It’s been a long time coming, hasn’t it? A disgustingly long time coming. Rock Band has not only suffered from the ancient curse of the European gamer, where we get shafted on release dates for no discernible reason, but it’s also fallen foul of an altogether more recent phenomenon – the plight of the PlayStation 3. Yes, Microsoft has had its hand in its cheque book once again, and this Rock Band European bow has been held back longer than Wayne Rooney at primary school.

So, has it been worth the wait? Of course it has. Of course it bloody has. If you haven’t had the absolute pleasure of playing Rock Band yet, then you’ve got such a good time to come. Played together, with four players on four instruments, plenty of booze and a decent sound system, then it’s one of the most exhilarating, liberating and euphoric gaming experiences ever created. It really is. And it isn’t bad on its own either.

The only way to truly analyse the success of Rock Band is to break it down into its component parts. As you’re most probably aware, there’s four ways to play. Guitar, bass, vocal and drums. The lovely, lovely drums. Guitar and bass work exactly how you’d expect them to, coming from the originator of Guitar Hero and its sequel. It’s actually noticeably easier than Guitar Hero III – Harmonix has created its guitar and bass note charts with accessibility and enjoyment in mind. On Expert difficulty, it gets tricky, even hairy at times, but never at the expense of fun – just like Guitar Hero before it, Rock Band is a game designed to make you feel like a rock star.

The notes are designed to emulate the shapes your hands would make if you were playing on a real guitar. It’s an amazing piece of design and programming skill at which Harmonix has no equal. Guitar Hero III may quench the thirst of the truly hardcore, but it feels like a videogame. This feels like music.

And it’s the latter half of the instrument quartet that really back up that statement. Both the drums and singing have far more in common with their real-life counterparts than the guitars ever could, and as such, take music gaming to the next level. Vocals work almost identically to SingStar, with the game measuring pitch and timing, but not picking up on individual syllables. It’s very accurate and bloody good fun, if a little lonely on your own. As part of a band though, it’s essential.

Not quite as essential, though, as the drums. There has been a fair amount of negative press about the build quality and noise levels of Rock Band’s percussion. But, in truth, they’re a superb piece of kit. The truth is in the testing, and when plonked down in front of a real drummer, their sensitivity and accuracy didn’t let them down. The four pads act as snare, hi-hat and cymbals respectively, with the third and fourth doubling up as toms where necessary. It all works very well, and while the pedal lacks enough spring for really tricky sections, it’s a damn convincing recreation of the real thing.

So, every instrument works and works well, and the feeling of playing in a band is almost unparalleled. But what exactly does Rock Band offer on its disc, beyond plucking, strumming and thumping away to your heart’s content? Well, for the lonely, there’s the Guitar Hero-aping Solo Tour, available for drums, guitar and vocals, but sadly not for the bass, which is too ‘dry’, apparently. None of these tours are particularly new or inspiring, but they do the job, allowing you to unlock new songs and improve your abilities on each of the instruments.

Far more interesting is the structurallyfresh Band World Tour, which inexplicably can only be played with a minimum of one other human player, and also offline only. So, it’s okay to play with two AI band-mates, but not three? Bizarre. And it’s unfortunate, because unless you live with like-minded rockers, this is the mode that will get the least play time, but is by far Rock Band’s strongest inclusion.

You begin life as a struggling opening act, who’s trying to scrape together fans and earn the right to play at new venues. Do well enough and you’ll be able to afford a van, travel around the country and then the continent, before eventually becoming the new kings of rock ’n’ roll. Band World Tour introduces the idea of ‘setlists’, where you and your buddies play a number of tunes consecutively with no breaks for score and loading times. It’s great, especially on the occasions where you can build your own setlist, and the way downloadable content is entirely integrated is a real step forward. In this respect, Rock Band really does feel like its own platform.

So, yes, there are niggles. The offline-only tour is a pain, as is the lack of a single-player tour proper, but in truth, there’s just too much brilliance here for it to really matter. This is a game everyone should play. How else is the Rock going to spread?

Jon Denton