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GUITAR HERO WORLD TOUR Posted by Joe Anderson on Nov 16, 2008 09:01 (Nov 16, 2008 09:01) |
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There is no doubt that the Guitar Hero series took on less relevance when EA teamed up with MTV and Harmonix to release Rock Band, as suddenly gaming’s take on being in a band became a lot more realistic and less lonesome, however the huge success of Rock Band has inspired Activison to hit back and they have done so in style.
Guitar Hero World Tour is what the series should have been all along, a experience for everyone, the game now allows you to sing, play drums, play guitar and bass and even create your own music thanks to it having a built in music studio. Probably the most impressive thing about the game though is the set list, songs from Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Coldplay and Jimi Hendrix all make an appearance, there is most definitely something for every rock fan out there when it comes to the choice of songs. Activision of course, wouldn’t be worth their salt as a publisher if they didn’t milk every penny that they could out of the consumer, therefore you will be pleased to know that Guitar Hero World Tour is supported by plenty of downloadable content, in fact you can even download Metallica’s brand new album, Death Magnetic which was released for the game at the same time it hit the shops and while the other content is not huge in it’s numbers at the moment, there is no doubt that over time it will be.
 As a single player experience the game is played in three parts, giving you the choice of singing, drumming or being the guitarist. The singing for me is probably the most enjoyable part, because while games such as Lips and Singstar cater to your more casual audience, for me there is nothing like singing along to your favourite Rock Songs, although obviously everyone will have their own preference when it comes to the way they play the game.
When playing the game on your own you can either choose Quick Play or start a Career which will see you work your way through various songs at different venues, the more songs you complete, the more venues you will unlock until you eventually complete all of them. At the beginning of the Career mode you are given the choice of creating your rocker, he will then represent you throughout your career, as you gain acclaim you will then gain sponsors, which in turn will give you the cash you need to personalise him.
Playing the game is fairly similar no matter what instrument you use with the aim being to hit the coloured buttons/pads on your instruments in time with the music, of course there are some variants here such as on the guitar where you are able to use the slider to simulate strumming to add your own style to the music or hit the whammy bar to rack up the points, but in general the aim is the same. The singing meanwhile explains itself, all you need to do is sing the song using the words which scroll along the screen, though you are offered the chance to “solo it up” a bit during songs in certain sections, meaning that you can bring your own bit of style to proceedings.
There is no doubt that as a single player experience, Guitar Hero World Tour is fun, however once you connect online it becomes a whole different game by allowing you to show other players just how good your skills are. Online modes included in the game take the form of Face off, where you try to rock harder than your opponent and Battle, which takes the same premise as Face off but adds in some attacks to help put your opponent out of his stride. These modes are great fun for a quick online game, however there is nothing quite like getting your friends together and forming a band.
 Having recently attended The Gathering 08 thanks to Xbox UK, I had the opportunity to test out the “being in a band” aspect first hand, we had lights, costumes and a stage and most important of all we had four players. During the evening when I was up on the stage singing along to “Some Might Say” by Oasis there was a moment when I turned around and looked at my band and I had actually forgot that we were playing a game, it was at this point I realised that when playing with four players in the same room this game actually achieves what it sets out to do, it authenticates the feeling of being in a band and therefore in this respect, it’s perfect.
Guitar Hero World Tour gives you everything you would expect from the series, a great line up of songs, an authentic exciting experience and best of all, the chance to jam with your mates and make a complete prat of yourself in front of friends and family, now I don’t know about you but put me on the list for some of that.
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