The next level in the Guitar Hero phenomenon debuted Sunday and is already taking the markets by surprise.
According to reports from retailers, almost 500,000 units were sold on opening Sunday with 1,000,000 expected to sell by the end of the first week of sales.
Those buyers had the right idea. “Guitar Hero World Tour” definitely rocks, even though it has a few issues from “The Man.”
For a band of four, there are endless hours of fun in store, including a studio where you can write your own music.
The song list includes all original master recordings, which means only the highest quality music, and compared to its rival “Rock Band 2”, the list of artists and songs is superior.
The drum controller is quieter than the “Rock Band” version, which means your downstairs neighbors won’t be pounding on their ceiling when your band is rockin’ out.
The guitar has a new tap-sensitive area that allows for bonus slides and hammerons for those more advanced players.
For first time rockers, or those getting back in the rhythm, the tutorials help, but they’re a bit annoying because they are broken up into small, sometimes pointless segments.
Also as a word of advice: take it slow the first time back under the strap. Too much power stance, stick twiddling and raising thy goblet of rock may lead to sore muscles the next morning.
The set lists have a wide, cross-section of artists, which is conducive for meeting every band member’s musical needs and in ‘free play’ mode, you can add up to six songs in a set list, instead of the old style of one at a time.
“World Tour” also has the ability to create Tony-Hawk style characters, however the controls for the Wii version leave users frustrated from trying to pick the color three or four times because of a wrong button. Also, the buttons for the lead singer are rather sensitive, so often times you find yourself back a page in the menu without realizing it.
The first batch of instruments had the drums produced with a “tuning” problem. Activision has already started issuing drum tuners so the fix is on the way. The problem is causing some notes not to be counted, which can get frustrating.
You also might need a big TV if you don’t know the words, because they are pretty tiny. The lead singer is great for a band, but don’t do the solo singer career. Its useless and a waste of time, because the game leaves you with nothing to do during long, face-melting and gut-busting guitar solos, that are awesome in the other career modes.
Out of all my band mates, I felt a bit ashamed to enjoy this faux-rocking so much, since I was a part of a semi-successful band before, but our “product testing,” was so much fun. At one point, the three past and present editor-in-chiefs were sitting/standing there playing The Eagles’ Hotel California, and it was a blast. We are great at our guitar, bass and drums, but it was especially fun since we all sang along, somewhere around midnight, and none of us sing that well.
So, if you are all playing on expert, it might be time to drop the plastic instruments and pick up a real guitar. Then your repertoire wont rest on the shoulders of Activision, and your possibilities will be endless.