Gamescom 2010: Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock Hands-On Preview - No Way Back

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Lee Abrahams

After the deluge of rhythm games last year, it’s been a bit more peaceful up until now and all we’ve really seen in 2010 is the release of Green Day: Rock Band, but can the saturated market cope with one more glorious shred? Neversoft and Activision seem to think so, and with this being the last hurrah for the now dissolved Guitar Hero specific division, you’d hope that they would go out with a bang. Having said that, there is little doubt that the series will live on regardless.

After being given some hands-on time with Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock at Gamescom this year, it is easy to get the basics out of the way – nothing here has changed. Ignoring the addition of an open-string bass note sustain, the rest of the game handles just as you have come to expect. Up to four players can take part using a mix of vocals, guitars and drums, so you pretty much know the drill. One thing I did notice is that the new guitar peripheral seems extremely small and light compared to recent years, heralding back to the popular Guitar Hero 2 instrument if anything. The idea behind this is the hope that players will create their own dream controller should they so wish, but it gives the guitar a very poor feel and the main fret button seems a tad sponge like to say the least.

So with no sweeping gameplay or peripheral changes, what exactly is going to draw players in? Well the awesome looking Quest mode of course. Narrated by none other than KISS Legend, Gene Simmons, this tells the tale of your quest to help out the Demigod of Rock in his eternal battle with the Beast. Obviously it sounds ridiculous, but it superbly draws upon practically every rock stereotype and album cover you can think of to create an epic journey. The whole thing is more story-based and more involving than a regular career mode would be and actually gives you something tangible to aim for rather than just the next gig.
 

Along the way you have to recruit other rockers, who are mainly recurring series favourites like Johnny Napalm and Lars Umlaut. They all have a specifically themed set list that you have to complete, although the real objective is achieving enough stars on each list to power up your rocker and acquire their special abilities. Johnny, for example, has the Speedfreak power which gives you a minimum of a 2x multiplier at all times. Snag enough stars though and this ability gets buffed even higher. As you unlock more rockers, you get a wider range of abilities to use. Plus, come the game’s finale, you can utilise multiple character abilities at once and really rack up the score and stars.

Reach the end of the story and the true challenge awaits. Megadeth have written a new song for the game called Sudden Death, with the promise that it will provide the sternest challenge yet for any Expert strummers. Assuming your fingers aren’t already bleeding from that kind of abuse, you can then progress to the Demigod chapter and expect up to ten songs that are pretty much at the same level of Through the Fire and Flames – remember that walk in the park? The developers certainly want you to suffer for your art this time around.

The real key here is getting back to the hardcore audience and bringing the game back to its pure rock roots, as opposed to the more family friendly fare of recent times. As a result there are no pop style chart toppers in the 93 strong track list and the emphasis is clearly on players who prefer to rock out at a Hard or Expert level.
 

Outside of story mode the game is also trying to bring a bit more value to the songs available, with each of them having up to thirteen challenges on offer. These will vary depending on the song, but can involve hitting a certain string of notes, maintaining your multiplier or snagging so many points. The neat thing here is that the challenges will also be added to any DLC you may already have, not to mention songs from the other games in the series, so you can go back to old favourites and find something new to do.

You can also challenge your friends with Target Play, which lets you throw down a score and then they can try to surpass it – along with the addition of messages to inspire or mock your nearest and dearest. It was also let slip that there could be some social networking aspects to the title too, so whether you might be able to trade songs or insults via Facebook, Twitter et al remains to be seen, but it would certainly open the game up to a much wider audience.

It is hard to get excited about a game that seems so familiar, but at least the new Quest mode offers a little something different. However, the real selling point here will be just how much added value the game has to draw back the hardcore crowd that became so disillusioned with the recent additions to the series. When the game lands in September, will it be with a bang or a whimper? Stay tuned to find out.

