Rock Band 3 offers a substantial upgrade to the rhythm game experience, boasting an impressive on-disc song selection and exciting new modes for both casual and dedicated musicians. The introduction of keyboards and vocal harmonies adds depth to multiplayer sessions, and the beginner-friendly tutorials make it great for parties. The Pro Mode, with its focus on real instrument emulation, marks a significant technical leap for skilled players. However, those without new instruments may not find the core gameplay vastly different from previous entries, and some players might find the Wii version's simplified visuals a downgrade.

(I played the Rock Band 3 Deluxe edition by Milohax)

Well, It's good! Great selection of songs even on just the base game, but i think the biggest thing here is that while it is building off of everything that makes Rock Band fun, especially with friends/family, it also kinda loses it's style? and that's a big thing for me. Animations aren't quite as good, the cameras and venues aren't really as fun, and it kinda feels more like it's trying to emulate pop instead of, well, a Rock Band. It doesn't help that RB3 doesn't have a traditional "campaign" like getting enough stars to go city to city? granted, in the older games it's not as hard are a focus, because building stars is pretty easy and unlocking venues just kinda happens.
It ended up that I just started to play Rock Band 2 instead and I'm having a much better time, however with the RB3 Deluxe mod there's just so much more of a selection that once I finish RB2's "campaign" I'm just gonna go back to RB3 to play music or, even better, YARG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

With the news that Rock Band support is dying off again I figured it's finally time to write a review of the game that ruined my life in high school!

Rock Band 3 is the most complete music game package and arguably the best party game of all time. RB3 added support for keyboards, 3 part vocal harmonies, and if you're feeling really ambitious, real guitar and bass with lessons! Character customization is the best in the whole series and career mode is a lot more varied than previous rock band games. The song list is huge and has tons of genres if a little weaker than RB2's and there are so many DLC songs and now custom tracks that are easy to install that will keep you playing forever.

I played this game for hundreds of hours when it was new and still bring it out at parties to this day. Last gen instrument controllers can be pricey but it is well worth the investment for customs.

The only real issue I have with 3 is that the introduction of the keyboard is both a plus and minus for the game. splitting off keyboard parts kind of messes with RB3 dlc songs in RB4 and makes some charts less interesting where you can tell that combining keyboard and guitar into one chart like in previous games would have made the song more fun to actually play. I also prefer RB1 and 2's art style to this games' - feels like they sanded all the edges away and the character design is a bit more generic. Totally personal preference but felt it worth a mention.

Will probably never happen but I hope from the bottom of my heart we will eventually get a real Rock Band 5 and not whatever the fortnite thing is doing.

While still a great game in its own right, Rock Band 3 regressed from Rock Band 2 in a few disappointing ways. The content of the career mode was severely trimmed down. I can't put my finger on it, but the visuals felt like they took a bit of a step back too. The background performances lost a bit of that cinematic quality that Rock Band 1 and 2 nailed. 2 really neat additions to this game are the keyboard instrument, and vocal harmonies (up to 3 singers where applicable, for a potential max of 7 players at once!)