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Guitar Hero World Tour
With Guitar Hero III, Neversoft established credibility. “We’re new to music games,” said the developer, “but we’re not new to gaming. We can and will kick ass.” The result was a polished but mean-spirited debut under pressure; this summer’s Guitar Hero: Aerosmith refined the formula. Now Guitar Hero World Tour plays catchup after Rock Band set a new standard for music games last fall. Neversoft knows it can’t merely keep pace with Harmonix, and when you’re faced with that kind of challenge, you can choose two paths: innovation or gimmick. With World Tour, Neversoft took them both.
In the checklist of audience expectations (see sidebar), World Tour ticks the most important boxes: four-player gaming with a bassist, guitarist, drummer, and singer; career modes for all four instruments; and online play. Some small things have been wisely borrowed from the competition (like a crowd that sings along and the ability to chain star power), and other small things are new (like moving text notifications off the note chart, and giving you a countdown timer when you resume a paused game). In career mode, you’re a session dude, picking up gigs with whatever bands need a musician with your guitar, bass, drum, or vocal skills. Those mercenary gigs take you around the world, from state fairs in America’s heartland to the harbors of Hong Kong, jamming with celebs like Travis Barker, Ozzy Osbourne, and Jimi Hendrix (!) along the way. The gigs are loosely organized by genre, so if you’re an indie rocker into Interpol and Muse who’s tired of moldy oldies like The Eagles and Steely Dan, you don’t need to suffer through them to progress; with over 80 master-track songs, you’re spoiled with choice.
The game feels a hell of a lot friendlier than GHIII: the difficulty ramp and player animations are vastly improved. Multiplayer jams feel comfortable online and offline; each player is now rewarded for their individual contributions, so the rock-solid bassist earns more than the off-key vocalist. In that sense, it’s cooperatively competitive.
Though any RB vets will be able to drop in and have fun instantly — the format is nearly identical, particularly for singers — each of the instruments has a little something extra compared to Rock Band. Vocalists have extra crowd-hype sections and can finally trigger star power on command with a button; bassists get a little more complexity with “open strings” (strum the bar with nothing fretted, which is pretty common in real bass); and drummers get a new, solid-feeling kit with two cymbals and three toms instead of just four pads. Drummers can now hit both cymbals to trigger star power on command…which interrupts the flow and forces you to think about playing drums instead of just following the groove. Sitting around waiting for Rock Band to give you permission to help your bandmates is not optimal, but neither is creating a new distraction. Also, World Tour rewards drummers with points for the number of hits played during a solo section, so in the middle of a mellow, mid-tempo track like “Band on the Run” — or worse, at the end of songs, when the rest of the music has stopped — the game rewards anyone who plays like a violent Muppet. It’s strangely...unmusical.
Guitarists, meanwhile, can create sustained chords and use a touch-sensitive pad farther up the neck to create two-handed tapping, slide, and wah effects. This touchpad feels like an excuse to sell more controllers: it’s awkward to use midsong (too far to travel, and no way to tell where your finger will land), and though it saved our bacon once — the blistering beginning of “Hot for Teacher” — we played all other sliding parts with fewer errors using standard picking, even on Expert. (Also, tracing a line with one finger does not simulate playing a guitar.) The rest of the controller itself rocks — bigger, with a longer whammy bar, wider and flanged strummer, a large button to trigger star power easily, and the most solid feel yet — but don’t upgrade just for the superfluous slider.
If the slider is the gimmick, the Music Studio is the true innovation. Hundreds of synthetic sounds, real-time recording, a full editing suite, stereo mixing — it’s a ridiculously deep system with a learning curve because you’re using your controller and console as a real instrument and recording studio all in one. Fortunately, a clear interactive tutorial somehow manages to explain it all. Advanced users can sculpt and tweak their recordings with GHMix until they’re entirely satisfied, then upload it to GHTunes to share with everyone else. Make no mistake: the effort required to create quality tracks is supremely daunting (our version of “When the Saints Go Marching In” took forever and sucked), and even in the positive examples Neversoft has provided, the results can sound pretty sterile.
Plus, it’s a shame to go to all this trouble to learn a proprietary system that stays within the game; suddenly the “Why not just learn real guitar?” argument has merit. Many gamers won’t want to bother with anything but the core game (it’s still easier to pretend to make music than it is to actually make music), but the small cult that will form around the very approachable Music Studio will feed fresh, free songs to the rest of us — it’s a fantastic and historic step forward for user-generated content on Xbox 360.
World Tour is a big leap in content and polish over last year’s game, but we’re disappointed by a few unsatisfying creative calls. The extended song endings aren’t always enhancements, the unlockable gear doesn’t match the effort put forth to earn it, and we prefer Rock Band 2’s looser career-unlock structure. Most of all, Rock Band 2 simply feels more musical and organic; we get the suspicion that some World Tour songs had notes added to their charts simply to make them trickier, and not because the music suggested it.
Still, in the core four-player gameplay, World Tour brings the franchise nearly up to par with its big rival. With Neversoft promising better downloadable-content support for World Tour than it had for GHIII, and Harmonix planning its own music-creation tools, next year’s evolutions should be even more interesting.