Guitar Hero is scheduled for a September 24th and September 28th release in Europe and North America respectively.
Comments
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  • The open string bass note has been in Guitar Hero for the last couple iterations.
  • The open string bass note has been around since World Tour. Unless it's something completely different than what I'm thinking about.
  • rockband 3 will totally own this.
  • It's an open string bass note SUSTAIN that's new.
  • This entire deal reminds me of Brutal Legend..kinda.
  • @#4 - Cheers dude. Added that in.
  • As I sit here in a Megadeth shirt, I can't help but feel that this game's gonna be awesome.
  • My bad. I missed the word sustain when transcribing my recording. It will be edited - so apologies for the confusion.
  • @1 and @2 - they are referring to a SUSTAINED open bass note, not just the open bass note as for the post... yeah still not doing it for me. The innovations in RB3 are still far more interesting than here. About the only selling point for me right now is 2112. But since I have a feeling there is a large Rush pack in the works for RB, I think I'll wait it out. This will be bargain bin purchase only, if I grab it at all.
  • This is worth a rent to me. The setlist had a few songs I thought shouldve been in there, but definitely nowhere near the level it shouldve been. The same goes for RB3. Good to see Megadeath making a day view in GH, still need some more Iron Maiden etc however.
  • ehh rock band's gameplay is ehh, so ya they're getting pianer, whatever, i lik this better
  • I'll wait for the price to go down then buy it.
  • definitely getting this cuz ive got all guitar heroes so far and i aint gonna stop!!!!!!!!!!
  • @11 its not just the "pianer", they have vocal harmonies (which is a first in the main-line RB), and the real crown-jewel-- the pro-mode. Maybe the drums pro-mode is similar to drums as they are already in GH, but the pro-mode guitar is really quite impressive. The quest mode here, and a slight change on the way the gameplay works in one minor situation... eh its slightly interesting, but I don't really see it as innovative. The quest mode just seems like a new way to wrap the single player career mode. meh.
  • Sounds cool. But then again, all GH were good in my opinion. Always preferred it over RB for some reason and I played both extensively. Will but it next year continuing tradition of buying GH game year after it's release. (Yeah, I'm keeping a year behind - don't ask^^)
  • @14 Much rather rock out on a guitar or drums than sing a harmony. And pro mode is only good if you can afford/want to buy the peripherals. It seems fun, but it's just more money to shell out, just like shelling out money to get the songs you wanna play, instead of the fun/hard rock songs already being on-disc, like in this game. Not trying to start a gay RB vs GH war, I'm just stating my opinion.
  • @15 Same here. I started with Guitar Hero 2, and I loved it. I 5 starred every song in Guitar Heroes 2, 3, Aerosmith, World Tour, and Metallica on expert guitar. My favorite ones were 2 and 3. 3 is the only one I own now, because it was the best IMO. Metallica was OK, and the other two were... mehh. I never played 5 because it didnt look that good or challenging. RockBand, to me, just doesnt feel as solid as Guitar Hero does. Sure, they have loads of DLC, but unless your willing to shell out loads of money in microsoft points, its pointless. I don't even like 95% of the DLC songs anyway. This game actually looks interesting, and I'm curious to what the difficulty is going to be like. Fury of the Storm is the song i've wanted in almost all the guitar heroes so far, so i'm glad to see that in here (unless i've mistaken and its in Rock Band 3). Also, Rockband 3 seems to be drifting away from the "video game" part a little much. If i wanted to go play a real guitar, I would. I'm sure some people would like it, but it wouldnt feel much like that arcady- video game enjoyment that you get out of its predecessors.
  • mostly excited for GHWOR for the Spider-Man theme and Gene Simmons. Looking forward to RB3 more because I find the RB guitar more comfortable, it has vocal harmonies, they're adding keyboard and I have a lot of dlc for the RB games including the song import for RB1 & Lego RB.
  • rockband will own this.
  • Open notes can now be sustained is what was meant.
