The Oreo's Blogs

I am aware that I have already posted this, and of all places in my own forum thread, but here's a repeat because 1.) I spent some minutes typing so it must be broadcasted!, and 2.) GoW2 Competition and 3.) I have added some to make a nicely summed up summary:D.

Anyways, here goes:

Yes, Im aware this shows GH3. Lazy Google search ftw!

This help-thingy will concentrate on Song lists and Instruments. Look up the exclusive modes for both games yourselves. Lazy wankers.

The Instruments:

Contrary to popular belief, the instrument pack we get for Rock Band actually comes with the Rock Band 2 instruments. How do I know this for sure? I have the mad hook ups at EB and was able to see early, NZ receives wireless guitars etc. Just check the back of the Rock Band box next time you're at EB. While the Rock Band 1 instruments might as well be piles of testicles with multicoloured buttons on them, the RB2 ones are FAR better. And up to par with the GHWT instruments.

Talking about the GHWT instruments, the drums are much better in comparison to the Rock Band ones though.

Guitar wise; the Rock Band Guitars are far more silent in the strum bar. I actually like this better I decided, makes you feel far les clunky. On the flipside though, ironically, the buttons make almost as much noise as the strumming on the GH3 guitar. The guitar also provides solo buttons and an effects switch, two very nice little additions to change up gameplay. Nothing like pretending to solo on those tiny buttons. One small complaint about the Rock Band guitar though is that its SO thin. My thumb flies over the edge while playing, and it all takes away from I guess the supposed realism.

The Guitar Hero WT guitar does not have this problem, it feels nice and solid, with buttons excellently plagiarised from the Guitar Hero 3 guitar, so you'll feel right at home. Few things that annoy me about this guitar though are that one, the have placed the select and start buttons just above and under the strum bar, they're so small it seems a little silly to have them there at all at really. Also, after playing decent amounts of the GH Guitar, the slide neck is balls unless you want to add some variety to strumming on Bass. It just feels gimmicky otherwise, rather sad really.

After all this though, its all about personal preference.

All instruments in the new games are cross compatible. Rock Band 1 instruments work with everything, GHWT ones work with everything, and RB2 ones work just as well with everything. Even the GH3 Les Paul and GH2 Xplorer work with everything, just not as fancily.

The Songs:

Both games boast very impressive setlists, comprising of greats such as Lenny Kravitz, Van Halen, Ozzy Osbourne, Jimi Hendrix, Oasis, KISS, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Nirvana and many others. The one thing to point out is that Rock Band only ships with 68 on-disk songs, while GHWT ships with 85. Plus two free 2 song packs on the XBL Marketplace and I assume the PSN Store also.

To counter this, Harmonix has done a fine job of stuffing its little baby with enough DLC to make it resemble some sort of disgustingly obese infant, but one that you crave playing with (uhh... no paedophilia undertones here. Promise). They provide Oasis, Weezer, Disturbed, Metallica, Iron Maiden (covers), Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Who, Megadeath, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Nirvana and many, many, many more. Pity that, as psyched as I know I was for the DLC, Microsoft and Sony decided that no, we don't get any DLC on launch like EVERYWHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD. Im sure it'll all arrive soon, but c'mon. What happened guys? You used to be cool.

Though Rock Band comes with a smaller setlist (and so less initial entertainment, or more limited entertainment for people without console-interwebz), Harmonix has always had a knack for choosing absolutely great setlists. Free Bird vs. One? Please. And to follow this suit of good song choice is the one provided in Rock Band. The final tier is a very nice balance of genre, and I hadn't even heard of The Outlaws before Rock Band, but Green Grass and High Tides is an absolutely brilliant song. Though it may seem Neversoft have provided as solid a setlist (and they have to some extent, you cover about everything in a setlist of that size), its good to remember that this is still in essentiality Guitar Hero, not Band Hero, and most of the song list is very guitar tailored. Lyrically, songs lack. Neversoft have even admitted this. Drums are better, but still, the guitar really shines. Bass gets the boot again, Beat It is the only really Bassy song.

While back on the Rock Band bandwagon, all songs are great balances once more. The bass shines and is actually PREFERABLE to play in some songs (i.e. Hysteria), something thats almost blasphemous to suggest in any of the Guitar Hero games. While singing songs can be spot on, Ballroom Blitz by Sweet is a lot of fun to sing etc. etc.

Ugh, can you guess why I didn't mention THIS?

My final recommendation is to get the instruments for the game you plan to play most, as the instruments are obviously specifically tailored for that game (with the slide neck with World Tour and the solo buttons with Rock Band). Personally. I'd get the World Tour whole Band pack and the solo Rock Band disk, because the solo thing is cool, but I just like the button feel on the World Tour guitars better. This said though, Rock Band's setlist coupled with DLC far trumps Guitar Hero's thus far. I am aware though that World Tour boasts Jimi Hendrix and Ozzy Osbourne and such, but the 500+ song selection for Rock Band (whenever the hell they decide we New Zealanders deserve it) is too much to pass up.

So there's my wall of text over, hope this helps some people in their decision. I believe (since having had Rock Band for some time now) that it is perfectly acceptable to live playing Rock Band with the GH3 Les Pauls, so my personal opinion is;
*Buy the Rock Band disk and plenty of Microsoft Points (makes the experience way better) on Friday
*Play with older guitars until the 14th of November when you
*Buy the Guitar Hero World Tour full band package (mostly just for the Guitars, the velocity sensitive drums aren't that impressive, but more realistic that RB's ones).
*Have a wild shindig full of plastic instruments at your place, invite me .

As a side note, If you're more strapped for cash, remember that the Rock Band full bundle is anywhere between $70 - $130 cheaper than the full Guitar Hero 4 bundle. And with all the other games coming out now, those bucks may come in handy.

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