AC/DC Live: Rock Band Review

By Kieron Gillen Published 6 January, 2009

Schoolboy error.

Version tested: Xbox 360

Amazingly, there are bigger problems with reviewing this than the fact that all the AC/DC-related gags have been worn thin by pieces on other rhythm-action games. That's just what happens when about half your song output is about hailing the wonder that is ROCK. (The other half being about hailing the wonder that is sexual congress).

The problem is that the whole thing is somewhat slight - and the question is how much does that matter? It's a standalone version of Rock Band which is being sold for about 25 quid, but only contains the eighteen tracks of AC/DC's Live at Donington album. It's effectively a Track Pack - in fact, it's being marketed as such in the US. You're able to import all the music into your Rock Band library with an included code. In fact, if you do own the game, you probably want to do that immediately, as the software is openly crippled compared to even basic Rock Band 1.

There's no ability to access the Rock Band shop or play any of your other downloadable content - which, perhaps, is understandable in that they didn't want to the game to be a cheap solus pack for those who are only into DLC. What's less understandable is the lack of a character editor, meaning you're stuck playing with whatever random, amusingly-clad cretins the game chooses to generate.

Which is a problem with AC/DC. If you're specifically buying into the fantasy of being AC/DC, you want to be the exact amusingly-clad cretins that are AC/DC. Or, at least, have the option to be them. If I'm not wearing a schoolboy's outfit, the guitar solos - no matter how enormous - are somewhat lacking. Same goes for the stage shows. Being a punk-metal Midlands kid in the early 90s, I listened to tales of wonder from older kids who'd seen AC/DC live, with podiums and fireworks and bloody cannons. Cannons! AC/DC are a band with cannons in their songs! While a dedicated cannon-based peripheral is probably too much to ask, you'd want something to embellish the dream of school-trousered Rock-Godism in game. But no. It's just stripped down Rock Band with AC/DC songs.

These people do not understand the true nature of ROCK. They've all washed today and everything. Bloody kids.

And I really do mean stripped down. As well as the previously mentioned absences, there's no online play and no real tour mode. Rather than zipping around the world to different destinations, it's basically slowly ascending the set-list, one song at a time, whether you're playing solo or as a group - so if you get stuck, you're stuck. One good point is that there's no real need to bother. Outside of the game modes, all the eighteen are available in Quickplay.

But just to marry that with a bad one, it appears this was built on Rock Band rather than Rock Band 2, so problems that had been consumed by the great beast of history come climbing bloodily out of its maw, like being unable to continue playing a previously started tour game without at least a couple of members. Perhaps most weirdly, for a game that promises to let you play a whole set, there's no locatable option to just play all eighteen songs in order. Or, in fact, any multiple-song set at all.

The tour mode being in the set-list creates another problem too. While I'm sure it rocked Donington, AC/DC weren't exactly thinking about little things like difficulty curves when they were planning it out. That means that you have these random spikes when a tricky song makes its appearance. I suspect "Thunderstruck" will be a relatively brutal opener for a newcomer, for example. The hardest song, "Let There Be Rock" - the only one that tripped me up playing through first time on my usual weakling Hard - comes a couple of tracks before the end. The closing "Highway to Hell" and "For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)" are a welcome relief after the seemingly endless "Let There Be Rock". Or, "Let There Be Hand Cramp", as I prefer to think of it.

So the immediate urge is to dismiss it. For all but the most rock-band-phobic AC/DC-loving gamers (i.e. those who would only want to play AD/DC, ever) this is essentially an album-length Track Pack for twice the price of what you'd pay if it were available as a download. There's nothing of the extra interest that's coming in, say, Guitar Hero: Metallica. It is, to be blunt, a bit of a rip-off.

But there's something that could overwhelm that. It is, to be equally blunt, THE POWER OF ROCK. So, damning objectivity, I looked to the furnace of drunken subjectivity and gathered a group of men of to my North London hole. Women were forced away. Alcohol was drunk. Manly chili consumed. THERE WAS ROCK. Until we got a bit bored and played standard Rock Band 2 instead.

AC/DC, while arguably the definitive Hard Rock Band, have a few problems as singular fodder for a total Rock Band experience. AC/DC's material is about the primacy of the riff. And when the riff is not rampaging across an ancient Savannah with other, lesser riffs grabbed between its teeth, it's transformed into a solo and is soaring into the ether like a pterodactyl made of whirlwinds and fire. Meanwhile the bass is going plod plod plod and the drums are going drum drumity drum. And the singer is dying. You suspect that this would have sat a whole lot better as a pre-World Tour Guitar Hero pack.

