Tuesday night I was at the nearby Best Buy, picking up the new Futurama movie, when I saw the latest Guitar Hero game all set up. It’s no secret that GH is trying to compete with Rock Band after the Red Octane-Harmonix divorce in 2007 (thanks Activision). The latest in the GH franchise is World Tour, no idea why such a dumb name. It includes a drum kit and microphone in addition to the faux-wood guitar (as lead or bass). Sounds just like RB. The hype is over the drums co-designed by three famous drummers (Stewart Copeland is the only one I respect) and the guitar’s new sliding interface for those big Metal solos. Oh, there’s the recording studio allowing you to make new tunes…without vocals for some odd reason.
Anyway, I took a shot at playing it. I also wanted to see if there were any immediate differences in game play, content, etc. So far I wasn’t impressed. The song choices weren’t terribly different, about a fifth of the songs are available in RB yet some are rather lame for a “rock” game. Michael Jackson? Willie Nelson? Both are great artists yet they don’t belong here unless there’s an R&B and Country Hero game. I shouldn’t have been surprised due to the disappointing choice offered at the end of GH3, “Devil Went to Georgia” from the Charlie Daniels Band? GHWT gets a pass on this because RB also had a stinker or two (the Outlaws cover namely). The two I played were tunes I wish RB offered in the DLC despite how overplayed they are on the radio: “Band on the Run” and “Hotel California.” I tried them at medium difficulty; I am nowhere as skilled as Denny Laine or Joe Walsh. These were enjoyable. The deal-breaker was how long GH took to load between songs on a PS3. If I didn’t know better, I thought I was on a PS2. Next opportunity, I’ll take a stop watch (in my iPhone) to time them and eliminate the perception argument.
No matter what the results may be, I’m not dropping Rock Band for this. It has too many resemblances to GH3 which was disappointing and RB has at least a one-year head start in numerous areas.
There will be a more elaborate review of Rock Band and its refined sequel Rock Band 2 in the very near future.