Ask any educated gamer what two video games come to mind when discussing the major opposing forces in the music genre market, most if not all will repeat the words Guitar Hero and Rock Band. One started the music-genre in the United States revolution and the other proceeded to evolve the entire system, adding in all-new instruments and making it more of a group experience. Since the release of Rock Band a couple years ago publisher Activision and developer Neversoft are attempting a pretty strong comeback; by releasing Guitar Hero: World Tour last year it brought the franchise into the next-generation with full band support. Now it’s time for the series to make a true return to glory as the experienced companies gear up to release Guitar Hero 5 just in time for the massive holiday sales. The inclusion of superstars (Kurt Cobain, Johnny Cash, Shirley Manson) helps push gamers to complete every single crevice of the game, just to unlock all of them. There have been multiple GH games released over the past couple years but it’s now time for the true sequel, the fifth game in a ridiculously popular and fun series of interactive music experiences.
Many people thought Guitar Hero 5 was going to be just another set of songs, after spending hours with the retail build we found out that the exact opposite was true – this game will hit fans with a totally fresh experience, one that is worth every penny of the upgrade cost. Even so the developers made sure to keep the basic formula (that has worked so well in the past) there. Guitar Hero 5 will be continuing the full-band support of Neversoft’s latest games and includes a massive 85-song setlist that spans the last 50 years of rock-and-roll music. Although the addition of downloadable content (DLC) has changed the entire business model as to what’s expected from video games this generation, it’s always great to see a mixture of on-disc songs that make a go at pleasing all sorts of music lovers. This may not be the top selection of music that Rolling Stone editors could imagine but it is easily the most diverse we have yet to see from a GH title. Coldplay, KISS, Bush, Blink 182, Elton John, Nirvana, Whitestripes, The Police, and Wolfmother are just a few of the fantastic bands to rock out with – the game is on store shelves today.
Many gamers have been begging for the next Guitar Hero version to have some new features, new gameplay modes, and all-around just be fresh in options. It’s obvious that the developers were listening because GH5 is jam-packed with brand new stuff that will literally blow some gamers socks off. This time around the team wants to make sure that no one complains about what was included out of the box, even if they had to spend more money/time getting the game ready for it’s public debut. This time around Guitar Hero 5 wants’ to leave the choices up to the player, never forcing him or her into a preset band configuration or multiplayer instrument setup. If you happen to have three guitars and a microphone in the gaming closet that is exactly what will show on screen, gone are the times of making one player sit-out because they don’t know how to play the drums or sing. It was such a joy to finally have the ability to play with four guitars at once, or four drums (that’s what we call a drum line), and so on.
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