As one member of the ROCK PARTY (and a real drummer) who couldn't make it put it, "Surely on anything higher than medium Rock Band's drums are going to be harder than just playing it for real." And while there are some fancy bits - and being a live set there are some long solo sections - he's got a point. It's even worse for the bassist - any lower settings on most of the songs are superhumanly tedious. Like the Ramones, part of AC/DC's joy is that they're pretty damn formulaic - big riff, bloke screeching, bass and drums primarily supporting. Being the latter two isn't much fun - especially across an hour-and-a-half set.

'AC/DC Live: Rock Band' Screenshot 2

It's possible that there are photographs which convey the meaning of wrong more effectively, but it's not likely.

Conversely, swapping the head-person role puts a lot of responsibility on the guy with the axe. And the singing - well, not many people have lungs for the task which AC/DC sets you, putting aside the issue of familiarity with the material. Singing AC/DC if you know it is hard. Singing it when you don't is just painful. Doubly so, for anyone having to listen to you croak. The live set nature also highlights one of the standard issues with Rock Band - not actually having much of a clue what's awaiting you when you select a song. Some songs are expanded hugely with epic solos and t-t-teasing the crowd. Knowing that this one is a ten-minute one before you start would be a step forward.

While there were glorious moments certainly, the basic monotony gets to you. The immediate response to starting up Rock Band 2, to be welcomed by a snatch of Motorhead was a cry of "Now that's a Rock song!" Even something as prissy as Jimmy Eat World was welcomed like a long lost love. And we went a little early 90s Riot Grrl with Rebel Girl. And, well, mixed it up.

As we drifted into the night, I had a straw poll of what everyone thought AC/DC Live: Rock Band deserved out of ten. Scores varied between three and zero ("It should be made an example of"). I'm going for two. This is only of interest to those who really, really, really need AC/DC now. Even moderate AC/DC fans can afford to wait until it's reduced to a sub 15-quid price (i.e. what it would be as downloads) or when the publisher lobs it on the Rock Band store. In other words, to return to the opening question, how much does it matter if it's this slight? It matters a lot.

That said, if it's reissued with a plastic cannon, automatic ten.

2 / 10

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
Picture of Kieron.

About Kieron Gillen

Kieron is one of the founders of the lovely Rock, Paper, Shotgun and nowadays writes comics for Marvel starring characters that even his mum has heard of.

Read more articles from Kieron by visiting the Kieron Gillen archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (65) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • smugla #1 3 years ago

    thunderstruck

  • Discalceaterabbit #2 3 years ago

    Wow, who would ever have thought that the makers of Rock Band are only interested in ripping people off.

  • t8yman #3 3 years ago

    damn, how could such a potentially great game be made so crap?

  • mechamonkey #4 3 years ago

    2.... jesus.

  • reflux #5 3 years ago

    Wish they would release a New Wave of British Heavy Metal-pack instead with old Iron Maiden, Judas Priset, Saxon, (early) Def Leppard etc etc songs instead. And maybe a Swedish Death Metal-pack with Entombed, Dismember, At The Gates, early In Flames, Tiamat and so on? And Norwegian Black Metal :D Poor drummers.


  • ManicDrunkMonk #6 3 years ago

    Oh dear :-(

  • seasidebaz #7 3 years ago

    Bizarrely, that's the same score I'd give the REAL band.

  • Indy #8 3 years ago

    And here I was thinking GH: Aerosmith was a dreadful effort...
    Edited by 1 at 06/01/09 @ 11:04

  • mazzl #9 3 years ago

    EG revenge of the rock fan!

  • DFawkes #10 3 years ago

    Wow. I was expecting "Good if you like AC/DC", but this really is bad. They could've at least let you use RB DLC. Or maybe they don't want to sell any DLC, I'm not sure.

  • jambolio #11 3 years ago

    Meh, happy enough with the lunacy of "let there be rock" in RB2 too not need this, if it were to be released in DLC format I may snap up a couple of others, As a bonus though anyone fancy Roy Orbison?

  • DesperadoDaz #12 3 years ago

    I am shamed to say i bought this - an impulse purchase during a trip to the sales.

    I feel 2 out of 10 is slightly unfair, although i see the reasons why that score was given. I bought this as a track pack, but i now realise that 18 tracks for 25 quid is not good value for money.

