Guitar Hero World Tour

"Did they forget it’s called “Guitar Hero”? I’ll forgive them, this once."

Guitar Hero World Tour is the fourth main game (excluding the spinoffs 80s, Aerosmith and On Tour for DS) in the Guitar Hero series. It is the second of these main games produced by Activision. Most people have a background in what these games are like, as they have been a bit of a cultural shift in the world's idea on video gaming.

It was inevitable when Harmonix was acquired by MTV and released Rock Band that the Guitar Hero franchise's new owners would need to compete in the same vast market to keep up. The full band concept, with Guitar, Bass, Drums and Vocals, has arrived in the form of Guitar Hero World Tour.

I will refrain in this review from comparing Guitar Hero to Rock Band, having never played the latter due to its release delay in Australia. If you're looking for a comparison you'll need to go somewhere else. I will judge World Tour on its own merits as a game, compared with the rest of the series.

STORY:
Look I'm going to sum this up by saying, there is no story. There are a few intro videos to each career. But compared to what little storyline GH3 had, this has even less. You simply follow as an individual or as your band of friends, a rock band going from the depths of the US underground, around the world, to Times Square in New York on New Year's Eve (And that's not the end). I feel I can't fairly judge this game on its story because simply enough, it doesn't have one.
NA/10

GRAPHICS:
The Guitar Hero shift has taken another shift in visuals. The graphics on the performance have improved on PS2, with the game edging towards the peak of its last-gen capabilities. Current generation consoles such as the 360 and PS3 have gone even further with the graphics looking smooth and textured. Special Guest Rockstars such as Travis Barker (Blink-182), Jimi Hendrix and Hayley Williams (Paramore) definitely resemble their real life counterparts, even more accurately than Morello and Slash from GH3 did.

The HUD including the Note Highway has compacted more. The streak bar (which lights up for multipliers) has now been placed to the side of the Highway and seems easier to work out exactly how ‘full' it is, as does the Star Power bar. It is not quite as clear as it was on the original 2 games, but is definitely improved on Guitar Hero 3.
6/10

SOUND:
This is a Guitar Hero game. If the graphics are not up to standard in this game, you know there's something wrong. However the game definitely lives up to its potential. It plays in Stereo and sounds very good in Surround Sound. I've unfortunately got my PS2 hooked to an old TV and the monaural sound is very dodgy, but I'm not going to mark this down for that because that's a problem that only very few people deal with. On my larger stereo sound TV it sounded near perfect.

The Music Creator was not the quality one had hoped. Putting aside all of the complexity for now, unfortunately the music that can be produced has the quality of a good MIDI file, or a Polyphonic Ringtone. Copyright Restrictions (As well as technical problems) mean you can't record vocals. A disappointment which drops a mark off of sound.
9/10

SETLIST:
Talking about sound seems as good a time as any to talk about the Setlist in the game. I will try not to bring personal music tastes in to this. The song has 86 songs, all master recordings. It is a huge set from which to listen to. Unfortunately, to quote my sister, “They tried so hard to make Drums and Vocals effective that they forgot the game is called Guitar Hero.” Many of the songs have sub-par guitar parts, with many of the songs consisting only of different chord progressions. This is evident even in the some of the final tiers. I was really disappointed at the lack of clear-cut guitar solos in the songs chosen. It lacked the intense hammer-on and pull-off fun that the previous games had, in which you could look better than you actually are.

The drum parts are especially good however, I'm new to the drumming scene and my lack of coordination means I'm stuck playing on Medium difficulty. Nonetheless, some of the charts are very enjoyable and from what I can hear, very accurate!

Vocally the song gives players a really good range, from Pat Benatar's Heartbreaker to System of a Down's BYOB, to Los Lobos' cover of La Bamba. I try to stay away from the vocals though.

The lack of downloadable content (DLC) for the game on Playstation 2 really disappoints. I guess it is understandable due to the console's capabilities but it definitely restricts the enjoyment.

