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There's a war going on out there, and it's being fought with wireless battery-operated guitars: it's a battle for the hearts of wannabe rock stars. Earlier this year Harmonix's Rock Band took the upper hand, surpassing the Guitar Hero series with some sleek and sexy presentation, a more forgiving learning curve and a killer set of peripherals. Now it's time for Guitar Hero to stage its comeback, and with Rock Band 2 strutting about on the horizon, the stakes have never been higher.
Of course, this kind of rivalry has always been a part of the music industry - think Oasis versus Blur, Biggie versus Tupac, Steps versus S Club 7. It's debatable whether stiff competition helped those guys (it certainly ended badly for the rappers) but when it comes to video games, the consumer is the winner. Neither Harmonix nor Neversoft can afford to alienate all those people who've bought their previous games and peripherals; rather than dramatically reworking the established gameplay, they're forced to polish up what's already there and to focus on providing new, innovative features. In the case of Guitar Hero World Tour, this situation has resulted in what is easily the most enjoyable rock-em-up we've ever played.
So, what has Neversoft done so well? For a start, it's wisely followed its rival in expanding the variety of instruments available to you, the wannabe rock icon. If you're not in the mood to play lead or bass guitar, you can now sing into a USB microphone or hammer along on the drums. If you've already got the Rock Band drum kit you'll be able to use that, but if you don't then you should seriously consider looking at World Tour's new wireless set. It's an altogether sturdier and better-designed piece of kit, with three drum pads, a kick pedal and two raised high hats. Not only is this layout more realistic and easier to use, but the actual pads themselves are pressure sensitive - producing a sound that corresponds to the amount of force you use. They feel more solid and more satisfying to hit, plus they're far less prone to making the loud 'clacking' noises that occur when using the Harmonix version. Your neighbours will no doubt be grateful for this improvement, though they'll still have to suffer the noise of your cat-like wailing as you murder your way through Living On a Prayer.
While the new drum kit is clearly the star of the show as far as peripherals go, this year's guitars are also really rather swanky. For a start they're bigger and feel a bit weightier, while the strum bar has been made longer and easier to get at. Like the drums, the guitars now feature a pressure sensitive pad, located further down the neck from the standard buttons; this can be used as an alternative to the standard keys, or to trigger effects in the new studio mode - something we'll cover later. Finally, there's a new button near the strum bar which allows you to trigger star power (a kind of bonus scoring mode) without changing your stance - although old-school players can still just raise the neck of their instruments, as in the previous games.
All in all, the new gear is excellent. We're sure that's not the news a lot of you wanted to hear, since it might persuade you to fork out more of your hard-earned cash - but the truth is that if you want to stick to the kit you've already got, that'll be fine. You'll be able to get World Tour on its own or with just a guitar if you're not fussed about the new toys; if you do want the full meat n' two veg, it should cost you around £180 in the shops - or £150 if you pre-order. Some retailers are lobbing in a free bass guitar to people who do this, so it's worth seeking one of these offers out if you're thinking of going the whole hog.
Without further ado, let's get back to why you'd want to get World Tour in the first place. The core gameplay remains largely untouched: you pick an instrument and a song, then play along as you watch notes slide down a scrolling vertical track. Hit the notes in time and you'll knock out a pitch-perfect rendition of the tune; mess things up and your instrument will cut out - incurring the wrath of your audience. This basic system will be familiar to pretty much everyone by now, but for absolute newcomers there's now a beginner difficulty level where notes don't matter at all and all you have to do is strum in time. We can't imagine many of you will be need to use this, but it's nice to know it's there all the same: it means that you can jam away like Hendrix on the expert setting, while your gran supports you on bass. Good for Boxing Day, n'est-ce pas?
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"World Tour is ever so slightly easier that Guitar Hero 3" - This disappoints me slightly :P I hope that there will be some interesting achievements to get though.
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Because Guitar Hero is more fun.
Rock Band copied Guitar Hero's format and added drums, this adds a music creator.
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Oh, and the Foo Fighters song in GH:WT is Everlong. HOW DO YOU GET THAT WRONG? The Foo Fighters don't even have a song called Nevermind! This is probably more disappointing to me than others because I like that song a lot, but still. In fact, it almost seems like the reviewer played the game at E3 or something, and hasn't seen it since.
At Woffls - WOW that makes you sound really smart. An in depth review by a real musician is worse than this? Either you are lazy, illiterate, or you love this game and hate seeing it bashed by a more competent reviewer. For your sake, I'm pulling for the first option.
At Johnny5 - Harmonix created Guitar Hero. Neversoft copied it in GH3. Now Neversoft again copies Harmonix with GH:WT. Get your facts straight. And adding drums and an vocal track would hardly be copying anyways! It is a core gameplay mechanic, not a broken extra like the music creator in GH:WT is.
