Rock Band 2 - Reception

Reception

Rock Band 2, like its predecessor, was met with critical acclaim. 1UP.com likened it to a "system update" rather than an entirely new game, describing it as "a collection of interface tweaks and non-earth-shattering new features designed to make the Rock Band experience more enjoyable and less frustrating". The "No Fail" mode has been recognized as a very useful feature for balancing the skill levels of players at different levels, particularly inexperienced players.

The Xbox 360 version of Rock Band 2 was the third best-selling game in North America during September 2008, selling 363,000 copies. and also has an average critic review score of 92% on Metacritic, tying it for the 11th highest-rated game for the Xbox 360 and the 7th highest-rated game on the PlayStation 3. The Xbox 360 version continued to sell more than 119,000 copies in October 2008, while a similar number of units were sold of the PlayStation 3 version following its October debut. Rock Band 2 sold 1.7 million units across all platforms in North America in 2008, about half as many as Guitar Hero World Tour.

IGN praised the Wii version for including features like online play and downloadable content that were missing from the platform's edition of the first Rock Band, saying "the sequel more than makes up for the original's problems."

Game Informer considered Rock Band 2 their "Game of the Month" when it was released, and went on to include it in their list of "The Top 50 Games of 2008" and then in their list of the 200 best games of all-time.