Even if this had preceded Rock Band, the drums would still be a terrible failure. There are seven note rails for the drums, which is odd since the Rock Revolution drum kit is not available until nearly a month after the game’s release; leaving those with only the Rock Band drum kit short two pads. You may think the math is off, but someone at Konami thought it was a good idea to put the bass pedal in the middle of the other notes. Rather than have an easy to spot line where you need to kick the pedal, the game gives you a half-oval in the middle of the regular notes. Since it tends to blend in with the colored pads you are supposed to hit with the sticks, it makes for the most frustrating gaming-instrument experience yet. Drum fill sections are pad specific, limiting the freestyle nature of your fills. At least the roll boxes, identified by the long bumpy tubes of color, deliver something slightly different. Still, the drums controls are so poorly designed that you are unlikely to stick with them for more than a song or two here.
Career mode gives you eight generic rockers to choose from, but frustratingly separates your career by instrument. You cannot even change instruments with the game running, forcing you to back out to the dashboard and reboot the game if you want to change from drums to guitar. The concept of career mode is the best piece of the game, though even it could use some work. You start a band and begin recording your first album, from a predetermined list of a few songs. Each 'album' consists of a few regularly-played songs and a couple of challenges designed to make things a little more difficult. It is a good concept, but playing each of the songs you are ‘recording’ at a live show is odd. You can begin work on your next album once you have played the majority of the available tracks, but getting your album to platinum status requires you to complete all tracks. The challenges are a solid concept, ranging from increasing difficulty levels as the song goes on or avoiding playing too many poison notes. After a couple of albums are complete, you hit the road for a one-off concert with a set list you create from the songs on the most recent albums you recorded; including improvising your own solos in the songs. The album concept is solid, but career still feels very bare-bones; especially being only a single-player experience. Thankfully, all the songs are available from the start in quickplay mode.
There is also a rehearsal mode for you to practice up or take instrument-specific tutorials, voiced in a cheesy infomercial tone. The most intriguing piece of the game is Studio. You can have a freestyle jam session or record your own songs, sans vocals, on an eight-track recorder. Assigning the instruments to the different tracks, you can become your own one-man band. Those more adventurous can layer drum beats on top of each other for a more robust sound. Sadly, the drums do not fare well here; suffering from a dull thud for most of the songs. In a strange decision, you can place effects like reverb or echoing on a drum track, but not on the guitar. While you cannot tinker with the guitar's sound, the game does display the actual corresponding note for the button or chord you are hitting. It is an incredibly useful tool for those who know how to read music, and helps those who do not get a better grasp on the notes that sound right together.
Live functionality has the stock features you would expect, including band battles and co-op play, but without much of an audience for the game finding a match is difficult. Rock Revolution is a disaster. It feels like a long-lost retro cousin to Rock Band, who was 'long-lost' for good reason. Given how well Guitar Hero and Rock Band both play, Rock Revolution feels like the Dollar Store knockoff of two better games.
