Rock Band 5 Promotional Artwork
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 back 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 |
| 1970s | ”Cat's In The Cradle" | Harry Chapin | 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