Rock Band 5

Rock Band 5 Promotional Artwork

NOTE: This Wiki/Site is fan-created writing, there are currently no publicly announced plans for a Rock Band 5. 

Rock Band 5 is a upcoming video game that is the sequel to the 2015 music rhythm game smasher, Rock Band 4. The game was developed mainly by Harmonix Music Studios, with the help of Rockstar Games, after both companies made a deal with each other to work on the game. Spotify, the company, served as the music liscence director for the game due to their connections with the music industry, making it easier to get songs for the game. Rock Band 5 contains a total of 72 on-disc songs. All previous peripherals are back again for the game, and the keyboard (introduced in Rock Band 3) is present in the game, after its absence in the previous installment of the franchise.

Development

Thought for Rock Band 5 didn't start until early 2018, that's when they started seeking a deal with a bigger video game studio to develop the next Rock Band game. Shortly after Harmonix and Rockstar games started working on the early stages of Rock Band 5, they wanted to look for another company that would help them in licensing songs for the game, making the job for them, easier. MTV denied getting involved after what happened last time with Rock Band 3. But soon, they settled with Spotify. And the game's development went underway.

The idea of the keyboard to return in the series, came from Rockstar Games who had enough of a budget to bring it back, and assigned MadCatz to work on making the new instruments for the new game. In 2020, Harmonix, Rockstar Games, Spotify, and MadCatz all confirmed that Rock Band 5 is currently in development on their Twitter accounts. The game is currently in development, and it is unknown as of yet, as to when it'll be released.

Gameplay

A first look at the new engine created for Rock Band 5

Rock Band 5 allows for 1–7 players, either locally or through online game services, to use various instrument controllers to accurately simulate the playing of music. In addition to supporting the four Basic instrument controllers from previous Rock Band games (lead guitar, bass guitar, drums and vocals), Rock Band 5 adds support for two additional microphones for singers to provide backup vocal harmonies (previously found in The Beatles: Rock Band and Green Day: Rock Band), an electric keyboard as a re-introduced instrument (or any MIDI-compatible keyboard). The game also works for MIDI compatible electronic drum kits as well.

The new engine for Rock Band 5

Prior to a song, each band member selects from one of four difficulty levels, Easy, Medium, Hard, and Expert, which influence the number and rate that notes appear on the note track; they also can select the Pro mode for real guitar, bass, keyboards, and drums. As the band performs, they score points. Each player can build up a multiplier by hitting consecutive notes correctly, which increases how many points each note is worth, but the multiplier is set back to 1× if a note is missed. After successfully completing a song, the performance of each player and the band as a whole is rated on a 5-star scale. The best performance by a player for each song in the player's library is tracked separately based on instrument, Basic or Pro mode, and difficulty, then is used to provide and compare leaderboard statistics at the end of the song.[4]

The overall goal of the band is to successfully complete a song and earn as many points as possible by using their selected controllers to play the notes shown on the screen at the proper time; or, in the case of the vocalists, to sing in relative pitch to the original artist. Players can also gain additional points by using "Overdrive". Once a player has enough energy, which is collected by perfectly playing marked sections of the song, he or she can activate Overdrive to double the number of points the whole band earns while it is deployed. Each instrument deploys overdrive differently, and some instruments have multiple methods of activating it.

Rock Band 3 and Rock Band 5 are the only games in the series that support the keyboard.

In point competitive mode (without the "no-fail" option on — not recommended for Pro mode), players who are doing poorly might be forced to drop out of the band, which silences their part temporarily while the rest of the players continue to play. A dropped player can be saved up to two times by another player activating Overdrive; if the player is not saved soon enough, the whole band may fail the song and need to restart or exit to the song library. In some game modes, an option is also available to continue the song right from where the band failed at the cost of not being able to record a score for the rest of the song's playthrough.

The Rock Band 5 engine was specifically made to give avatars a clean-cut cartoony look with a bit realistic touches

Although Rock Band 5's gameplay in Basic mode is very similar to that of previous games in the series, it does introduce a new gameplay mechanic designed to make fast sections such as trills, tremolo picking, and drum rolls easier to play. In such sections, players are rewarded for being exactly on cue, but they are not penalized for small differences.[5]