    The actual songs on the pack are good, although on Expert some of them are really difficult, especially at the beginning

    A score of 5 out of 10 would be fair to me - but there is no reason that this could not have all been sold as DLC only.

    I will not be fooled again

  • Goffee #13 3 years ago

    You mean no inflatable giant-cleavaged woman peripheral?? - that would help it sell!

  • jonsaan #14 3 years ago

    Nice review but can you play the game with a standard controller?

  • jonsaan #15 3 years ago

    Why did they go for Live tracks?

    Why not the actual tracks. Would have been awesome then.

    Even more awesome if they were Bon Scott only!!

  • Toothball #16 3 years ago

    I picked it up anyway, although mainly for using the tracks in Rock Band 2. Will probably play through what little career is available with some friends.

  • Thunderbolt #17 3 years ago

    jonsaan,

    Why would you want to play with a standard controller when half the fun of the game is rocking out with the plastic guitar and posing like a rock star?

    Silly I know but I keep the curtains drawn at all times :)

  • Scottw75 #18 3 years ago

    To buy 18 songs at 160 points a song is 2880 points.

    Using an online converter this is Ł25 worth of points. You can pick this game up for Ł25 so im not sure what the issue is?

  • BremXJones #19 3 years ago

    You buy a whole album you get them at a discounted price from buying it individually, basically. You're not buying them track for track.

    KG
    Edited by 1 at 06/01/09 @ 11:40

  • Weezer #20 3 years ago

    Sorry to derail this thread, but is it possible to import RB1 tracks into RB2? I know you can do it with the North American version but what about the PAL release? On 360.

  • red_shift #21 3 years ago

    I went halves on this with someone, he used the code and I kept the disk.
    Ł15 is a pretty good deal if you ask me.

  • Weezer #22 3 years ago

    Heh. Job done. Thanks!

  • Eraysor #23 3 years ago

    Weezer, yes.

    And I saw GAME selling this for Ł30. Needs to be heavily discounted before I purchase it.

  • jonsaan #24 3 years ago

    @ Thunderbolt!

    Well yes, but I actually like playing with a normal controller sometimes too.

    So CAN YOU????

    Please tell me. PS3 version preferably.

  • neilqpr #25 3 years ago

    I also picked it up on impulse when I was going through heathrow. With the euro and sterling exchange rate it was no more than a cheap track pack for RB2. Can't really complain with the review, there has been no attempt to even try and make this an AC DC experience. How hard would it have been to create an Angus model. Or to have a couple of cannons at the side of the stage for those about to rock?

    As I said, with the weak pound I'm happy enough with it as a track pack, but as a game in its own right its pretty shocking.

  • dazzaman #26 3 years ago

    For those about to rip off consumers we salute you

  • Setaro #27 3 years ago

    AC/DC are shit.

  • JahB #28 3 years ago

    @jonsaan:
    "Well yes, but I actually like playing with a normal controller sometimes too.

    So CAN YOU????

    Please tell me. PS3 version preferably. "

    why in the world would you play a rhytm/music game with a pad? that was funny for 20 minutes in boom boom rocket, but RB/GH with pads defies belief

  • NegativeZero #29 3 years ago

    So, does this have the whole 15-minute or so Jailbreak where Angus spent half the song stripping while the bass and drums continue to play the same fucking three bars over and over and over? Or did they do the decent thing and abridge it?

    To be honest, you'd think that if they're going to put together a set that's from a live recording like this, they'd at least replace the usual fugly harmonix faux-people footage with the actual matching Live at Donnington video bits, with the guitar notes and whatnot overlaid over the top.

    They want 50 bucks for it here in Australia. That's about $30 more than I'd pay for a track pack regardless of the content, and I'm a reasonably big AC/DC fan.

  • BremXJones #30 3 years ago

    I haven't timed Jailbreak, but it is phenomenally long.

    KG

  • Sp3ct3r #31 3 years ago

    @JahB
    "why in the world would you play a rhytm/music game with a pad? that was funny for 20 minutes in boom boom rocket, but RB/GH with pads defies belief"

    do you remember Frequency and/or Amplitude?

  • rhubarbandcustard #32 3 years ago

    I think the biggest problem with Guitar Hero and Rock Band games is that guitar based music is unbelievably shit.

    Now release Depeche Mode Synth Monster and I will show some interest.

  • tonynibbles #33 3 years ago

    Wowzer.

  • Weezer #34 3 years ago

    "Guitar based music is unbelievably shit." So you pretty much hate every major band since The Beatles with the exception of Depeche Mode.

