Guitar Hero: World Tour is the latest release into the franchise that has elevated musically based video games. While the game certain has room to improve and expand, it can safely be said that not only is GHWT the best thing to grace the license’s name, but it is also, clearly, the best all-around band setups in terms of instruments.

When Neversoft and Activision first showed off the title and peripherals months ago, there was an excitement that was pervasive. Rock Band had captured the imaginations of those who enjoy the genre, and Guitar Hero 3 was a great guitar game. But Neversoft wanted to take the whole concept of being in a band to new heights. GHWT does precisely that. The instruments are amazing, from the silicon heads on the drum kit to the new guitars and Logitech microphone. The songs are, perhaps, a bit too varied but are sure to strike a chord with any musical fan. The songs run the gamut from classic rock to country (a Willie Nelson tune is in the starting lineup) to more modern rock fare.

But let’s break this down a bit:

The game modes …

Like previous GH titles, you can hop into the quick play, or choose the career path. The former lets you play as a single player or as a band. The latter charts a course from venue to venue, gig to gig, that increases the challenge as you move forward. Driving the challenge, in addition to the skill required to complete songs, are the difficulty settings you choose. You play a gig, succeed at it, earn money and unlock new items you can apply to your rocker or instrument. This is all pretty much straight forward.

But there is much more to GHWT than simply jumping in and playing the songs that others have created. You can create your own rock star, but perhaps the shining element of this title – the one that will keep people coming back time and again – is the ability to enter the music studio and create your own song. You can lay down keyboard, bass, drum, rhythm and lead guitar lines. In what is slightly reminiscent of great old programs like Cakewalk for the PC you can also go in and edit what you have played on the instruments.

This was not as intuitive as first hoped for but it is not that hard to get a handle on with a bit of perseverance. And quite honestly, this is just a lot of fun to play around with. Going into the instrument set-up for guitar, you can choose the key you are playing in and insert Line 6 effects to the tonal quality of the guitar. The idea behind this is to create one’s own songs and then upload them onto the GHWT site. Some of the songs created by the Neversoft crew are already on the song list, to give players an idea of what players will be allowed to do.

The battles have been improved from GH3 with players having to keep up with and stopping guest guitarists from winning over the crowd. You will be competing against the likes of Zakk Wylde, Jimi Hendrix and Ted Nugent.

With the band mode, there is also the ability to go online and play with and against others in a head-to-head competition. The version of the instruments and game received where not final retails copies and were for the debug units, so testing this was not available.

The instruments

Because this is a brand new game, featuring a new band concept for the Guitar Hero franchise, a new range of instruments has been introduced. The drums have silicon heads, which allow a bounce-back effect and some of the notes that you will play will also call for accented hits (harder) than others. With the drums, there is a nice intuitive vibe to playing them. There are six total drum notes available, going from snare to high hat, crash cymbal, two toms and the floor pedal for the bass drum. The set-up is much like a real drum set (and the drums even have a midi port in the back to connect with true electronic drums), and the drum line that appears on the screen does not follow the PlayStation button coding, but rather a color coding that corresponds to the position of the elements of the kit. This means that players will not be spending time with their head down, hunting for the right ‘notes,’ but rather will be able to attack the drums and watch the screen. Rather amazing is that if you remember a song, and can hear the different musical instruments’ parts, you will find that all corresponds with what you will be reading for striking the drum pads. This can make the experience feel intuitive, on the whole.

The guitar comes in two lines, the rhythm/lead guitar and the bass. Obviously the bass is a little easier at the lower levels to play, but the dev team has taken pains to make certain that the bass runs are as involved and exciting as other instruments. The GH guitar itself has been revamped to include a tap and slider bar. This will take some practice to perfect but can be a boon to players for rapid attacks. Also the star power is not only attached to the motion control of the guitar neck, but you can activate it with the push of your palm on the body of the guitar.

The microphone is from Logitech. It has weight and while not as bright as the microphones heard through the PS3’s SingStar title, it still picks up well. The on-screen words come across bright and clear on an HDTV.

