Rock Band Blitz OUT NOW for PSN/XBL!

Rock Band Blitz is a note-matching rhythm game fashioned similarly to Harmonix' previous titles, Frequency, Amplitude, and Rock Band Unplugged. The game presents up to five instrument lanes to the player corresponding to lead guitar, bass guitar, drums, vocals, and keyboard that run through the streets of the fictional "Rock City"; if a song does not include tracks for one or more of these instruments, they are not shown on the field. Each lane consists of a number of markers on the two sides of the lane, representing the notes played by that instrument in the song. Unlike other Rock Band games, there is only a single difficulty level.

Using a standard game console controller, the player uses the buttons to match these notes on one track at a time, scoring points for each successful note hit. Hitting multiple notes in succession will build a scoring multiplier for that lane, up to a specific multiplier cap for the specific section of the song. Depending on the player's performance in a section, the multiplier cap may increase when moving onto the next section. Thus, to maximize their score, the player is encouraged to switch between tracks and build each lane up to the cap. Missing notes while in a lane will not penalize the player beyond the lack of impact on their score. The player has the ability to configure the controls to their liking.

Certain sections of tracks will be marked with white notes, representing Overdrive sections. Successfully completing these sections will fill the player's Overdrive meter. Once full, the player can activate Overdrive, releasing special power-ups, such as the Bottle Rocket that clears all notes down the current track for a certain length, and the Bandmate that will have a computer-controller player work clear another track alongside the player for a brief period. At times, there will be singular purple notes on the tracks. Hitting these notes will release special power-ups, such as a pinball that can clear notes as it travels across the lanes as long as the player keeps the ball in play, or a small detonation that clears all notes near the note.

On completing a song, the player is given a star ranking, ranging from 1 to 5 stars or 5 gold stars for high-scoring performances. Their score is ranked on online scoreboards. Through these, players can compete with friends and issues challenges on specific songs, as well as receive recommendations of other downloadable songs they may want to purchase based on their song choices.