    Words fail me.

  • rhubarbandcustard #35 3 years ago

    Weezer: You wear denim while playing air guitar to Status Quo?

    Words fail me, sir.

    Words fail ME.

  • Thunderbolt #36 3 years ago

    rhubarbandcustard

    Depeche Mode also had their guitar period around Violator and Songs of Faith and Devotion - 'I feel you' springs to mind and Dave was off his head on heroin.

    Surely that must tempt you?

  • frycrayola #37 3 years ago

    Why live?

    Ok, it's Live at Donnington, so you can understand that, but this is about live tracks in general. Fans of the band might really like them, but for others is it the same annoyance as it is for me?

    I haven't bought My Generation as DLC, because it's live. See, the standard album/single versions are the ones everyone knows. The ones anyone who sings along to music sings along to. These karaoke titles rate you on how closely you match the pitch of the vocals. Most people who know a song will find it much easier (and more fun) to sing along to the original they remember, than having to sing it how Roger Daltrey or whoever sang it some night.

    (Of course, if someone points out that My Generation isn't terribly far removed from the original, I might go back on this. :D )

    The games do need some work on the vocal side of things to allow for natural flourishes instead of mimickry, but live versions take mimickry too far in my opinion. Great for the other instruments though, I'll give it that.

  • Setaro #38 3 years ago

    Depeche mode are the shit.

  • jonsaan #39 3 years ago

    JahB

    It's nice to have the option.

    Also I can play a real guitar so I find the silly plastic ones completely confusing and stoopid. I actually like trying to crack a song using the pad. It's fun, for me. Each to his own..

    Also, I like how nobody actually answers the question!

  • figgis #40 3 years ago

    Depeche Mode = Erasure for goths.

  • jonsaan #41 3 years ago

    Well they are sprung from the same brains orignally so...yeah.

  • Setaro #42 3 years ago

    I'd actually finally buy one of these Rock Band/Guitar Hero thngs if they did a Depeche Mode version. Y'know, if that was even possible, you'd need a plastic keyboard/synth or something.
    Edited by 1 at 06/01/09 @ 12:54

  • Sp3ct3r #43 3 years ago

    yeah, and coming up next: Rock Band- Village People, with hats, leathers and fake moustache

  • Chalee #44 3 years ago

    Rock Band Pink Floyd = wait for 5 mins before you start playing

    AWESOME!

  • StarchildHypocrethes #45 3 years ago

    Some of the live versions on this album are miles better than the studio versions, so I'm quite looking forward to ROCKING OUT with this, once I've imported them into RB2.

    The live Thunderstruck is awesome.

  • merkdot #46 3 years ago

    I hate AC/DC but this score is stupid, imo. The basic gameplay is the point.

    Also, implications of 'making an example of it' smacks of an incredible lack of professionalism. Yes, it's a cynical cash-in. No, it's not a "Avoid at all costs - this is less entertaining than setting fire to a ten-pound note" game. Of course it isn't.

    "What you're facing here is a game with appalling generic visuals built around an awful design, cursed with cretinous AI, brain-frying audio and controls that feel like they've been designed to upset people or boost sales of replacement game pads. It could just be that the game is just so hideously old fashioned that someone has released the game by mistake. Who knows what goes through the minds of people who feel the need to try and sell crap? Pity them, and pity the fools that stock it and more so the morons that end up buying it without checking first. "

    The review text doesn't match the scoring policy at all. This is more like a 5/6.

  • Slim #47 3 years ago

    "Wow, who would ever have thought that the makers of Rock Band are only interested in ripping people off."

    A little unfair. At least in Rock Band you can play your dlc and import songs across different versions. You can't do that in Guitar Hero.

    Isn't it about time there was an open format for this stuff though? I'm a bit miffed at how many versions of the same song I've bought across Guitar Hero, Rock band, Singstar and Lips, it has to stop!

  • seasidebaz #48 3 years ago

    statusquolol

  • Weezer #49 3 years ago

    Rhubarbandcustard: Denim? Good God no. But I'll take Foo Fighters, Nirvana, QotSA, The Stones, Queen, RHCP, Muse, Oasis, etc etc etc over Depeche Mode. I don't mind a bit of Depeche, but you can't beat the electric squeal of a tortured guitar string. IMHO, of course.

  • Indy #50 3 years ago

    @frycrayola:

    The Live at Leeds version of My Generation isn't that much different from the original recording. It's good fun you should go and buy it if you like the song!