The instruments were all wireless and were read very nicely by the game. They are also compatible with Rock Band, but at the time this review was written, only the guitars translated between the two and the Rock Band drums worked for GHWT, but the GHWT drums did not work on RB. For those wondering, the game itself ‘dumbs down’ to fit the number of heads used by the original Rock Band drum kit.

The songs

Key to the success of the title is the songs. They run the gamut of styles and this might be a bit of a disappointment to some fans who will head into a gig looking to shred a little in hard rock and butt up against Willie Nelson’s On the Road Again. The complete song list, with 86 master tracks, contains:

• 311 - “Beautiful Disaster”

• 30 Seconds To Mars - “The Kill”

• Airbourne - “Too Much Too Young”

• The Allman Brothers Band - “Ramblin' Man”

• Anouk - “Good God”

• The Answer - “Never Too Late”

• At The Drive-In - “One Armed Scissor”

• Beastie Boys - “No Sleep Till Brooklyn”

• Beatsteaks - “Hail to the Freaks”

• Billy Idol - “Rebel Yell”

• Black Label Society - “Stillborn”

• Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - “Weapon of Choice”

• blink-182 - “Dammit”

• Blondie - “One Way or Another”

• Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band - “Hollywood Nights”

• Bon Jovi - “Livin’ On A Prayer”

• Bullet For My Valentine - “Scream Aim Fire”

• Coldplay - “Shiver”

• Creedence Clearwater Revival - “Up Around The Bend”

• The Cult - “Love Removal Machine”

• Dinosaur Jr. - “Feel The Pain”

• The Doors - “Love Me Two Times”

• Dream Theater - “Pull Me Under”

• The Eagles - “Hotel California”

• The Enemy - “Aggro”

• Filter - “Hey Man, Nice Shot”

• Fleetwood Mac - “Go Your Own Way

• Foo Fighters - “Everlong”

• The Guess Who - “American Woman”

• Hush Puppies - “You're Gonna Say Yeah!”

• Interpol - “Obstacle 1”

• Jane's Addiction - “Mountain Song”

• Jimi Hendrix - “Purple Haze (Live)”

•  Jimi Hendrix - “The Wind Cries Mary”

• Jimmy Eat World - “The Middle”

• Joe Satriani - “Satch Boogie”

• Kent - “Vinternoll2”

• Korn - “Freak On A Leash”

• Lacuna Coil - “Our Truth”

• Lenny Kravitz - “Are You Gonna Go My Way”

• Linkin Park - “What I've Done”

• The Living End - “Prisoner of Society”

• Los Lobos - “La Bamba”

• Lost Prophets - “Rooftops (A Liberation Broadcast)”

• Lynyrd Skynyrd - “Sweet Home Alabama (Live)”

• Mars Volta - “L'Via L'Viaquez”

• MC5’s Wayne Kramer - “Kick Out The Jams”

• Metallica - “Trapped Under Ice”

• Michael Jackson - “Beat It”

• Modest Mouse - “Float On”

• Motörhead - “Overkill”

• Muse - “Assassin”

• Negramaro - “Nuvole e Lenzuola”

• Nirvana - “About a Girl (Unplugged)”

• No Doubt - “Spiderwebs”

• NOFX - “Soul Doubt”

• Oasis - “Some Might Say”

• Ozzy Osbourne - “Crazy Train”

• Ozzy Osbourne - “Mr. Crowley”

• Paramore - “Misery Business”

• Pat Benatar - “Heartbreaker”

• R.E.M. - “The One I Love”

• Radio Futura - “Escuela De Calor”

• Rise Against - “Re-Education Through Labor”

• Sex Pistols - “Pretty Vacant”

• Silversun Pickups - “Lazy Eye”

• Smashing Pumpkins - “Today”

• Steely Dan - “Do It Again”

• Steve Miller Band - “The Joker”

• Sting - “Demolition Man (Live)”

• The Stone Roses - “Love Spreads”

• Stuck In The Sound - “Toy Boy”

• Sublime - “Santeria”

• Survivor - “Eye of the Tiger”

• System of a Down - “B.Y.O.B.”

