Hands on with Rock Band 2 guitar and drums

Through what must be the world's most tragic oversight in recent history, today I got my hands on the new instruments for Rock Band 2... but not the Rock Band 2 game itself. Lemons, meet lemonade. Why not split my review into two components? Instruments, followed by the game itself? Any excuse to bang on a drum, I'll take it.

First up, the guitar: If you played using the original Rock Band guitar, you know the drill: Standard five note buttons up top, with five smaller extra buttons at the base of the neck. You can use the smaller buttons without the strum bar by just tapping them... but only during blue solo sections. Still, this feature alone was enough to finally get me through "Flirtin' With Disaster" when I tried the guitar with Rock Band 1. Why not use the original Rock Band guitar? Ah, because it broke. Sturdiness has been a major complaint of the original Rock Band guitar, and this model feels a lot more solid. The neck doesn't wobble, and though the strum bar has a bit of that same mushiness to it that the first RB guitar had (no click-click-click like the Guitar Hero axes), it didn't give me many problems in picking up notes. In fact I generally hit them better than I do with the Guitar Hero guitars (the instrument works with both games). And the design is totally sweet, with a faux wood finish and a body shape designed to mimic a Fender Stratocaster. The white palm rest is even affixed with real screws, and the whammy bar is huge. Best of all: It's wireless, so no more accidental unplugs during that hot solo section.

I'm more mixed about the drums. Again, they're wireless, and this makes cable management a godsend (can I finally toss that awful USB hub?). The design is very similar to the original Rock Band drum kit, with four round pads all on the same plane and a foot pedal that attaches via cable to the main body. Many have complained about broken foot pedals in the past: That won't be a problem here, as a metal plate covers the top surface from top to bottom. It simply ain't snapping. The only other major change is the covering of the drum pad surface with silicone instead of hard plastic. Obviously this was done to quiet the drums, and that is a definitive success here. Yes, they make noise when they're hit, but it's a dull thump-thump-thump instead of a sharp clack-clack-clack. The downside is that you clearly have to hit the drums harder in order to get them to register. I found reasonably firm hits simply not registering on the pads at all, even though they are supposed to be velocity-sensitive and can tell a tap from a slam. Result: I missed more beats than I felt I should have, and I got tired more quickly because of hitting harder overall. Maybe I'll adjust to them as I keep playing, but for now, these drums are a real workout!

Overall? Happy so far, but until I can bust out some songs on the real game, I withhold final judgment. Stay tuned!

UPDATE: Why no review of the new microphone? Because it turns out there is no new microphone. Those buying the bundle get the same mic that shipped with Rock Band 1.