The famous saying “one ring to rule them all” does not apply when it comes to music-based video games, that being never more evident than this Holiday season. Activision is making sure there is something out there for every type of music loving gamer and the newest addition to the ‘Hero” franchise is the family-friendly Band Hero; which hits store shelves early next month. Although the hardcore Guitar Hero fans may not be lining up to jam out, with the game’s pop-rock set-list there is enough new content to at least make the game seem needed and relevant. The development team at Neversoft is shifting focus with Band Hero, focusing on the pop-cultured craze of today’s society. Included in the game are a number of celebrity avatars that are completely controllable by the player, it’s also obvious that the choice of songs this time around is aimed at a completely different gamer. The Guitar Hero franchise has always been about Rock-and-Roll until now; Band Hero is taking everything you thought you knew about the series and turning it on it’s head, in a good way.
After checking out the latest build of Band Hero it’s very obvious that the developers built a game that their daughters and sisters would enjoy playing, and because of that the fun-factor just shines through. Currently only about one-third of the entire 70+ song track list has been released but from those we know about the artists include the likes of Taylor Swift, Maroon 5, Aly & AJ, The Village People, Don McClean, and many more. One of the head producers was quoted as describing Band Hero as the “guilty pleasure” of the music genre lineup, after putting hands-on with it we would have to agree. This is the first game that while playing our spouse came in to find out what the name of one of the songs was, later saying it was “one of her favorites.” Even though this is not a game we would recommend busting out at your next bachelor party or during halftime of the Super Bowl it is great to see Neversoft thinking outside of the box they have been comfortable with for so many years. Even the game’s color-coded packaging screams “family friendly” – featuring an array of reds, blues, and greens.
The visual look and song choices in Band Hero are not the only new additions; one of our personal favorites is called the “Sing-Along” mode and basically allows for straight-up karaoke style gameplay. In this mode there is no stressful worry of failure or point-multipliers, the lyrics and background performance are the main focus and any available microphone can be used to help get a larger group of people involved. To be honest it was so much more fun than we ever imagined to strap on our guitar, put an Xbox 360 headset on and step into the virtual shoes of Taylor Swift – albeit it did have to be when no one was home to catch us playing. Another developer was quoted as saying that even the “Guitar Hero Metallica players can have a blast with Band Hero,” after hours of hands-on we can most certainly agree. This title takes away nearly all of the serious aspects of previous music games and lets players just enjoy some of the more pop-friendly music tracks, with all the gameplay mechanics from those prior games thrown in for kicks. If you have young kids (or just love pop/mainstream music) this is the only music game you need to purchase in 2009.
Band Hero features a lengthy career mode, Rockfest mode, Elimination, Sing-Along, Perfectionist, Do-or-Die, and a ton of other gameplay modes that push the social gaming envelope. Many (if not all) of them are focused on making sure a group of people has fun. Considering how many music-based video games there are making the rounds right now on next-gen systems the most important thing Band Hero had to succeed at was variety. Our hands-on time with BH took place only weeks after we reviewed Beatles: Rock Band and Guitar Hero 5 so we were quite sure boredom would come quickly. To our surprise we couldn’t put the instruments (guitar, drums, microphone) down, easily plowing through all the available songs on the preview build and even going back for seconds on a couple of our favorites. Of course because of the type of music available in Band Hero we cannot share with you any of those favorite songs, otherwise we would lose all credibility as a man. Band Hero hits store shelves at the beginning of November and is sure to appeal to a more family-oriented game population (the game is currently rated E-10) than previous Guitar Hero titles. On a side not Ms. Swift is just as gorgeous in virtual form as she is in real life; stay tuned for our full review as the drop date nears, for our final verdict.