Song List

Decade	Song title	Artist	Level
2000s	"Change (In The House of Flies)"	Deftones	Level 4: Toronto, Canada
2000s	"Bounce"	System of a Down	Level 7: Reykjavik, Iceland
1980s	"De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da"	The Police	Level 1: Little Rock, Arkansas
1990s	"Father of Mine"	Everclear	Level 5: New York City, USA
2010s	"This Ladder Is Ours"	The Joy Formidable	Level 5: New York City, USA
2010s	"Do I Wanna Know?"	Arctic Monkeys	Level 3: Galápagos Islands, Ecuador
2000s	"I Got Mine"	The Black Keys	Level 1: Little Rock, Arkansas
2010s	"Megitsune"	Babymetal	Level 8: Uluru, Australia
1990s	"Bittersweet Symphony"	The Verve	Level 2: London, England
1960s	"You Really Got Me"	The Kinks	Level 2: London, England
1960s	"I Can't Explain"	The Who	Level 3: Galápagos Islands, Ecuador
2010s	"My Name Is Human"	Highly Suspect	Level 4: Toronto, Canada
1960s	"For Your Love"	The Yardbirds	Level 1: Little Rock, Arkansas
2010s	"The Last Garrison"	Enter Shikari	Level 6: Las Vegas, USA
2000s	"You're Not Here"	Akira Yamaoka ft. Mary Elizabeth McGlynn	Level 6: Las Vegas, USA
1980s	"Sirius/Eye In The Sky"	The Alan Parsons Project	Level 8: Uluru, Australia
2010s	"Hard Times"	Paramore	Level 1: Little Rock, Arkansas
2010s	"Soundcheck"	Catfish and The Bottlemen	Level 6: Las Vegas, USA
1980s	"Let's Go All The Way"	Sly Fox	Level 3: Galápagos Islands, Ecuador
1980s	"Fascination Street"	The Cure	Level 4: Toronto, Canada
2000s	"Temple From Within"	Killswitch Engage	Level 7: Reykjavik, Iceland
2000s	"Fast Fuse"	Kasabian	Level 6: Las Vegas, USA
2010s	"Broken Bones"	CRX	Level 5: New York City, USA
2000s	"Time Is Running Out"	Muse	Level 5: New York City, USA
2010s	"Kiss This"	The Struts	Level 2: London, England
1980s	"Mother"	Danzig	Level 4: Toronto, Canada
1970s	"If You Want Blood (You've Got It)"	AC/DC	Level 8: Uluru, Australia
1970s	"Starrider"	Foreigner	Level 2: London, England
2010s	"Elephant"	Tame Impala	Level 8: Uluru, Australia
2010s	"Brazil"	Declan McKenna	Level 1: Little Rock, Arkansas
1980s	"Come On Feel The Noize"	Quiet Riot	Level 3: Galápagos Islands, Ecuador
2010s	"Circus For A Psycho"	Skillet	Level 8: Uluru, Australia
2010s	"Out Of The Black"	Royal Blood	Level 7: Reykjavik, Iceland
2000s	"Obstacle 1"	Interpol	Level 3: Galápagos Islands, Ecuador
1980s	"Ride Like The Wind"	Christopher Cross	Level 3: Galápagos Islands, Ecuador
2010s	"Trip Switch"	Nothing But Thieves	Level 5: New York City, USA
2000s	"No Cars Go"	Arcade Fire	Level 2: London, England
1970s	"A Horse With No Name"	America	Level 7: Reykjavik, Iceland
1990s	"My Favorite Game"	The Cardigans	Level 4: Toronto, Canada
2010s	"Drown"	Bring Me The Horizon	Level 7: Reykjavik, Iceland
1990s	"Novocaine for the Soul"	Eels	Level 1: Little Rock, Arkansas
1980s	"Heat Of The Moment"	Asia	Level 7: Reykjavik, Iceland
1970s	"Another Girl, Another Planet"	The Only Ones	Level 2: London, England
1990s	"Flagpole Sitta"	Harvey Danger	Level 4: Toronto, Canada
2000s	"Divinations"	Mastodon	Level 8: Uluru, Australia
1980s	"I Am The Law"	Anthrax	Level 6: Las Vegas, USA
1990s	"We're In This Together"	Nine Inch Nails	Level 5: New York City, USA
1990s	"Mirror Mirror"	Blind Guardian	Level 8: Uluru, Australia
1980s	"You Might Think"	The Cars	Level 5: New York City, USA
2000s	"Hoppipolla"	Sigur Ros	Level 7: Reykjavik, Iceland
1960s	"Time Of The Season"	The Zombies	Bonus Level: The Moon, Outer Space
1980s	"Mr. Roboto"	Styx	Bonus Level: The Moon, Outer Space
2000s	"My Plague"	Slipknot	Bonus Level: The Moon, Outer Space
1970s	"Cat's In The Cradle"	Harry Chapin	Bonus Level: The Moon, Outer Space
1990s	"Ordinary World"	Duran Duran	Bonus Level: The Moon, Outer Space
1970s	"The Chain"	Fleetwood Mac	Bonus Level: The Moon, Outer Space
1970s	"Looking For The Magic"	Dwight Twilley Band	Bonus Level: The Moon, Outer Space
1990s	"Enjoy The Silence"	Depeche Mode	Unlockable Song
2000s	"Rockin The Suburbs"	Ben Folds	Unlockable Song
1980s:	"In My Darkest Hour"	Megadeath	Unlockable Song
1990s	"She Don't Use Jelly"	The Flaming Lips	Unlockable Song
2000s	"Blow Me Away"	Breaking Benjamin	Unlockable Song
1970s	"God Save The Queen"	The Sex Pistols	Unlockable Song
2010s	"Carnivore"	Starset	Unlockable Song
1980s	"Do You Remember Rock and Roll Radio?"	Ramones	Unlockable Song
1990s	”Pennyroyal Tea"	Nirvana	Unlockable Song
1970s	”Fox On The Run"	Sweet	Unlockable Song
1980s	”Lonely Is The Night"	Billy Squier	Unlockable Song
2000s	”Hate To Say I Told You So"	The Hives	Unlockable Song
1980s	”Who Can It Be Now"	Men At Work	Unlockable Song
1970s	”Hell Bent For Leather"	Judas Priest	Unlockable Song
1990s	”The Unforgiven"	Metallica	In-Game Secret Song

Early Reception

According to IGN, who were invited by the developers of Rock Band 5, privately, to test the game in its' beta stages, it is like no other music rhythm video game out there, and that it'll surely be revolutionary when it is released to the public for gamers to purchase