Raikan's nightmarish character appears from under the bed

Tonight we had a great time playing Lego Rock Band for the first time. Apart from the annoying tendency for some songs to come back as we progressed through story mode (sometimes even twice in a row...), we thought the game was a lot of fun.

The special battles throughout the game are the highlight. We played 2 so far (building destruction, Ghostbusters), and that is the main reason we'll be playing through the whole story mode in the next 1 or 2 sessions. That means that we'll take a small break from climbing the "All Songs" Leaderboards.

Another fun part of the night was creating random Lego characters. Some of the combinations are absolutely hilarious and everyone was almost rolling on the floor laughing at one point.

Now the abomination that Raikan randomly selected at the start was really the stuff of nightmares. He had a huge orange afro, plus a beard, glasses, and a dress... (we should have taken a picture).

Speaking of this character, we were happily playing the Ghostbusters story sequence, when all of a sudden you see three Lego characters on a bed. We barely had time to notice that one of the three was a monster when Raikan's freakish face popped up from the under the bed. Adding to the shock value was that he started to nod his head up and down. Let's just say we had a hard time sleeping last night... ;)

Highlights:
- Stars breakdown for the 16 songs: Gold stars (11), 5 stars (5)
- Phoenix was the "Top Performer" for the most songs (9), followed by Sylvie (6), Bongoo (4), and then Raikan (1)
- Phoenix had a nice streak of FCs (6 overall for the night), followed by 1 each for the other three band members
- We found out that you can just look at the game and and still not fail, constantly getting "OK" recoveries. It was our way to protest getting the same song twice in a row.

Lego Night!

Today is the release of Lego Rock Band, so tomorrow's session will be dedicated to enjoying its blocky pleasures.

Now any song played in Lego Rock Band will eventually need to be played in Rock Band 2, as we will want to play them all to continue our climb of the "All Songs" Leaderboards. If and when we decide that we've had our fill of the blockiness, we'll download the Lego Rock Band songs as DLC and play them in Rock Band 2 instead to save some time (edit: for PS3, the Lego download feature is only available on November 12th...).

We might also play some of the new DLC of the last two weeks. Queen had a new 10-pack two weeks ago, and now they have 2 more in Lego Rock Band.

Here is my top 3 DLC from last week:

3. "Pilgrim", by Wolfmother: Great driving song from Wolfmother's latest CD with some good riffs. Add to that some neat "Beatles"-esque vocals in the choruses and voila, you crack the top 3! :)

2. "Superbeast", by Rob Zombie: One of Rob Zombie's best songs. I still prefer some of the White Zombie songs (his earlier group), but this one has a great driving rhythm. The drum chart is the highlight for me. It's quite fast and tricky in parts but always fun, expecially if you can keep a note streak.

1. "Woman", by Wolfmother: I thought this song would not be too special or a bit tiresome, having played it so often in Guitar Hero 2, but I was highly mistaken. In a week with a lot of fun drum charts, this one tops them all, with its flowing fills and unique middle section. Kudos to the chart makers! :)

Honorable mention. "Burn", by Rob Zombie: This song gets the special nod due to a really fun bass chart. Lots of movement throughout with a many good riffs and a neat bridge section. Unfortunately the drum chart is a bit dull, otherwise it would easily make my top 3.

H1N1 strikes the Macas

This week's session was cancelled as Phoenix, Sylvie and Seb are feeling really sick. Based on the symptoms described, it is likely that they have the H1N1 flu. Phoenix is feeling better tonight than earlier this week, but it is affecting the others pretty hard. We hope you all get better soon.

Another DLC pack bites the dust

Tomorrow we will play some more unranked songs, including some of the new songs from last week's Queen 10-pack.

I didn't try the Queen songs on all instruments yet, plus there are many good ones to choose from (not just the hits), but here are my top 3 so far:

3. "One Vision": Worth it for the drum track alone, tricky but fun, with lots of variety! I can't help but think of its use in the Sony Press Conference at E3 this year.

2. "Somebody to Love": It's neat to now have a great gospel-infused song in Rock Band. The song would be lots of fun with the harmonies vocal system of The Beatles: Rock Band.

1. "Fat Bottomed Girls": Catchy, rockin' song with some great riffs.

Honorable mention. Tie for "Another One Bites the Dust" and "Under Pressure": Both songs have classic bass lines and are lots of fun to play. It will be neat to try "Under Pressure" on vocals to see how tough it is to alternate between Freddie Mercury and David Bowie.

A pink Bongoo and some tough drum songs

This week we played 24 songs, 16 with optimal line-up, plus 8 with the Trapper on Bass. We also played a few songs with 3 players, including the 3 that were released recently with only 3 parts. We gained 23M points (710M to 733M), which will move us up in the "All Songs" Leaderboards.

Raikan, Phoenix and Sylvie had recently changed the look of their avatars, but I had decided to keep my metal viking look. I guess I chose the wrong day to arrive later for a session, as I had been transformed by the otheres into a pink kilt wearing weirdo with a matching pink guitar... :)

Highlights:
- Stars breakdown for the 24 songs: Gold stars (3), 5 stars (13), 4 stars (5), 3 stars (3)
- Sylvie was the "Top Performer" for the most songs (11), followed by Bongoo, (10), and then Raikan (4)
- Sylvie is the only one who had some FCs (3)
- Phoenix had to take a break after playing "100,000 Years (Live)", "The Wagon", and "More Than Meets the Eye" in the same set (the 1st and 3rd being the only songs we didn't 5-star with the optimal line-up). The songs are not the most difficult on drums but they each require some endurance. What random band is selected for his first song after the break? Iron Maiden...