Guitar Hero World Tour

"a great game with some minor annoyances"

First, I'd like to say that I love this game. It's very fun and addictive. However, there are some minor annoyances and flaws that could've been done better. Also, I don't have the band kit, so I haven't been able to use the drums or microphone or play in a band.

Gameplay - 10/10

Guitar Hero is famous for it's fun gameplay. You use a guitar as a controller and simulate playing it. You catch notes by pressing buttons on the neck of the guitar controller and then strumming the strum bar. It may not sound innovative, but it really is. Even if you've never even heard of a song that you have to play in Career Mode, you're almost definitely going to be able to play it, unless if it's a really hard song. Career Mode is where you select an instrument that you want to play throughout the mode, you create a character (and I might add that character customization is outstanding), and then they play gigs all around the world. As you get more money, you go up in ranks, and you can buy new gear. The last gig for Career Mode is on top of a building in Times Square.


Sound/Music - 9.5/10

You play real songs made by real people, and most of the songs are very catchy and famous. You can almost be guaranteed to find a song that you will love. However, I would've added some more modern and more famous songs, and most of the songs in the game are closer to classic rock or music from 2000-2005, with a few modern songs. The sound itself was really good, and if you missed a note or played a note when you weren't supposed to the guitar, bass, drums, or vocals in the song will react, making an unpleasant noise if you play the wrong note and no noise if you miss a note. It really feels like you're playing in a band.


Controls - 9.9/10

The controls were very, very innovative. As I mentioned above, you use a guitar-shaped controller to play, catching notes as they go by a bar at the bottom of the note highway. The controls are completely responsive, but I've heard that sometimes when you're playing the drums one pad won't respond unless you slam really hard right in the dead center of it. This can be fixed easily, but as I don't have the drums I can't make much of a comment on that. If I could change one tiny thing from the controls, I'd make lifting the guitar for Star Power more responsive. If you activate it that way, you have to have the guitar neck pointing straight up for the game to respond, and if you press the button for Star Power it can severely interfere with your jamming. However, this is a minor problem, and never really affects gameplay.


Graphics - 6/10

The graphics really weren't that great. The character movement can be choppy at times, and the crowd animation was really bad. Every single person in the crowd made the exact same movement at the exact same time, making it feel less like you were actually on stage and more like you were playing a video game. However, I really liked how when characters are singing their mouths move perfectly to the lyrics. Still, images are usually grainy and choppy. In fact, I found a glitch where when I made the drums' image the band logo, my character would always have the band logo floating in front of him, even on stage and during cutscenes.


Wi-Fi/Multiplayer - 9/10

I haven't been able to play multiplayer, but I've heard that it's pretty fun. You each play one instrument and all of the highways are on one screen. That's all that I've heard about same-room multiplayer. I have used Wi-Fi, and it's pretty good. There are a number of styles of play that you can use on Wi-Fi, like Guitar Battle and Guitar Face-Off, which are actually entirely different. There's also some stuff with drums, and you can even play in a band. One thing that should have been changed was the fact that one person on Wi-Fi could be using Beginner in a face-off and the other player could be on Expert. I find it pretty unfair, seeing as the opponent can have a huge advantage just by using a lower difficulty level. In my opinion, you should've had the option of finding someone who'll play on the same difficulty level, but they don't have that in the game. Also, when I search for someone to play with or against on Wi-Fi, it can be difficult to find an opponent. Usually, it's just the time of day that I'm playing, but sometimes it just won't find anybody.


Overall - 8/10

Guitar Hero World Tour had a lot of potential, and most of the game was very good, but some of it was pretty boring or messed up. However, I would definitely recommend getting this game. Seeing the high price tag stops a number of people, and I only got it because I got it as a birthday present. The guitar kit, which is what I have, costs around $100, and the band kit with the microphone and drums is around $150-$200, but I'm not sure.


Rent or Buy?

I'd say rent it first and see if it's your kind of game. If you like it, buy it. If you don't like it, return the game and don't bother buying it. I personally loved it, and would recommend buying it. Parents, letting your child rent or buy it is entirely up to you, but be careful -- some of the lyrics have language (most of it is edited out but they still have some minor language) and if your kid listens to the lyrics closely they can pick up some pretty bad stuff.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 12/23/08

Game Release: Guitar Hero World Tour (Guitar Kit) (US, 10/26/08)