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(More customer reviews)OK, so this is a review of the game-only Guitar Hero: World Tour Playstation II game.If you're here looking to get information and feedback on the bundle version or to hear about online play, you're on the wrong product page.
This review is for those traditional Guitar Hero fans.The fans who...
1:Thought the price of a full set (nearly $200) is a little steep.
2:Play casually.
3:Do not necessarily own a next generation console (Xbox360, PSXIII).
4:Do not play online.
5:Just want to play some good songs.
This was the original targeted audience of Guitar Hero back in the day and has been up until about a year ago when Activision took over and began trying to sway the demographic to the hardcore players.The general audience of gamers who may not even have considered themselves gamers until they picked up a plastic guitar and began jamming to Carry on Wayward Son.To me, this audience has been abandoned in favor of a very specific audience that doesn't mind paying more.Marketing wise it makes some sense but along the way Activision alienated their traditional family and casual audience.
I'm sure the game is uber-fantastic on the next generation consoles with the drums, mic, and internet options but for those of us who just want to play guitar, we've been sold short.
Let us begin.
First is the soundtrack.It boasts some excellent classic songs like Beat It, which is ironic since my review on Guitar Hero 3 called for this song and everyone thought I was insane, believing the franchise should not be "Pop Hero."There are other great songs like Hotel California, Crazy Train, Eye of the Tiger, etc.There are even some decent recent ones by Haley Something and Jimmy Eats World.However, there are several issues with the selection.
For one, it is overwhelmingly songs from the past 15 years.The designers had a huge love for 90s music.This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but when you're trying to entice gamers from a wide-range of generations and bring in new ones on the basis of song recognition, you MUST balance your selection.It's as if the designers wanted to focus on young adults ages 13-21 and throw 22+ gamers a bone or two with Ted Nugent and Pat Benetar.This is bad marketing.Rock Band, at least, had the brains to balance their selection nearly perfectly.Very few songs prior to 1975 were used and the designers could've used considerably more.
I have a few minor issues with some of the selection of live versus recorded tracks such as Jimi Hendrix's Purple Haze and Sweet Home Alabama.I thought the vocals were considerably better on the recorded tracks.
Lastly, the television advertisements showed players (hilariously portrayed by famous athletes including Michael Phelps) playing Old Time Rock and Roll by Bob Segar.This excited me as I love that song, so I searched and searched all 90+ songs for it... to no avail!I should have looked on the official website for a complete track list as they didn't include it.This is false advertising.Commercials for previous installments used songs actually from the games, this game should not have been an exception.If the song is there and I'm not seeing it, someone please tell me how to get it!
Next, the game is severely glitchy.I can tell Activision dumbed down the graphics and then directly ported it to the PSXII.Many times the characters on stage will do one move then immediately change a pose or position entirely.This happens at the end of every song.I've also had the game freeze a number of times when I'm customizing my character.Fortunately, this does not delete my memory card or data... yet.Lastly, the loading time is atrocious.I thought Guitar Hero 3 was bad, this one is even worse.Just to sign in under co-op, you have to wait ten seconds for the character visuals to load even if you're already set to go.Making changes to your rocker takes several minutes and half of that is loading time.
Again, I can tell they dumbed it down for last generation systems but daaaang.This was more then awful.
My last complaints deal with the format itself.Unlike previous Guitar Hero installments, World Tour requires you to play through an entire play list to advance to the next group of songs IN ONE SITTING.This means you gotta set aside at least ten minutes to play each 'gig.'To make matters worse, the more you advance in the game the LONGER the gigs get.One particular gig took me almost an hour.This WILL alienate casual gamers as the game requires a lot of time just to advance.This is not Oblivion or some extensive RPG that requires a lot of effort, this is Guitar Hero, the game that is supposed to market to the casual gamer!The audience should never be forced to do anything unnecessary and that's exactly what this is.
To a certain degree they did keep the boss battles albeit under different rules.Instead of sending battle thingies back and forth to screw the other up, you just play and play.I still think they could have done without it.Lastly, they now make you pay money to unlock certain gigs.I think this is a big no-no especially since the songs were not even worth it unless you're a Tool fan.
Now, despite my large reservations I do have some praise.The designers did fix two major issues.The first is when you pause.Originally you had to immediately jump in the song but now you have a few seconds to align your hands.The second improvement is that you can now hoard star power in co-op and build star power even when it's deployed.This makes point maximizing that much easier.
Then there's the sound studio.I'm still trying to get it to work but I think you need the full kit.It's a nifty idea but will be lost on those who just bought the game only.
All in all, the game is not bad but the designers forgot many things.It seems as though you have to play it on a next-gen console and with the full set in order to truly appreciate it.This is bad for marketing.I'll stick with Wii Music until the prices on the sets drop like 50%.Get Guitar Hero 2 if you're new to this.It's not glitchy, had great songs, and doesn't require a whole paycheck to own.
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Product Description:
Start a Band...the Guitar Hero Way Guitar Hero World Tour transforms music gaming by expanding Guitar Hero's signature guitar gameplay into a cooperative band experience that combines advanced wireless instruments with gameplay modes from Guitar Hero 3 as well as new gameplay modes unique to GHWT.The game features a Music Studio music creator that lets players compose, record, and edit their own rock ‘n' roll anthems.
*Note: The instruments are sold seperately.
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