It’s easy to dismiss Guitar Hero World Tour as a cash in on the success that Rock Band had but on a second glance you’ll spot all the extra features that Activision are adding to the genre. So many good features and ideas on paper should really result in a decent game, right?
Guitar Hero World Tour will feature a drum set, microphone and two guitars just like Rock Band but GHWT are definitely giving EA a run for their money. First off the Create A Rocker mode has totally been re-thought by adding Guitar and Drum customization. Character options range from age to poise and from make up to tattoo’s. Though it has to be said that Rock Band had a lot of these features first.
The instruments now have their unique side, mainly the controversial Drum set that is not compatible with Rock Band because of its extra cymbal and velocity sensitive features . More importantly the Guitar will feature a touch pad just below the fret buttons that allow the user to change the pitch of a held note. These aren’t massively game changing mechanics but should play a decent role in making this game stand out against the competition.
The most important thing about a rhythm game is the music and we haven’t really got a set in stone track list yet but a few rumors and leaks point towards Jimi Hendrix, Arctic Monkeys, System of a Down, Interpol, Muse, Foo Fighters and much more. We’ve also heard of a few confirmed songs like “One Armed Scissor” by At The Drive In, “Everlong” by The Foo Fighters & Lenny Kravitz’s “Are You Gonna Go My Way”.
If it lives up the promise these songs won’t really matter because of the custom song mode. For the first time users are able to create their own tracks and upload them to the GH Tunes service. GH Tunes will feature user ratings, search mode and a featured track of the week. The only draw back is the lack of vocals due to copyright issues but surely everyone is just going to recreate real songs anyway, so this will be an interesting one to watch when this feature goes live.
On their own these features only make slight additions to the groundwork laid out in Rock Band but as a whole Guitar Hero World Tour actually looks very good. Custom songs, a decent soundtrack & extra instrument features add to up to an exciting band experience and if they can deliver on the promise, Rock Band 2 will have to bring a lot more to the table.
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