Here’s this weeks review and playthrough for the Linkin Park DLC. Included below are playthrough videos of the DLC from the always awesome thenewnoelisoncruz. Definitely check out and subscribe to his YouTube channel!

All tracks are 160 MSP ($1.99). Pro Guitar/Bass charts are noted below where applicable, and can be purchased for an additional 80 MSP ($0.99).

Review is after the jump.

Breaking the Habit

The guitar riff is really annoying to play. It’s G/O/G/Y/Y/G/B/G/Y/Y repeated over and over again. It’s not fun, and your hand will cramp up by the end.

Simply put, bass is terrible. If Dog Days Are Over hadn’t come out this year, than this would probably be the worst bass line of the year. The whole thing contains less than 100 notes, all of them long drawn out sustains.

I don’t like drum machines. I don’t know off hand if this is one, but it sure plays like one. The whole thing is just one long, loop on fast hi-hat, with some snare thrown in. I didn’t like playing it, but there might be some more advanced drummers who would find this fun.

Keys are the most interesting instrument on this song. The pattern goes across all the keys with some single, along with some sustained notes. It’s not the best keys part, but it’s a nice change of pace from the boredom of the rest of the instruments.

I’ve never heard this (or any of this week’s songs) before. I was still able to do really well on vocals. I tend to review vocals first, because it’s the instrument I like doing the least and I like to get it out of the way. So this really was my first time hearing it. The song is pretty easy to sing, but I still found it kind of fun to do.

This song plays pretty well in Rock Band Blitz, but it should be noted that despite the fact that the drums have a higher difficulty, you’re going to get a lot more value if you use Super Guitar. One thing you should also watch out for is the fact that leveling up your bass is going to prove to be a very difficult task, and may cause your level cap to not increase at a couple of checkpoints.

Burn It Down

Here we are with another boring guitar part from Linkin Park. There are two parts to this riff, there’s “long red sustain” and there’s “RO/RO/RO/RO/RO/RO/GB/GB/GB/GB/GB/GB”. Neither one is very fun, and I’d stay away from it.

Believe it or not, this song managed to have a more boring bass line than Breaking the Habit! It’s the exact same thing, just slower, and with less notes.

I didn’t like the drums here all that much. There just wasn’t anything going on, until close to the end when there’s one fill. Outside of that, this is another part I didn’t find fun.

Keys aren’t all that fun. Their just isn’t much to play, and when you DO play, it’s just 3 short notes, or a sustain. It’s not that fun, and I’d stay away from it.

Harmonies are kind of cool here. Granted, they’re only really cool during the end, when you have the lead vocalist and the rapper going together on different vocal lines, but still, it’s fun for you and a friend to do together.

In Rock Band Blitz, like Breaking the Habit, you may think that Super Drums might be the best way to go because it’s got the higest difficulty rating, but once again, Super Guitar is the best one. Also, like Breaking the Habit, bass is going to present an issue, where it’s very difficult to level up, and may cause a few checkpoints where your level cap doesn’t go up.

New Divide

Given the fact that this is the Pro pick, I was expecting SOMETHING to be fun. At the end of the day, this is the best guitar song in the pack, but it’s just not that fun. It’s moderately paced strums that just repeat throughout the whole song. The most interesting part to play is the breakdown, because it’s something different.

Bass isn’t nearly as bad as the first two songs in this pack. I want to say it’s good, but I have a feeling that if the first two weren’t so terribly bad, I wouldn’t think this one is so good. It’s not that it isn’t fun, but it just isn’t THAT fun.

Drums on this song is the highlight of the whole pack. It’s so good because you’re not just repeating one boring beat over and over again until the song finishes. This one has a fair amount of variation in it’s beat. I liked this part a fair amount.

Keys weren’t that bad. It’s got some cool action that goes between the Green and Orange frets. It’s not the best keys part, but it might just be the best keys part of the week.

Like I said, I’ve never heard these songs before, but I still managed to do well on this song on vocals. There isn’t really much going on with this song, vocally. It’s not like Burn It Down where you have the vocalist and the rapper going together. It’s just kind of… uninteresting.

This song isn’t all that fun in Blitz. It’s got a couple instruments that are very hard to level because they’re mostly just sustains. Super Guitar is probably your best bet, although Super Drums might work well too. I wouldn’t buy this if you’re looking for Blitz songs.

Shadow of the Day

The guitar is only interesting for the last part of the song, where it begins to use more buttons than Red and Orange. If more of the part was like that, I’d put it above New Divide for best guitar, but since the first part is so tedious, it makes the last part just not worth it.

Bass was OK. It starts out very boring, with those long drawn out sustains that fill the first two songs. The last half is much more tolerable. It’s moderately paced strums, that can all be hit without any alt-strumming. It’s fairly OK. Nothing special.

Yet again, the drums are the superior instrument. The part here is fun, with what is an otherwise simple drum pattern made somewhat complex with bass pedal. I recommend this to drummers out there.

Keys were quite boring. It’s a slightly more interesting version of the bass from the first two tracks. Just long drawn out sustains, the only difference here being that there are more chords, and more notes. Still, very boring, and I’d stay away from this.

I found this to be the hardest song to sing. It’s not like it has any ridiculous ranges or anything, but I found it difficult. However, it was still kind of fun to sing.

This song isn’t all that fun to play in Blitz. Like all the other songs from this week, it’s got at least one part that’s just sustains, making it very hard to level up. Super Guitar is the best choice for this song, but Super Drums might work well too.

Pick of the week: New Divide
What should you buy: If you want Linkin Park, go buy Linkin Park 01. It’s better.

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