  • Blackthorned #51 3 years ago

    Is this for real? They're not even the studio versions - I want Bon songs sung by Bon!
    The pricing is getting out of hand and I hope people vote with their wallets on this one.

  • Tweakmonkey #52 3 years ago

    The score is harsh. It's a standalone disc because of some licensing restriction that AC/DC is only sold thru Walmart in the US, and naturally they've just sold the exact same package in Europe for simplicity.

  • shotgun44 #53 3 years ago

    @Tweakmonkey
    I might not understand what you mean, but my dad bought every AC/DC album at Virgin Megastores in New York about 2 weeks ago!??

    Or you mean just the game??
    Edited by 1 at 06/01/09 @ 15:16

  • RobotRocker #54 3 years ago

    @Tweakmonkey

    AC/DC refuse to sell any of their tracks online or as singles. The only Deal Harmonix could get was to get an album and release it on Disc (With an export code that downloads the songs on the harddrive for RB1 and RB2). Since Live At Donnington was the closest they could get to a "Greatest Hits" collection they went for that as the Band wouldnt go for a collection with songs mixed from the albums. Thems the breaks of working with the worlds largest Rock Bands. Demands, demands, demands....

  • MEGADETHs #55 3 years ago

    JUST PLAYIN IT FOR THE MUSIC IS ENOUGH.JUST TURN IT UP LOUD SO YOUR EARS BLEED.HEAVY ROCK HOW IT SHOULD BE DONE,NEW BANDS THESE DAYS SUCK.

  • Thunderbolt #56 3 years ago

    ^^^

    What about Airbourne then?

  • Tweakmonkey #57 3 years ago

    @shotgun44 and RobotRocker

    I got mixed up about the Walmart thing as it was only their latest album Black Ice that is exclusive along with this track pack which is also exclusive.

    I think the live versions are great.

  • metalnut #58 3 years ago

    This is entirely AC/DC's fault. Harmonix have said they want to do DLC, but AC/DC have their heads so far up their own arses that they insisted on a separate physical album. Here's what Angus Young said about iTunes, and the same stance I'm sure applies to the Rock Band store:

    “We don’t make singles, we make albums,” said Young. “Way back in the Seventies, we drew these figures on the back of an envelope for our record company. We showed them how much they earned from us if we sold one million singles and how much they earned if we sold one million albums. The difference was staggering . . . If we were on iTunes, we know a certain percentage of people would only download two or three songs from the album - and we don’t think that represents us musically.”

    In other words, AC/DC are money-grabbing shills who don't give a crap what the punter wants. Harmonix had to hastily construct a standalone game to go with this physical product that didn't undermine Rock Band itself. It's all very stupid because it should have just been a DLC album, but what with AC/DC wanting the game alongside their new album on Wal Mart's shelves, and their anti-single track purchasing stance, it wasn't going to happen.

    Personally I think Harmonix should have told them to go f*ck themselves. Tossers.

  • AOFanboi #59 3 years ago

    I don't get Angus' insistence on albums: They are not some prog rock/metal outfit making theme albums like Ayreon or Pink Floyd. Even Floyd made "A Collection of Great Dance Songs" which ripped songs out of their original context.

    Bah, everything the made except "Dirty Deeds..." sucks anyway.

  • OnlyMe #60 3 years ago

    Fitting score that reflects the quality of the band. Most boring rock ever!

  • OnlyMe #61 3 years ago

    I'd say KISS next, but I don't think EA can afford them. Gene Simmons would probably want 90% of the sales, as well as the rights to sell Rock Band KISS t-shirts, coffee cups, condoms, nose-hair trimmers etc etc.

  • MEGADETHs #62 3 years ago

    airbourne r crap lol

  • DarkBytes #63 3 years ago

    NO

  • blicko #64 3 years ago

    The AC/DC of the 1970's were one of the very best rock bands of their era. TNT,High Voltage, Highway to Hell, Dirty Deeds, and Let There Be Rock ... incredibly good stuff,

    Since Bon Scott's death (and what a Rock'n'roll way to go) in 1980, they've been pumping out crap. Which makes this game a fitting tribute to the modern AC/DC stuff.

  • Fab4 #65 3 years ago

    Anyone who claims AC/DC are one of the most boring bands in rock have obviously never seen them live, or have any inkling about rock history.

    P.S. They should do a Vanden Plas release, or a Fate's Warning: Awaken the Guardian release.
    Edited by 1 at 07/01/09 @ 12:33