I play guitar to a reasonably high standard (though am self-effacing about it), and have done for many years. Some background info that will give you a bit of context, then: I love music, it’s my first love (entertainment wise, in case you’re reading this, dear), and therefore music games are one of my favourite genres.

Kinda like Amiibo, I guess, only actually good and worthwhile. That’s an obvious statement to make, but it’s one you need to hear and understand, because while Harmonix has made an effort to introduce a handful of new elements into the overall package, Rock Band 4 feels more like a service, designed to let you bring all that DLC over to your shiny new consoles, and in some cases, use the legacy hardware that you spent hundreds on back when everyone was spending absurd money on plastic toys to play games with. Like an old pair of slippers that you can comfortably slip into on a cold January evening: it’s more Rock Band.

Review originally published on October 9th, 2015.

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