Although the drums aren't currently available in stores (they'll ship next month), we've tested them thoroughly and the results were not at all good. Compared to the Rock Band drum set, the Rock Revolution peripheral is an abomination that must be destroyed lest it breed and multiply. Picture a 1980s-era toy electronic drum kit that's been flattened and compressed into a tight rectangle. Then assign each of the seven (yes, seven) pads a different color and make some of the shapes circles of different sizes while others are triangles with rounded surfaces. It's a failed peripheral from the start, but I haven't even gotten to the worst of it yet.


When you're playing drums along with an awful cover of, say "Blitzkrieg Bop," you'll see a line of seven pads along the bottom of the screen. You'll think to yourself, OK, I can do this. Breathe. Then the notes begin to fall, and all hell breaks loose. Where is the platinum-colored triangle? Wait, is the magenta triangle the farthest one to the right? They all seem like they're on the same plane! And in the middle of it all, you realize the kick pedal has been assigned the color orange and stuffed amongst all the other colors on-screen, just another face in the crowd. Part of the problem is that all the falling notes appear as circles, which doesn't help your brain separate the triangular pads from the circular ones on the set as you're playing. Confused yet? We're just getting warmed up.

Not only are the pads on the drum set clustered together awkwardly like plates at a tapas restaurant, they're also unresponsive, they lie too flat (resulting in unwanted rim shots), and when struck they sound like upturned plastic buckets. I was already frustrated with the Drum Set From Hell, but when a loading screen suggested I "try cross-sticking" to get the true drumming experience, I nearly threw the thing into the San Francisco Bay.