• Ted Nugent - “Stranglehold”

• Ted Nugent’s Original Guitar Duel Recording

• Tokio Hotel - “Monsoon”

• Tool - “Parabola”

• Tool - “Schism”

• Tool - “Vicarious”

•  Trust - “Antisocial”

• Van Halen - “Hot For Teacher”

• Willie Nelson - “On The Road Again”

• Wings - “Band on the Run”

• Zakk Wylde’s Original Guitar Duel Recording

Part of the problem with some of these songs is that, while they are from the bands that created them, they may not be from the original bands. Take Lynryd Skynyrd’s Sweet Home Alabama. This is the “Live” version and thus it differs from what music fans might be used to hearing. What that translates to is that anticipating guitar or drum runs can get you into trouble. And while it is a great song list, in and of itself, it is a tad too diverse. Still, if one considers this the foundation, then it is likely that support for the game down the line will include the ability to focus on song genres or artist packs and deliver a much more focused experience.

And the game itself is not as hard as the GH3 experience. Yes, the difficulty does ramp up as you move from beginner to easy through medium to hard and expert, but it was found that playing on hard on GHWT was a much easier experience than playing on hard in GH3.

Graphics and miscellaneous

This game comes with attitude. It’s nice to see Jimi Hendrix strut out on the stage and wave off the lead singer of whatever band is on stage with a disdainful flick of his hand. While the characterizations are all cartoon-like in nature, they carry a nice bit of swagger and respect that shows the developers were not only fans but seemed slightly in awe of the talent they bring to the game. The instrument parts are easily read and the backgrounds are very colorful. This game plays out in high def is very much a delight. The sound quality is also first rate.

The interface is intuitive. Sure, there are load times, and some songs have long intros that might leave a solo player waiting, but this is all to be expected. And while the song runs (corresponding what appears in the fret bars to be played and the fingering of the guitar or hits on the drums) can make sense, some of what you see might prove a little frustrating to real guitar pickers. It’s a great finger exercise, but some of the songs are much harder to play in GH than in real life.

Overall

GHWT represents a major leap forward for the franchise, and it is indeed a welcomed leap. This is a game that is amazingly enjoyable on many levels, from playing to creating music. This is not just about the guitars anymore, but about the total package, deceptively coming under the GH branding. However, if that branding stands for anything, it stands for quality and that is what GHWT delivers. The instruments hooked up and played very well on the PS3, without any lag, the graphics and sound were wonderful and the song list – while maybe a bit too diverse – still scores with the master tracks.

If you are new to the concept of band and more instruments than just a guitar, this is clearly the game to get. From the Roland-modeled drum heads to the Line 6 effects, GHWT shines and elevates the musical genre of video gaming.

Gameplay: 9.4
Some load times, but the instruments play intuitively for the most part. The depth of the gaming experience is classic GH with some nice additions. And the new instruments are wonderful with no calibration and no lag noticed.  

Graphics: 9.0
Solid animations and characterizations. There are some great celebrity moments in this game.

Sound: 9.5
Nice to hear Hendrix songs come into the mix. While the songs do try to cater to every listening experience, it is not hard to imagine that this sets the foundation for, say, a country edition, or pop, or …

Difficulty: Easy/Hard
There is a difficulty setting that caters to every skill level.

Concept: 9.5
The instrumentation is brought into the game is a remarkable manner. The master tracks are a very nice addition and the game is diverse enough to appeal to fans of many musical persuasions and skill levels.

Multiplayer: NA
This was not rated because while there is the same-machine band concept, GHWT offers so much more that was not tested because of the release received. The whole idea of playing online with others, with matching up for challenges, or submitting songs is vital to the franchise and that was not online. Playing on the same machine, as a band, was a blast, though. 

Overall: 9.4
This is the natural evolution of the GH title and it has been realized in a remarkable fashion. The drums are fun to play, the guitar may not be quite the difficult challenge of GH3 but can still be a great finger exercise, and there are nice surprises up and down the line. The future for the GH franchise has been elevated to the next level in a manner that does homage to the past setting the stage for what remains a bright future for the franchise.