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SAN FRANCISCO – On the 25th day of August in the year 1991, rock legends AC/DC mounted the stage at the Monsters of Rock Festival at Castle Donington, in England. Historians tell us that the Rocking that ensued evoked calamities of biblical proportions – there were no survivors.
We mere mortals will soon be able to relive that performance by way of the AC/DC Live: Rock Band Track Pack, a bauble so unholy you'll only be able to buy it at Wal-Mart or Sam's Club.
The pack contains the entire set list from that historic performance, 18 live master recordings remixed with help from AC/DC's own audio engineers. All the guttural screeching and blistering solos have been refined to the quality of a studio cut, and even the clamoring audience has been included – if you were at that show you could very well be in there, somewhere, represented as one of the teeming polygonal throng.
Though AC/DC is arguably exactly the sort of rock that the game was originally designed for, there aren't any additions or new features to the game to be found. The songs are represented here in loving detail, with the raw energy and exuberance of the band's stage performance translating well to plastic instruments. But it's all built on the Rock Band 1 engine, so there's nothing new to see here.
As live recordings, the songs are a bit longer than their studio versions. While each song is roughly the same as the studio versions, fans prepared to croon the familiar, unintelligible lines may find themselves caught off guard by the occasional yeeeeeeah or extended solo (of which there are many). And if you're a fan of Rock Band's "big rock endings," those intense finales of improvised noise-making and button mashing, you're in luck: They're a painfully frequent occurrence, threatening to break even the hardiest plastic-instrument jockeys.
There is a fairly major caveat to this expansion pack, however – well, besides the one about paying $40 for 18 songs. Existing in a sort of nether region between downloadable content and physical media, these tracks will likely never be able for download – not as individual tracks, or even as an entire album. This is AC/DC after all, the band that rebuffs even iTunes in favor of physical media, archaic business models, and the right to set the price at whatever the market and their fanbase will bear.
So if you want to own this game, it's off to Wal-Mart. If you live in Los Angeles or New York – hallowed ground where no Wal-Mart may lay its roots – plans are in motion to erect temporary Rock Band kiosks around the city, which at the very least will be an interesting novelty. You could also always head over to Wal-Mart's website and just order the thing by mail.
Once you've got your copy, you can play it on its own, but you'll have to suffer through a lack of character customization, music store, or online play. Or, you can import the songs into Rock Band 1 or Rock Band 2, which requires one last hoop to hop through. There'll be a unique code tucked into your manual or case, which you'll need to punch in to prove you own the game. The code obviously can't be shared, and while I was told that you'd be able to re-transfer your songs should something go wrong – say, your Xbox 360 mysteriously dies – we'll have to wait and see how well that pans out. So hold on to that code, and don't bother buying this game used.
If you're a fan of either AC/DC or Rock Band or both, you're probably already excited. If not, how do 12 new achievements and approximately 100 minutes of music sound? If that's still not worth your $40 bucks, we who are about to rock most certainly do not salute you.
Image courtesy Harmonix