  • rockband will NOT own this. im a METALHEAD and i am proud and GLAD that they went this route. metal will come out on top since it is fun to play and the only reason i WILL buy rockband 3 is if they put the dlc onto it. job for a cowboy, the black dahlia murder, whitechapel....all FUN to play. expert drums rockband 2 was fun as hell. it has been a while but if i kept at it i was soooo close to getting 5 stars on expert drums on those songs. rockband 3 are just pussy songs now.
  • I reckon the next GH game will have a keyboard!
  • D: lol this game will be a rent. Doesnt look "amazing" and doesnt seem worth the money...but i will give it a try just to see.
  • "there are no pop style chart toppers in the 93 strong track list" *cough* Nickelback *cough*
  • lol @ all of the RB iz betters!!!1! comments. Why comment on something you have no interest in? It's like going to a Christian church and just shouting out "There is no God" over and over. It won't prove anything, it won't change anyone's beliefs, and you just end up looking like an ass. Back on topic, nothing I didn't already know, but I can't wait for this game just because of the tier 9 and 10 songs. The avatar awards are also a nice addition. ;)
  • I reckon this game will be a perfect implementation of the Guitar hero formula, nothing more, nothing less. Nothing innovative, instead going for polish. Should be an enjoyable game, I reckon. PS Just beat Raining Blood GH3X for the first time :D
  • @21 All that stuff will be on RB3. All DLC can be used in all Rock Bands forever. So it looks like you're getting RB3. Also, there's more to music than just metal. This coming from a guy who loves his metal. I listen to a lot of different stuff, I love RB3's setlist due to its diversity, and I love that everyone gets something and not just the extreme metalheads who want epic impossible OMG difficulty that I'd prefer in small numbers. I will admit GHWOR's setlist isn't bad though, it interests me. I'm still on the fence about getting this game though. I need to see if I have enough left after getting RB3 with keyboard and Pro stuff.
  • The only reason I prefer rock band to guitar hero is the fact that rock band has metal/deathmetal/Grindcore/deathcore dlc I love me my brutal music. rock band has acacia strain/winds of plague/whitechapel/suicide silence/ despised icon/unearth/black dahlia murder, and so many more. on disc wise though guitar hero alway's wins I mean have you seen RB3 disc songs they blow cept for werewolve's of london anyway.
  • i just feel like its been a while since i played a new music game, possibly because i missed out on green day rock band, but im pumped for this to come out, hopefully i can just pay off my couch before it hits the streeets
  • I may rent this one on Gamefly just to try it, but I've already played Brutal Legend. Recruiting people to raise an army? Yeah, that was it. No reason to play the same thing with a guitar controller. So far, most of the songs I've been bummed were in Guitar Hero vs Rock Band have eventually popped up as DLC in Rock Band anyway.
  • @30+ others that don't read. This will NOT be like Brutal Legend. You do not roam around and complete missions. You only play the songs, just like every other career. The only difference is that this one has a more in-depth storyline that has more/longer cut scenes than previous games.
  • Can anyone give an honest opinion of the difference between the Rockband and Guitar Hero hit system, because unless they include as an option the old GH hit system (GH3 or WT I don't mind which)I'm probably not going to be buying GH anymore. In particular, is the Rockband hit system like GH5 (please say no)?
  • yes, rockband will be far superior but I will buy it nonetheless cause I am a sucker for guitar/music games lately hehe
  • (IMO) Rockband is only fun after you buy rockband ($60) and then buying about 4000 microsoft points ($60) because rockband has some good songs but not many so who ever buys it always will buy DLC for their favorite bands/music genre And in the end it cost more than Guitar Hero. I'm a metalhead but i also like the classics and i always thought that Guitar Hero had a better setlist on all of its games. Considering DLC for both games i like Guitar Hero better since i can say i like about 75% of their DLC i dont buy it but i like it while with Rockband i hate about 70-80%.
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