We rock out with 6 new songs in Rock Band!

At 9AM, fueled only by coffee and French Onion Sun Chips, a couple of us lucky GamePros got the rock treatment. We jammed for two solid hours in the Rock Band room--aptly named "The Garage"--at EA's HQ just south of San Francisco. When it was over and the "rock high" slowly wore off, we were left to a non-Rock Band life of boredom and resulting armpit sweat from our early-morning rock session. You see, there is life after Rock Band, but it's hardly worth living.

Any Way You Want It

That's the glue that holds Rock Band together. Guitar Hero set the standard, but this is the real deal. Play any combination of guitar, bass and drums, or sing. Want to shred and scream like Kobain? No problemo. You can play guitar and sing at the same time--just strap on an axe and set the microphone on a stand. Try playing drums and singing for a real challenge. With Rock Band, it's all about choice.

In this session, new songs were plentiful. Faith No More's "Epic", Queens of the Stone Age's "Go With the Flow" and "Creep" from Radiohead are just a few of the new master tracks. The Hives, Deep Purple and OK Go! also lend original masters to the game.

Guitar Hero fans will be instantly familiar with the way Rock Band plays because it's based on the same scrolling fret-board system as the former. The most notable difference in the experience of Rock Band versus Guitar Hero is that former pushes the guitar-solo mentality, while the latter pins you as part of a band. There's an unexplainable energy that runs through you when you're in that perfect groove--a lot like jamming in a real band--with other players. It's so much fun that you simply don't want to stop, unless you lose your voice trying to reproduce The Strokes scratchy vocals on "Reptilia". Nothing a few Ricolas can't fix.

Better yet, take it online. It's the biggest feature we haven't yet played, but it should produce the same experience as local play--just the thought of jamming with distant buddies is incredibly exciting. We're already Rock Band groupies.