On Xbox 360
+ Four-person play rocks.
+ Music Studio is stunning, full-featured, and deep.
- Guitar's slider pad feels gimmicky.
? Does Muse know “Assassin†is basically a heavy cover of the Knight Rider theme?
8.5
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BchNuts
November 06, 2008 at 2:16pm
Muse sucks. I really want the GH instruments but I want the RB2 game. Is it more expensive to buy all the instruments seperate than it is to just get the bundle? Or will it come out to around the same price?
Sl8ter13
November 04, 2008 at 7:11pm
Hahaha... Muse. They wish they could be taken as seriously as the Knight Rider theme.
stephen biker
November 03, 2008 at 3:26pm
i think it's time for gh to ACTUALY evolve insted of just being rb2+music creator
Matt Peters
November 01, 2008 at 12:19pm
dan wth. can i get a holla back, dawg. or do i have to pretend to be insulted like im kinda doing now anyways to get a shout out. however i did enter a haiku for street fighter which i thought was the best but didn't get published. it was something like... god d*$% e honda! Y,Y,Y,Y,Y,Y,Y pick a new fighter! the reason why thats funny is because some noobs choose honda in a live match and just spam the punch button (Y) for some easy wins. since its hard to counter and you take damage from his 1000 palm slap even while blocking, happens all the time. because nobody mentioned it in the haiku it made me think... did any of you actually play the game? i thought the others were stupid and i'm sure people think mine is dumb but atleast it's true!
Dan OXM (not verified)
November 01, 2008 at 10:16am
ML, everybody loves some band. I was commenting on the fact that one piece of music sounded like another piece of music. That's all; a dumb joke. I made no comments on the relative quality of Muse as a band. So stop overreacting. If you are that insecure about the band you like, I can't help you.
Matt Peters
October 31, 2008 at 2:44pm
DAN!!! damn, this is my first time on the website, i came here to see a review before my next magazine and got just what i wanted (sweet). i skipped to the score, sorry i didn't read your review yet but i gotta save something to read while i'm taking a shit, rofl. but yes i think me and a lot of others want to see this war, GHWT vs ROCKBAND 2. dude i'm good at these games aight?! and i can tell everyone that rock band 2 is a much better game. solo and multiplayer. things i liked about ghwt is the venues are pretty radical and the slide/tapping sections can be fun sometimes. i never uploaded a song i made myself yet but i see the + you put on the GHTunes. the concept is great and i think its actually kinda cool but it's still very lame until people becoming gods at making great charts. i seen better charts on mario paint. before even looking at the top 10 songs i knew they were all going to be mario theme, zelda, sonic, final fantasy. because the quality seems like midi, perfect for 8 bit songs. aight i gotta end this because even though i don't see a character limit i still look like an ass with a review bigger than yours, although i have a lot more to say. lastly i'll end with the interface itself looks like Frets On Fire. a FREE guitar simulator game you can download on your computer, anybody who watches youtube GH videos will know what it is, lol. with notes and backgrounds all colors of the rainbow, just looks like crap. this game was made on mspaint. 7/10 oh and multiplayer is horrible 6.8/10
Mr. B
October 31, 2008 at 1:58am
P.P.S If ya wanna torture your Interns, you should have them review ALL the songs on GH Tunes or at least the highest rated ones. Maybe its the spirit of the season that brought that idea to mind. Dang, whats that sprouting outta my skull. Horns? Crazy Ass Bubbles
Mr. B
October 31, 2008 at 1:51am
I finally finished the Guitar Career and played a 'lil online band Co-op and the only major complaint I have is over the new guitar. I hate the D pad. It does not go right and believe me I have really tried to make it work! The red fret button sticks and now the yellow one is beginning to as well. This button issue makes the game practically unplayable with the new guitar (the axe that Mr.Paul built is still the gold standard in my book!). Maybe its just mine and I sincerely hope so. Apart from those hardware issues, I had a really good time with this game. The dudes at Neversoft really upped their game and I'm grateful. The dude characters still look like ass (I won't go into details) and Judy Nails has had some sort of breast reduction surgery since GH III :( That's about all I gotta say except for The Beatles are comming, The Beatles are comming (to Rockband)!. I can't wait to sing those tunes!!!!! P.S. Vocal harmony would be a sweet gameplay addition to either game. I'm just sayin'....no pressure. Gamertag: MrBubblesI(ndia)P(ale)A(le)
ill sue y4
October 30, 2008 at 2:48pm
we need these track packs Deep Purple Track Pack Demons Eye Black Knight Maybe I'm a Leo > > Blue Oyster Cult Track Pack Burnin For You Godzilla Red and Black > > Metallica Track Pack 02 Master Of Puppets Call Of Ktulu Whisky In The Jar > > (8 Tracks) System Of A Down Track Pack Kill Rock n' Roll! I-E-A-I-A-I-O Aerials Science Atwa Hypnotize F**k The System! Sugar > > Prog Track Pack Rush - 2112 Dream Theater - Fatal Tradgedy Jethro Tull - The Whistler > > Awesomeness Track Pack Megadeth - Holy Wars... The Punishment Due Buckethead - We Are One Michael Angelo Batio - Time Traveler (REMIX)
OffDutyNinja1
October 29, 2008 at 4:52pm
Some people just can't seem to take a joke... Especially when it's right... And what's wrong with Knight Rider anyway?
