For all the time I spend writing about how party games are destroying games as an art form, but for all my nay-saying and gloomy predictions, I have found Rock Band to be one of the best games I have ever played. It excels at the three elements, making it possibly the best multiplayer game I've played since Super Smash Bros. The combination of a forgiving learning curve with deep challenge, combined with excellent cooperative play makes Rock Band the perfect example of how a party game can be great in its own respect.
A low barrier to entry is one of the most important aspects of a good party game. Rock Band has built a learning curve such that anyone can pick up a controller and make it through a song on their first try. Even my mother who is not a shining example of gaming skill managed to enjoy herself playing the guitar in Rock Band. A low barrier to entry is important to a party game because you have to assume that some people playing it will have never touched a rhythm game before and will need an incredibly easy start. A low barrier to entry doesn't make a great learning curve. It's the challenges that Rock Band has that makes it a truly great party game.
A parabolic learning curve is a must have for just about any great game, but it's essential for a great party game. A low barrier of entry makes a game fun for your friends, but not for you, since there's no depth in a game with a flat learning curve. A parabolic learning curve is necessary for a party game to have depth and consequently greatness. Rock Band has mastered the parabolic learning curve with scalable levels of difficulty ensuring that even hardcore rhythm gamers will have to play the game more than a fair bit in order to master all of the tracks. A casual player can pick up the guitar or drums and play a few tracks on easy or medium, but even an experienced guitar player like myself stumbles on expert tracks and even some hard tracks. The experienced player can turn the difficulty up to expert and have a challenging game while his or her friend is playing on easy and having the same challenge. Because Rock Band can be so difficult on expert and so simple on easy, it's a great game for any group because everyone can tailor the game to their own abilities rather than having some players feel under-challenged, while others are overwhelmed.
Cooperative play is something that has been attempted, but never quite perfected. Games like Army of Two depend on it, while games like Halo just tack it on. Rock Band is the best example of a cooperative game play experience because players are forced to work together, but aren't misbalanced or confused in the process. How many times have you asked your friend, "Hey, where did you go?", when playing Halo's cooperative mode? That question never comes up in Rock Band since you are kept on a rail called a song, which would be unacceptable in some genres, but this is a rhythm game so that is to be expected. Rock Band might look unorganized in multiplayer games, but there is actually little bits of strategy that make multiplayer games have a learning curve of their own. Since players can choose their own difficulty levels, the question becomes whether to try the song on a harder level or to try to go for a more perfect session on a lower level. Gamers can choose whether they want to challenge themselves or be a safety net to the group. In Rock Band, cooperative play has been perfected so that it accessible for everyone in the group, but challenging for anyone who wants it to be. Gamers can choose what sort of gaming experience they want while all play together and enjoying the camaraderie of the group.
Rock Band's perfect learning curve and cooperative play have helped to change my mind about what a party game can be. Rock Band presents a deep challenge to a hardcore gamer like me and gives my friends and I hours of enjoyment, rocking late into the night. While the Rock Band bundle has a steep asking price, it more than pays for itself with the countless hours of fun that it provides, both as a singleplayer and cooperative game.
