Standing Alone

There is no denying the success that AC/DC has had in their 35 years of existence. With over 70 million albums sold in the United States alone AC/DC is one of the biggest bands in music history. So it came as no surprise that they would be getting their own game, set in Harmonix developed Rock Band. However Harmonix attempted to temper expectations by claiming that the set would only be a track pack, comparable to what is being released every week through the Rock Band store. Yet the track pack comes via a disc only available in retail stores (in the United States at Wal-Mart and Sam's Club exclusively) and is priced at the same price point as full retail games like Scene It? Box Office Smash and the upcoming Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts.

This past June saw the release of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith. Included in that pack were 41 tracks, 29 of which were Aerosmith or Joe Perry songs. Players of that title were able to play through some of the biggest moments in Aerosmith's career and were also able to see some insights from the band themselves by way of in game interviews. AC/DC LIVE: Rock Band has none of that.

Misconception

There is no playing as AC/DC, so fans dreaming of seeing the Australian rockers in videogame form will be out of luck. There are no insights into the band's career, no interviews, no history, so anyone looking for a look into the band itself will also be out of luck. In fact, if the package itself did not say AC/DC on the cover and menu screen someone might be fooled into thinking they were playing Rock Band.

Of course that misconception will be rectified once you start to play the solo or band tours. For one, there is no character creation, which is quite off putting being as you don't play as the members of AC/DC. Once into the tour you will be greeted to one song, "Thunderstruck". From there progression is on a song by song basis. Of course all the songs are already available in quickplay, so why anyone would play through the tour is entirely questionable.

No Online

The package is further hampered by a major gameplay omission. While there are the standard multiplayer modes including band play, score duel and tug-of-war, there is no online functionality. Conversely, there are no online leaderboards. Fortunately some of that is rectified if you own Rock Band or Rock Band 2. Copies of those games come with a one time use code to transfer the songs into those games, bringing with it all the functionality you would expect.

While AC/DC LIVE: Rock Band doesn't have a lot going for it, it does have one thing, that of course being the music of AC/DC. The songs included on the disc make up the set list for the fabled 1991 Castle Donington show, generally regarded as one of the best recorded live performances ever, by any band. With songs like "You Shook Me All Night Long", "Back in Black" and "Highway to Hell", the set plays very much like a greatest hits collection. For those questioning the audio quality of the tracks, don't. These tracks sound great, much like the AC/DC Live album, which this is based of.

Little taken aback

AC/DC LIVE: Rock Band is a hard product to look at, as it shouldn't exist in its present form. However Harmonix wants to justify the AC/DC Live set is up to them but some consumers are going to be a little taken aback by the complete bare bones approach that it takes. Yes, the songs are great fun to play but unless you already have Rock Band or Rock Band 2 or are the biggest AC/DC fan in the world, then you should probably take a pass on this, as the bag for your buck is just not there.