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AC/DC Live: Track Pack – Xbox 360 Review

November 5th, 2008 Rich Reed Leave a comment Go to comments

You have seen the news about the new AC/DC Live: Track Pack. It’s a Walmart and Sam’s Club exclusive title. This will be a shorter review due to the nature of the track pack. AC/DC is one band that most of us older gamers grew up listening to. Their music is timeless and just good old fashion Rock & Roll. With only 18 tracks and not having the 1000 achievement points like most games, is the AC/DC Live: Track Pack worth buying? Read the full review and find out.

Gameplay

This is not just a song pack you rip to your existing Rock Band 1 or 2 library and play. You have that option with a code that allows you to download the songs not rip them from the marketplace. You should play the game by itself for some achievement points and have fun. The game is basically a Live AC/DC concert 90+ minutes in an 18 song format. The same rules apply as Rock Band. You can solo it or have a full band and play the songs. What impressed me is I noticed that Harmonix actually added new lighting cues and effects to the stage sets. This adds a feel of playing a new venue. Each Track is mastered well although being taken from live concerts a few tracks sound better than others. So at $39.99 and only 18 songs why buy this track pack?

Well, each week people download DLC for the game. Some of the albums turn out to cost more than $15.00 and most have 8-10 songs so if you look at it that way, it’s almost the same price and you have a separate although short game. You also have 18 more tracks added to your library. Of course the AC/DC track pack is for fans of the group. I haven’t unlocked all the achievements but they have some for each instrument as well as extra long solos added in. I would have loved to see a few other songs added to the list, but the ones they picked fit the band’s start and where they are now.

Control

Since you’re using the Rock Band instruments, there is not much to say here. I do have one important piece of help though. Make sure to set the calibration. You won’t be able to use the auto calibration. It seemed off for me and once I fixed it seemed a lot smoother.

Xbox Live

You will see a token in the game manual to download the 18 songs from the marketplace. The songs will go into your Rock Band 2 library or Rock Band 1 depending on the case. The only catch is all friends playing over live must have the songs downloaded. Other than that information it has no effect on the game just to rotation of songs and more to pick from.

Graphics

 

The graphics are taken from the Rock Band sets. I think they added a few new stages and certainly lights and pyro. You can’t create your own custom rocker in the track pack, but it is smart enough to show your main character from Rock Band 2 at times. Overall the lighting and sets fit the AC/DC track pack perfectly as you can see by the screen shots. It also has an easy interface.

Audio

I am not a huge fan of live tracks due to the crowd and the clapping and other noises. I will say that after the first two songs you barely hear the crowd and when you do, it fits the song and almost on cue. The tracks are mastered to fit the game. The 18 songs represent the band’s long history. I would have picked a few others songs to be added but overall it’s a well rounded mix.

Replay Value

You don’t always need your Rock Band songs to jam at a friend’s house. Just grab the disc and go play. Having the tracks on both the disc and hard drive adds replay value and fans of the group AC/DC will certainly enjoy this more than gamers that only like a few of their songs. It would have been better to add more achievements and perhaps make the list to 24 songs to increase the value. If you like to rock out, then you’re going to get more out of the track pack than others.

Bottom Line

Overall Score: 8.7/10.0

Additional Comments

I liked the AC/DC track pack and I can almost bet there will be more released. They need to make the song list larger (no less than 24 songs and increase the achievements for the first one). Below is the link to see the full song list. I am not sure if this is a limited track pack or just an exclusive deal with Walmart and Sam’s Club. Nice first attempt and fun just a bit short on music for the price.

Links

AC/DC Live Track Pack Website

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