» Go to 's original post
Oh, and the Foo Fighters song in GH:WT is Everlong. HOW DO YOU GET THAT WRONG? The Foo Fighters don't even have a song called Nevermind! This is probably more disappointing to me than others because I like that song a lot, but still. In fact, it almost seems like the reviewer played the game at E3 or something, and hasn't seen it since.
At Woffls - WOW that makes you sound really smart. An in depth review by a real musician is worse than this? Either you are lazy, illiterate, or you love this game and hate seeing it bashed by a more competent reviewer. For your sake, I'm pulling for the first option.
At Johnny5 - Harmonix created Guitar Hero. Neversoft copied it in GH3. Now Neversoft again copies Harmonix with GH:WT. Get your facts straight. And adding drums and an vocal track would hardly be copying anyways! It is a core gameplay mechanic, not a broken extra like the music creator in GH:WT is.
» Go to Thats_Bull's original post
Oh, and the Foo Fighters song in GH:WT is Everlong. HOW DO YOU GET THAT WRONG? The Foo Fighters don't even have a song called Nevermind! This is probably more disappointing to me than others because I like that song a lot, but still. In fact, it almost seems like the reviewer played the game at E3 or something, and hasn't seen it since.
At Woffls - WOW that makes you sound really smart. An in depth review by a real musician is worse than this? Either you are lazy, illiterate, or you love this game and hate seeing it bashed by a more competent reviewer. For your sake, I'm pulling for the first option.
At Johnny5 - Harmonix created Guitar Hero. Neversoft copied it in GH3. Now Neversoft again copies Harmonix with GH:WT. Get your facts straight. And adding drums and an vocal track would hardly be copying anyways! It is a core gameplay mechanic, not a broken extra like the music creator in GH:WT is.
I myself cannot wait for this game. I don't suppose VideoGamer.com will be reviewing the Wii version? I heard that the Wii version was actually better than other versions because "there are more game modes" it's probably false though...
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Oolz - As you say, opinions are your own, but I personally think that the studio is brilliant. By allowing you to make your own music, rather than just (just!) playing someone elses, it carries the game into the next generation.
Chris - Fair enough, there could have been more about the actual drumming - but I figured that people would be more interested in how the kit handles, rather than the actual gameplay (which remains pretty much the same as any other rhythmn-based game; you hit notes as they slide into place).
Ben: I'm not sure about the Wii version. We've not been sent a review copy yet, so it's probably unlikely... Will let you know if that situation changes.
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especially concerning johnny five. ignorance is astonishing.
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Thats_Bull im behind you 100% man!
And Johhy5 you are truly a ****ing dumbass, Harmonix made Guitar hero 1 and 2, and then activision bought it out, so harmonix made rockband, so technically Neversoft is copying harmonix!
Peace
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Peace :P
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But how can you say that World Tour is better than Rock Band much less Guitar Hero 3? In Rock Band, you had actual goals and real progress: fans, money, tour bus, plane, etc. Where is that fun in World Tour? Where is that sense of accomplishment? What's the point of just playing a game to unlock songs?
At least in Guitar Hero 3, you followed a story and had fun cut-scenes and moved forward. World Tour only hints at the days of old with the opening animated sequence.
World Tour's graphics are also lacking compared to Rock Band 1/2, the characters are as stiff as ever.
I will give somethings to World Tour, the new bass line adds another sense of realism to the game. And it is nice that it's a little easier to hit the notes. And it is innovative to introduce a music creator (though annoying you can't record vocals).
So it's Red Octane and Neversoft that have a lot to live up to. Harmonix has moved the rhythm games forward to an entirely new level of fun, and the audacious song library, much less the organization, only add to it.
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p.s. Leave the reviewer alone if someone wanted your expert opinion they would pay you for it like they do for him. Just because you can criticize him for doing his job doesn't give you any more credit or cash.
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Way back in 2005, a little company called RedOctane PUBLISHED a game called Guitar Hero. It was DEVELOPED by a little company called Harmonix. Harmonix was bought by MTV Games. RedOctane was subsequently purchased by Activision. Because RedOctane only owned the NAME Guitar Hero, Activision's Tony Hawk company NeverSoft was tapped to DEVELOP Guitar Hero 3 and Guitar Hero World Tour and Guitar Hero On Tour, etc.
Harmonix could no longer use the name Guitar Hero, but they were no longer restricted to using just guitars, so they decided to call their new game Rock Band.
THAT is why they can't sue Rock Band.
Now, I do agree, the controllers for Rock Band are pretty shitty. That doesn't mean the game isn't over-all way better.
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