The setlist overall is quite good, it is definitely the “variety of music” that Activision claimed it to be. If I brought personal taste in I'd much prefer the previous games to this one but only because I am not yet accustomed to the drum part, which is clearly what took priority in this game.
7/10

GAMEPLAY:
Well of course with the full-band progression, gameplay has taken a huge step forward. I think that they've pulled it off. The guitar has only improved with the new slider gems and the ability to strum notes while sustaining others (letting ring, as fans of real guitar would know it) is definitely a new technique which is small and subtle yet adds another dimension to certain parts.

Being able to play a number of different instruments has just completely brought the Guitar Hero series to a new level. Drums are incredible, vocals (while I had some accuracy problems not related to my terrible voice) are definitely varied and enjoyable, and the Basslines have taken a big step in the right direction. However, as I have mentioned before, the note charts for the guitar parts are very bland. I wouldn't call myself a guitar hero pro, but I was able to reach the final song of the game, in expert guitar, within 5 days of playing (and only playing an hour or two a day, not all of that on Guitar). I 5*'d more of those songs than I didn't. For me this was a huge markdown. The franchise is still Guitar Hero and if they only put a half-hearted effort into the guitar aspect of the game, it's a huge disappointment.

Unless this is the first review you've read, you've probably heard of the long loading times on PS2. Loading times aren't so bad between songs, I can tolerate that. But when you're just choosing songs, or customising your character, or using the horrifically complicated music studio, it can get frustrating. You have to wait for each little image to load before you can move again, which can take anywhere from 3-10 seconds.

Customisability in this game is great if you can look past the loading times. There is a huge variety of instrument and instrument accessories to flick through. The characters themselves are quite vague and bland, but if you're looking for a designer sim you're playing the wrong game. I was sad that I couldn't replicate my Yamaha AES820 though.
7/10

DIFFICULTY:
I have to address this separately for each instrument, because there are definitely differing levels.
Guitar: Relatively easy on expert difficulty compared to the other games. Some of the songs are a huge challenge but nothing a few minutes in practice can't solve. There is no TTFAF or Jordan for guitar on this game, although Satch Boogie and Hot For Teacher definitely stand close. 5/10

Bass: Still Easy. Bass is definitely aimed towards a specific audience, those who enjoy a bit of repetition and rhythm in their music. The open E string makes the bass a little harder with a 6th strum style made available. Some bass songs are intense (BYOB) but most are pretty easy. 5/10

Vocals: This obviously depends on your own vocal ability. I lack vocal talent but I find that songs are still very easy to pass on Hard and Expert, as if the game doesn't want to tell me that I'm terrible. However I can see that 4- and 5-starring songs is a huge challenge. So depending on what exactly you're attempting to achieve causes a huge difference in difficulty. 6/10

Drums: To put this in perspective, if you can play drums in real life you can probably play Guitar Hero's drums. Having only two hands and a foot with which to play 3 pads, 2 cymbals and a pedal is a huge challenge. Rhythm and timing are intense for most songs, and without a lot of practice or prior drumming experience you're going to get yourself tangled up. That being said, this challenge is what makes it so enjoyable. And who doesn't like smashing things violently? 8/10

Overall, the game seems easier than the previous Guitar Hero games but the added instruments makes it so much more intriguing and replay value increases
7/10

REPLAYABILITY:
As I said, the fact there are now 4 different instruments to use lets replay ability go up a mile. Even without any friends, you can find joy out of playing alone. But with friends the game becomes so much more enjoyable and lasts so much longer. It's directed more toward cooperation than competition which suits some audiences but not others. In the very least it means there aren't the long queues at parties where Guitar Hero is the only source of entertainment, as 4 people can play at once. If anything it is this seemingly never-ending joy that is the best part of Guitar Hero
10/10

BUY OR RENT?
Personally, if you only have PS2 you should probably just rent the game (a few times if you must) and try the different instruments. If you have Rock Band already, go ahead and buy the game but just the game. I haven't heard any problems in using the RB instruments on World Tour, so go ahead and do that. Of course if you've got a next-gen console… Why are you reading the PS2 reviews? I would buy it just because of the reduced loading times and DLC, it makes the game so much more enjoyable. Of course if you're a huge fan of the rhythm and guitar games like myself, definitely go out and buy the game because you're going to find the most joy.

OVERALL SCORE: 7/10

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 11/21/08

Game Release: Guitar Hero World Tour (Band Bundle) (AU, 11/12/08)