Not only did Rock Band make me spend a few hundred bucks on downloadable content, it made me invest a lot more money in real drum lessons. And right before Fuser went offline completely, I bought the game for Steam (deck) along with a bunch of songs, even though I already owned it for Switch. Rhythm games are great! Swinging mood makers that reward skilful music making with the best soundtracks of all time.
Well, unless you play Disaster Band. Because in that it is extremely dull to follow the notes exactly. But if instead you just pull the flute off the given note track and blare out complete nonsense while one buddy is still obediently sticking to the pattern and the other hasn’t hit a note for minutes anyway… Those are the moments when the post is here comes off
That’s because of the concept. After all, the developer Produktivkeller has not the slightest interest in actually making music. Rather, a slightly modified version of just nine classical pieces is playing here, the central melody of which is more or less precisely fiddled, fluted, trumpeted or – and here the language unfortunately fails me – traced with the cello.
In any case, it feels like drawing when you move the cursor to the desired pitch and press the button for as long as the note can be held. It’s best when you don’t just hold a note, but have to pull your instrument up and down half the scale. Which, by the way, works a thousand times more precisely with the mouse than with the gamepad. Oh, and be sure to turn off gamepad support! With that, my marker would often slow down where I had to quickly slide it back and forth between multiple notes.
Well, in any case, I soon gave up playing straight ahead for long stretches in order to intonate the German national anthem with extra trembling, constantly interjecting the highest possible note during In der Halle des Bergkönig and several notes in the already dreary Silent Night, Holy Night last much longer than intended. Much, much longer – while the little man at the edge of the picture is torturing his instrument with his eyes narrowed. hehe.
Then I rummaged a bit in Steam’s workshop and downloaded Imperial March (of course), Through the Fire and Flames (uff!) and Never Gonna Give You Up (logical!!) from the 35 songs currently created by players. Can someone add the Knight Rider and One-Winged Angel theme please? Thanks!
No, of course it’s not a serious game. And that’s why I don’t write a test. Apart from collecting points, which is completely irrelevant, and despite the online high score list, there is no serious challenge anyway. If you make a mistake, the music keeps playing and there is no audience to complain either. You only hear farts if you play too often. Not my sense of humour. Luckily you can turn it off.
I’m not even allowed to paint my droll alter ego in a funny way or give him access to absurd clothes. And no matter how much online up to four people complain about the tonal imbalance: folks, party fun like this definitely needs a local multiplayer mode! Even then, the short gag doesn’t become full-length entertainment, but it would at least be available where it can be used most. Quite apart from the fact that I’m not sure if this little fun is worth almost seven euros for each of the four participants. Produktivkeller does not offer a co-op package.
Last but not least, I have to say that not only is the concept surprisingly reminiscent of Trombone Champ, but also the complete implementation from the division of the screen to the display of the notes. Only the online connection is really unique to Disaster Band. And of course it’s worth a lot. But you can’t deny the amusing Gaudi a bland aftertaste.
