On the face of it, I can think of several other bands which are considered bigger, better, louder and more prolific than Green Day that would be suitable for a Rock Band title. Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin or The Who? All legends of their time, pioneers of music and idols to many. But Green Day? Surely the mainstay of a 15 year old’s “punk” years, but not exactly considered musical royalty.

Regardless, they certainly have legions of fans and know how to make a catchy song or two. Ultimately, Rock Band lives or dies on its set list and Green Day Rock Band will not disappoint the discerning Green Day supporter. Here you get two fully playable albums: Dookie and American Idiot. You also get a large selection of everything in-between, including tracks like Minority, Warning and Nice Guys Finish Last.

There are also a lot of songs from the 2009 album 21st Century Breakdown, but the rest of the tracks here do show up this album somewhat. There are little exceptions and only the most hardened Green Day-er will miss a couple of pieces.

In terms of gameplay it is exactly what you expect. There is literally nothing here that surprises or innovates. You either play the lead guitar, bass, the drums, sing or play all across 4 players. Green Day Rock Band does not push the music genre, in fact you could argue that it further devalues the rhythm and music type of game by being yet another retail release that could arguably been released as a DLC add-on for Rock Band 2. Indeed, you can rip all of the songs from Green Day to your hard-drive to play from within Rock Band 2. If you were to do this, however, you would miss out on the presentation.

The band is modelled in their younger forms (at a 1994 gig at a place called The Warehouse) and more recently at the 2005 Milton Keynes and 2009 Fox Theater gigs. With that you get animations that are uncanny, with Billie Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tre Cool all moving around the stage, singing and generally performing in a manner very close to real life. It does add to the authenticity and the attention to detail throughout is excellent. You also unlock various pictures from Green Day’s career as you play through the career mode.

While it may be nothing new, as you play through the game, the little details like Tre Cool pulling a face to the camera or the crowd singing along to When September Ends make you smile and added to the standard, addictive Rock Band gameplay, it comes together to provide an enthralling experience.

But make no mistake though; this is not as good as The Beatles: Rock Band. There are only the three gigs/stages on show here and no fancy visual effects as you progress through the career of the band. Rather than a story of the band, it’s more the start and the end, with the middle bit missing. The Beatles had simply more material to pick from and as a result offered much more variety.

If you are a big Green Day fan, you will find 47 songs for Rock Band with some nice touches and your heroes actually playing along with you. Let’s be honest though, you have probably already bought it. As a casual fan however, you have to way up the price of this game against how much enjoyment you think you will get from the package based on how many of the songs you will know.

Pros:

• It’s that great Rock Band gameplay that we all know and love.
• Great fan service and attention to detail.

Cons:

• It’s that great Rock Band gameplay that we all know and love.
• While Green Day are great at times, are they really big enough to warrant their own game?

As a standalone game, Green Day Rock Band doesn’t quite offer enough content to warrant a full price release for most people. While it is fun and a very polished game, it just needs that extra spark to make it a great game like The Beatles: Rock Band.

Score: 7/10