Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock Hands On

Yes, it's another Guitar Hero title. For some readers, no matter what I say in this article, many will be convinced that we don't need another one. Warriors of Rock does take itself a little less seriously this time round, though. The game features a comic-book theme that revolves around a story of epic fantasy metal, featuring demi-Gods, manbeasts of rock and axe weilding soldiers of backstage glory. Axe being a pseudonym for guitar, of course.

Narrated by Gene Simmons of KISS fame, the game lets you play as various characters in a mythological chronicle of their rise to rock power and eventually becoming a warrior of rock. The characters are your typical Guitar Hero staples, with over-the-top names like Johnny Napalm (who has a mohawk and likes punk music) and Echo Tessla (a slender female with a fetish for chains and electricity).

Of course, under the surface Warriors of Rock is very much like your typical Guitar Hero game. It will ship with new instruments; the drums look similar but have had some improvements in terms of responsiveness. They also look slightly smaller, but unfortunately my hands on time was just with the new guitar peripheral which has also had some tweaks. Firstly the body of the guitar now comes apart, seperating the neck and core middle section from the two side panels allowing it the shape to be customised. A slick fret marker button near the “pick-up area” exposes the battery compartment which is now accessible via the front of the unit, rather than the back. However, the guitars in Warriors of Rock are still entirely non-stringed and completely identical with the typical five coloured buttons near the head of the neck. Compared to Rock Band 3, which has authentic instruments, this could be a huge downfall and might make Warriors seem dated.

Some improvements have been made to the game's inner workings, including a welcome addition to the in-game library. In Warriors of Rock, your Guitar Hero tracks can now be sorted by a range of different filters including franchise title, artist, album, genre and even similar songs. Considering there are now over 500 tracks in the Guitar Hero universe, finding the one you want from your collection is no longer a brain-ache.

The rating system has also been mashed up and instead of your typical 5 star rating at the end of a track, players can now earn up to a whopping 40 star rating. With every performance in quest mode, your character will improve his or her rank in their efforts for god-like status and added bonus abilities during play. Tracks now also have a timeline indicator on screen to let you know how far through the song you are. Finally every existing track is also fully compatible with Warriors of Rock, but goes that little step further by adding a variety of extra challenges to each for replay value. We'll be sure to bring you the full review when the game lands later this year.

The Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock track list (so far):

• AFI - "Dancing Through Sunday"
• Anthrax - "Indians"
• Avenged Sevenfold - "Bat Country"
• Black Sabbath - "Children Of The Grave"
• Buzzcocks - "What Do I Get?"
• Children Of Bodom - "If You Want Peace... Prepare For War"
• The Cure - "Fascination Street"
• Def Leppard - "Pour Some Sugar On Me (Live)"
• Dethklok - "Bloodlines"
• Dire Straits - "Money For Nothing"
• DragonForce - "Fury of the Storm"
• Drowning Pool - "Bodies"
• Fall Out Boy - "Dance, Dance"
• Foo Fighters - "No Way Back"
• Foreigner - "Feels Like The First Time"
• The Hives - "Tick Tick Boom"
• Jane's Addiction - "Been Caught Stealing"
• Jethro Tull - "Aqualung"
• KISS - "Love Gun"
• Linkin Park - "Bleed It Out"
• Megadeth - "Sudden Death"
• Metallica & Ozzy Osbourne - "Paranoid (Live)"
• Muse - "Uprising"
• My Chemical Romance - "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)"
• Night Ranger - " (You Can Still) Rock In America"
• Nine Inch Nails - "Wish"
• The Offspring - "Self Esteem"
• Queen - "Bohemian Rhapsody"
• Rammstein - "Waidmanns Heil"
• The Rolling Stones - "Stray Cat Blues"
• Silversun Pickups - "There's No Secrets This Year"
• Slayer - "Chemical Warfare"
• Slipknot - "Psychosocial"
• Stone Temple Pilots - "Interstate Love Song"
• ZZ Top - "Sharp Dressed Man (Live)"