Lawrence.com

Anyone who has Rock Band knows the hardest part of having friends over to play is finding someone with the guts to sing. I've had several occasions where I had four or more friends over, but we'd be stuck with two guitars and a drummer, leaving the voice to the original artist. Every once in a while though, someone gutsy (or drunk) enough will step up to the mic and let their voice be heard. Singstar vol. 2 is for that crowd, and they're sure to love it (although the "I'll just play guitar" folks won't be as enthusiastic).

The best thing about Singstar vol. 2 is the large amount of online networking. It features your own page a la Facebook, and people can watch and hear your performances, as well as leave comments on them. For those that like to hear their own voice and get feedback about it, this will be an excellent feature. I'm sure this game will maintain a specific but enthusiastic community as time goes on.

Content is continuously being updated over at the SingStore, where you can purchase new songs for the game. If there's not enough for your liking, the Singstar Country and Singstar Legends add-ons will keep the fun going longer. Why these updates require separate discs is beyond me, however, as Rock Band has proved that downloadable content (and full albums) is an efficient and convenient way of getting new content to the player.

While it's essentially a karaoke game at heart, the online features will ensure that its specific crowd will enjoy it. However, this doesn't excuse the fact that it doesn't even need to exist in disc format. You wouldn't release a 30-song downloadable pack with musical styles from across the board, so why would you do this on a disc (especially one that doesn't expand on the original's core functionality)? There aren't many crossover Aerosmith and Panic at the Disco fans, so why the need to purchase a disc with both of them when they could just be downloaded individually? The game itself is not bad for what it is, but the fact that it's a full disc purchase rather than the more convenient and efficient DLC makes it harder to recommend.

Graphics: 7.5

Sound: 8.5

First Play: 7.5

Replay Value: 8.0

Gameplay: 7.0

Overall: 7.4