LEGO Rock Band Review (PS3)

But at the same time: it's absolutely not terrible. The song listing's fine, the LEGO angle injects humour, and the Rock Band gameplay is still as stellar - if not quite as original - as ever.

LEGO Rock Band is exactly what it says on the box. It's a Rock Band game that includes LEGO. The formula remains unchanged from any other Rock Band (or, shh, Guitar Hero) game: coloured notes (bricks this time!) fall from the sky as you press corresponding buttons to initiate music. The game supports the full Rock Band kit; allowing you to play guitar, bass, drums and vocals with up to four other players.

With that formula already so well established, the draw for most music games these days is their track-list. LEGO Rock Band is an unusual beast as its offerings are all over the place. It's clearly aiming to strike a chord with an entire family; mixing tracks from artists such as Elton John, Iggy Pop, David Bowie, and, erm, Good Charlotte. The thing is, it kinda works. It's a track-listing that's unlikely to offend, and helps make LEGO Rock Band accessible to virtually anyone.

Of course, being LEGO Rock Band, any song you play will have appropriate LEGO characters bopping around in the background — you'll even get star appearances from LEGO iterations of Freddie Mercury and Brian May. It's packed with the charm and humour you'd expect from the LEGO universe, even if the visuals do look a bit grainy.

One off modes in the career mode have you rocking out to special challenges - such as demolishing building - which add both flare and variation to the range of backdrops in the game. You'll also unlock bricks as you play, which can be spent on new tour buses and decals for your band's virtual hang-out.

Despite the addition of a Super Easy mode (which lets kids simply stum along) LEGO Rock Band is nothing more than a visual makeover and a host of tracks. By and large that's fine as it never supposes to be anything more.