Rock Revolution - Reception

Reception

Rock Revolution has been widely panned by critics. Its drum controller received mixed reviews for its design, which was criticized for its layout and the size of its drum pads. Combined with the game's use of a vertical perspective to present notes, and the use of a separate lane on-screen for the bass pedal instead of using a bar stretching across the entire track like on Rock Band), the drums were considered to be frustrating and difficult to use, especially due to its large number of pads. On the other hand, a Kotaku writer felt that the setup of the drum controller itself felt more natural and realistic than that of Rock Band, but noted that its cymbals were hard to hit due to their size, and because they were not elevated. Rock Revolution was also frequently criticized for having a soundtrack smaller than that of its competition, and for its use of cover versions—contrasting a trend for such games to only use master tracks.

GameSpot gave the console version of Rock Revolution a 3.5 out of 10, commenting that the game "doesn't rock and certainty isn't a revolution", noted that the recording studio mode was the game's only redeeming mode, and concluded that "if Rock Revolution came out two or three years ago, it might have been revolutionary, but in 2008, it's not even relevant." IGN gave the game a 3.0 out of 10, feeling its gameplay was a step backward for music games, criticizing the recording studio mode for being "as intuitive as a tax form", and declaring its drum controller "an abomination that must be destroyed lest it breed and multiply." Rock Revolution's few positive aspects were considered to be several of its song choices, its compatibility with other controllers, its arcade-style challenges, and the ability to improvise guitar solos in career mode.

1UP.com gave the console version a "D" rating, criticizing the drum controller's "intimidating" layout of small pads, its graphics for having "lifeless" character animations and re-using exactly the same crowd in every venue, and its career mode for being boring and lacking any form of narrative. The recording studio mode was considered the only fun part of the game, primarily for having more functionality than any other part of the game. However, it still considered the similar functionality in Guitar Hero World Tour to be superior, due to its ability to play and share creations in-game (which Rock Revolution could not).

IGN also reviewed the DS version, giving it a 4.1/10, specifically criticizing its low-quality gameplay in comparison to Guitar Hero: On Tour, characters for having limited animation and "looking like rejects from old Hanna-Barbera cartoons", and for its small, low quality, and uncredited soundtrack RewiredMind.com's Ken Barnes cited inaccurate controls and the limitations of the Nintendo DS hardware in the vocal sections for a low score in his review of the Nintendo DS version, but applauded the game's developers for attempting to implement vocal gameplay on the DS. However, Barnes also noted that he only reviewed the DS version of the game because of "the prohibitive cost of importing the awful-looking PS3 or Xbox 360 drum 'kit'."