Sidawg2's Blogs

Before I start, I used to like Guitar Hero. I really did. I poured so many hours into the first 3, particularly #3. The setlist was killer, the song charts seemed representative of what the actual song sounded like, it was endless fun, dare I say it was almost perfect (Battle Mode was ludicrous). Needless to say, expectations were high for the 4th installment, World Tour. This is where it all turned pear shaped for Guitar Hero, and it isn't looking like it will get any better anytime soon.

Guitar Hero almost patronises those that play it. Gamers aren't emotionally unstable little children, so why do they need to be told they "rock!!" after every song, regardless of how well they did? Sounds like the NZ education system. Further patronising is the cheesy and lame animation the characters have during performances. It is just embarrassing to say the least.  There seems to have been little effort put into it, and so it looks horrible, and this was only highlighted during my playthrough of Greatest Hits. The animation after every song I played was exactly the same. Seriously? The last noticeable insult is whenever a song featuring an artist finishes in World Tour. You're greeted by quotes such as "Billy Corgan thinks you rock! and "Ozzy - Its frightening how much I like them!". Oh dear. Having not played #5 I can't comment on what happens during that game for the personalities however that brings me to........

The Kurt Cobain/No Doubt saga. Much has been written about this, but briefly - artists object to their caricatures being used on other bands songs, Activision respond by slapping them with lawsuits. Way to endear yourself to artists there, Activision. A simple patch to remove this would have resulted in very little loss of goodwill, and a whole lot less negative publicity. Without the artists, Guitar Hero does not exist, and this seems to have lost on Activision. Its not a coincidence that there is an abundance of Foo Fighters/Nirvana content and also No Doubt on Guitar Hero's bitter rival Rock Band.

Guitar Hero also brings a bad name to the music game genre through a chronic lack of innovation and oversaturation of the market. Since #3 in 2007, Activision has released a staggering 11 games. Releasing that many similar games over such a short period does nothing for the credibility nor the survivability of the genre itself. Sales have steadily fallen across the genre in the past few years, the frequency of releases is a major factor in this. Worse still, across these games there is little to no significant growth or innovation. But, I hear you say, World Tour added drums and vocals to the experience! Well that is true...... except Rock Band did it 12 months earlier. You can export songs from other GH's back into GH5, what a great idea...... if only Rock Band hadn't already done it a year before also. A few actual innovations GH should be commended on is letting people play with, say 4 guitars, in a single song. The premise seems ludicrous but it avoids that awkward "who wants to play bass?" situation that often occurs during rocking sessions. Another notable addition would be the double kick added in GH Metallica, making the songs more representative of the actual things, but unfortunately this is also Guitar Hero's greatest failing.

The main appeal of a music game to most people is that when playing on expert, the notes being played should be representative of the actual song. Despite the fact that on guitar or drums you are not usually anywhere near using the actual technique or playing the correct notes, it should at least FEEL like you are. But this has gone out the window for recent Guitar Hero. There seems to have been a shift in focus towards making the songs more interesting and increasing their difficulty. But they don't seem to have understood the fact that the fun comes from the game for most people through feeling like they're playing the ACTUAL song. Where's the fun in playing random notes with your favourite song playing in the background? Rock Band is great in this department, the drums for example are exactly charted where possible. The slide pad on the new GH peripherals do nothing to help this either.

The future does not look bright either. The next GH game, Warriors of Rock, will supposedly have an actual storyline. Umm.... yes. Its a vague attempt to try and bring back people from the Rock Band franchise, and to be honest, I don't see it working. Adding a new coat of paint to a crap formula doesn't suddenly make it a gem. Worse still for GH, Rock Band 3 will release at more or less the same time. Rock Band 3 introduces a new peripheral in the keyboard, a new pro mode which looks absolutely incredible, and a real focus on integrity in both the peripherals themselves and the charts within the game. 

One game continues to wallow in mediocrity, the other continues to innovate and lead into the future. I know which one I'll be choosing come Christmas time this year.