MLGangster
October 29, 2008 at 2:22pm
Oh and Daze, just because the guitar riff has a lot of tremolo picking (fast notes, newbies) does not mean that it is like the Knight Rider theme. That's like comparing a waffle to a pancake. They may taste a little like each other, but they are in fact very different.
MLGangster
October 29, 2008 at 2:19pm
But that's not it Dan. A music joke I would probably love, but you don't direct it towards a band that a lot of people love. Then it turns from funny to offensive very fast. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure you're a great guy and I know you're a great reviewer (bring back energy quest), but I don't think you should point your jokes at specific bands. And comparing them to the "Knight Rider" theme? That's just downright horrible, looking at the show now.
Dan OXM (not verified)
October 29, 2008 at 12:14am
No sense of humor about music is a bad way to go through life, ML.
Daze Of War
October 28, 2008 at 8:13pm
MLGangster I just watched the video for the Muse "Assassin" song and it sure as hell sounds like the Knight Rider theme. Also since the song is in the game I think he can say what he wants about it since it is a game review and that's part of the game.
MLGangster
October 28, 2008 at 6:39pm
hey dan, do you make it a requirement to hate on really good bands? Muse is one of the most creative and talented bands of our generation, and it isn't your job to insult bands who have more talent than you, it's to review GAMES to help us with what games to spend our money on. Plus, it doesn't sound anything like the Knight Rider theme.
DelishusSeagull
October 28, 2008 at 6:01pm
World Tour is pretty good, and i agree with your review, I'm just wondering if they can keep up with the amazing DLC of Rock Band. If they come out with song packs soon i'm praying for a pack by The Mars Volta, and i was so psyched to see L'Via L'Vasquez on the disc.
OffDutyNinja1
October 28, 2008 at 2:03pm
I agree a lot with your review. For instance, the end of "Livin' on a Prayer" tacks on an additional ending, which to me ruined the GH version, as well as the other spots where they add extra notes just for the difficulty. But, I just have not had a good experience with this game. One, when I play guitar while a friend plays drums, we share star power and only one of us can use it at a time. It adds a new level of teamwork, but more in the sense of, "who's turn is it to use the star power?" Two, I feel like you overlooked the failure method of this game compared to RB. When one player fails out, it is game over for the entire band, and it happens quite fast. The first time my band failed, I had no idea what happened. Finally, navigation with the drums. Unless I missed something, you must use the d-pad to make selections with the drums. Not that big of a deal, but it is frustrating to have to reach across the set to use the fairly inaccessible d-pad.
Dan OXM (not verified)
October 28, 2008 at 10:04am
Good points. I didn't mention the ION kit because I honestly felt it was not worth mentioning; so few people have it (even though I am one, I do not think I'm in the majority, and many people I've talked to own no drums because they wanted to wait and buy GH's version). So the fact that it works with the stock drums was, I thought, sufficient. (Remember that I am working under a specific word count, and I had a lot of ground to cover.)I was able to "clap" the top of the mic to trigger star power, but it only worked about 1/3 of the time. I used both the RB and the GH mics (aside from color and logo, they are identical Logitech units) as well as the Mad Catz M.I.C. over the course of the review. I found the push-button Star Power to be more reliable and really the only way I even wanted to play.
And I didn't like the text entry system either -- it was not intuitive, and I would have preferred a USB keyboard or chatpad -- but I also didn't feel I had to use it too often (just when naming my character, band, and guitars, which all wound up getting one-letter names). Also, remember that a developer is not required to use any of that stuff, and I suspect there was no support because the same codebase would be used for other versions. In other words...I suspect they were thinking "how do we do this on Wii" and all the other systems have to slave to the lowest common denominator.
I struggled with the score but ultimately felt the core gameplay was too much fun to deny it an 8.5. It was certainly a more enjoyable experience to me than GHIII, which was solid, but only got an 8.0.
Drainc
October 28, 2008 at 9:22am
A couple of things worth mentioning that should have been in the review. First and foremost the ION drums do not work properly in the current game. It gets detected as a GH:WT drum set so all 5 lanes are in tact, and while it does register the green crash as the orange it also triggers the green pad as well which throws off streaks. This should have been handled with a patch day one but we're still waiting for a solution as of last night. Another big annoyance is that it doesn't recognize the message pad for text input! I'm not using the d-pad to enter in a 12 character name when I have a message pad I paid good money for on my controller. As for vocals, great that you can trigger star power at any time (Harmonix, are you listing?) but boo on them for *requiring* you to hit a button. I'm using the RB microphone and the game says you can "tap" it to activate, but I couldn't get it to activate without hitting a button. I'd be interested to know if it works with the GH:WT mic with a "tap". IMHO the review score is a bit high, but I trust Dan enough to not criticize his score that much. :)
ThunderChief66
October 27, 2008 at 7:47pm
Haha after reading the bit about Muse I had to youtube both songs, and you are dead-on
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