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Dec 29
Early thoughts on “Guitar Hero: World Tour:”
- I started on Medium mode this time around. GH3 gave me enough experience that I thought starting on Beginner or Easy mode would be too mind-numbing. I was right. Medium is relatively simple, but has its challenges: keeping your concentration through 400+ notes is one of the biggest. The occasional interspersed fourth fret throws you off when you’re not used to using it. And yet it’s “easy” enough to really get into the rhythm of the music and find your GH groove. There are some tricky combo moves, though, that keep me on my toes.
- So, you have to play sets of songs (2 to 4) to advance on this system, and not just a song at a time? Weird. Well, I mean, you can not do the career mode and just practice a song. So it’s still available to you. But it is different. Likewise, I haven’t played as a bass yet, but I can’t wait.
- So far, the hardest thing to do has been to come up with a band name.
- The new guitar is a little longer than the previous model. That took some adjusting. The star power button is a nice addition, but I haven’t wrapped my brain around it yet. I’ll work it in eventually. For now, I just do the traditional Raising of the Guitar Neck to invoke it.
- The slide portion on the neck, likewise, is something that excites me but I haven’t worked into my gameplay yet. I fear taking my right hand off the strumming part, even for a second. I know there’s a tutorial for it in there, so I’ll have to play with it later.
- I’m not a Nirvana fan, yet it was a Nirvana song that landed me my first 100% score of the game.
- GH is fascinating to me, from a music perspective: When you think of a song, you hum the melody. But the lead guitar line is often NOT the melody. When you’re playing a GH song, it takes a while to stop pressing the frets to the melody, and start playing to the guitar line. I find that fascinating. And the songs that go further off that line are often the most challenging and rewarding. (I think I mentioned this with the previous iteration of the game, too. Pardon my repetition.)
It’s obvious that some songs were chosen for their drum or vocal parts, and not their guitar licks. Some songs are almost painfully boring to play on the guitar, with long silent portions. That Beastie Boys song is only there for the person singing. Perhaps it’s good for the drums, too, I don’t know. But it’s not a guitar song. Does this weaken the brand? Or is it what the video game populace demands, and so Activision must provide?
There’s still a certain level of cognitive dissonance in watching the CGI band perform a song by a band you know, particularly when using the original master tracks that sound like they come from the 1970s or 1980s. You KNOW Rick Springfield doesn’t look like that guy, and hearing those old recordings being performed by a character animated with a few thousand polygons seems — off. I’d expect the Intellivision Running Man to be singing the song, instead, you know?
Dec 30, 2008 @ 00:13:10
Did you only get the guitar kit? My bro-in-law has the band kit and I really should have played it before opening my present. Would really love to make a return so I can have a set of GH drums to pound on when I get back home next week.
Dec 30, 2008 @ 06:58:34
Yeah, just the guitar kit for me. No room for the drum set at this point, and nobody to play it with. Plus, since I’m playing it after everyone else in the house is asleep, I’m not sure the drum kit would be too welcome, let alone my “singing.” I’d love to try the drums someday.
Dec 30, 2008 @ 13:29:22
There is no finer experience in the world of human endeavour than drumming along to “Love Me Two Times.”
Dec 31, 2008 @ 15:46:41
I’m a huge fan of the Nuge, but after 20+ odd minutes (seemingly, I know) of “Stranglehold” I’m almost ready to hitch my wagon to Greenpeace. *Almost*.
Drums are insanely fun. They’ve got a much steeper learning curve than guitar/bass, but once you get the hang of it, they’re utterly addictive. The only issue is, if you’re playing with a group, when you fail to keep a steady beat you can throw the entire band off.
I’m also not a fan of the “Band Setlist” mode of only playing grouped songs that “count” towards your stats/progression, but the new guitar looks pretty spiffy (I’m still playing with my GH:III Les Paul, which I use with both GH:WT and Rock Band). That “finger sliding” looks odd, though.
Did anyone else suppress a laugh when you have to play “The Wind Cries Mary” and Jimi Hendrix pops out from backstage behind the singer, who in turns looks behind him and is SHOCKED to find Hendrix alive and well, standing behind him? Kinda creepy. But funny.