Review: Green Day Rock Band (Xbox 360)

Author: Tigervamp | Date: July 12, 2010

During my teenage years Green Day were one of my favourite bands, Dookie was one of my favourite albums, and Tre Cool was one of my favourite drummers. It pains me to admit those teenage years were quite a while ago. On the plus side, Green Day: Rock Band may be the perfect excuse to sing and drum along to their songs once more, and of course play air-guitar, except with a plastic guitar instead of air.

Green Day: Rock Band follows the successful release of The Beatles: Rock Band. Even the most hardcore fans of Green Day would have to admit this seems like an odd choice. I wouldn’t describe Green Day as a small band but they’re a great distance from The Beatles who were one of the biggest and most successful bands the world has ever seen. It would have been more suitable to follow The Beatles with bands who could sell-out a tour of major stadiums around the globe. Bands such as The Rolling Stones, U2, Queen, Guns N Roses, and Metallica. I see Green Day in the same category as bands with a few solid tracks on Rock Band and Guitar Hero, such as Jimmy Eat World and All American Rejects, who would also seem an odd choice for this type of celebratory special edition.

The career mode is split into three eras; the early years, the middle years, and the recent years, although the latter two are both very recent in comparison with the first. This of course makes chronological sense but what it also does is show the decline in quality over the years. That is of course just my personal opinion but it’s difficult to argue that their most recent album, for example, is as strong as Dookie. I believe 21st Century Breakdown is their weakest album. American Idiot, which partly makes up the middle section of songs in career mode, includes Boulevard of Broken Dreams which for me is the best song off that album. While Dookie is packed with good songs such as Basket Case, Welcome to Paradise, and When I Come Around. This makes the career mode a very top-heavy experience.

Those who already own Rock Band will know exactly what to expect because this is essentially the same game you’ve been playing for a few years but with more of a Green Day flavour than usual. The cartoon visuals, which capture the appearance of the musicians in their prime, look good and fit well with the energetic image the band are known for, especially in the 90s. The music, as I mentioned above, is something of a mixed bag, but once again that’s purely down to personal preference.

Variety of songs is what makes Rock Band such a great game and because of that this version won’t hold much appeal beyond big fans of Green Day. However, this is targeted at fans of the group, especially their recent songs, and they will absolutely love this game. The issues I mention above are personal and won’t apply to everyone. If you have an interest in this game chances are you’ll really enjoy what it has to offer and those who own the Rock Band instruments and enjoy Green Day’s catalogue of music should definitely pick this up.

7.5/10