacknews.com/article/754...still-standing

After getting the hang of the game, I had to get the hang of the scoring system. Scoring five stars for each track requires more than rhythmic skill this time around. Unlike its on-disc big brother, Blitz requires some pre-song strategy. Players can equip up to three power-ups, each with drastic effects. Examples include a giant pinball that deploys when a certain note is played (with points being rewarded the longer it's kept in play) and Bandmate, which uses the Overdrive meter to automatically play an instrument track for a short time. Knowing where to best utilize certain power-ups turns out to make a big difference when trying to take on Blitz's leaderboards.

Blitz keeps the spirit of Rock Band alive with its arcade mechanics and its focus on solo play. I still like to play Rock Band 3 with friends now and then, but I feel like Blitz is going to be fun to pick up and play whenever I'm in my room with no plastic guitar nearby. Blitz has that same head-bobbing, toe-tapping effect that its big brother has, making this a great complement to the main Rock Band series.

[Bulzeeb]

All these mostly positive reviews are just making my Blitz itch harder to satiate.

[Sayburr]

G4tv - http://www.g4tv.com/games/xbox-360/6...-blitz/review/

while it's addicting in its control simplicity, it's also a music game that requires strategy not seen in previous music instrument-based video games.

These power ups are key variables in helping Rock Band Blitz become more than just an enhanced score attack game. They add another layer in scoring well and can mean the difference between earning an extra 50,000 points or being just another player in the middle of a song's leaderboard… One minor drawback is that these power ups are only available when you're online so the benefits of practicing is limited if you have a bad connection.

A single song in this game presents a wealth of choices and forces you to reanalyze a song you might know from muscle memory having played over a hundred times in past Rock Band games… At times, it may not be worth it to max out the multipliers on all the instruments and instead focus on an note-intensive drum section that can yield a lot of points. Some songs like A-ha's 'Take On Me' and New Order's 'Blue Monday' have significant sections where an instrument or vocal isn't used, so it often pays to plan ahead and play those tracks early (where possible) to establish a high benchmark.

With such a heavy emphasis on scoring, Rock Band Blitz is also one of those rare games where you'll be checking leaderboards often, especially when it comes to songs that you and your friends own.

Unlike say, Burnout: Crash, Harmonix managed to deliver a downloadable standalone game befitting the series name that it spun off from. Rock Band Blitz is actually not a standalone game in the purest sense since it can utilize and benefit from thousands of songs. Considering this game spun off from a series that rewards diligent accuracy, the studio should be applauded for delivering a title that encourages strategy and a mild form of improvisation while still being a worthy Rock Band game.