Caesar takes a look at both of the top competitors in the world of online Rock N Roll. Which franchise can deliver more fist pumping action? Read on.
I've been playing the Guitar Hero series since it came out on Xbox. I remember picking up the plastic white guitar and jamming classics on Guitar Hero 2 for hours upon hours. The one thing the game was lacking, however, was co-op play. And then Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock was released! (Which I still think is the best version of Guitar Hero ever.) Not only did it have awesome songs, it had online co-op! The game featured both Guitar and Bass and was the most note-challenging version to date. Meanwhile, Rockband was slated to drop and I thought, "There is no way Rockband can top Guitar Hero.”
I play on expert to be challenged. It’s fun for me. But online games must have quality songs and DLC, too. When I picked up Rockband and gave it a whirl I found it too easy. I ran through the career on expert in 2 days, 5 starring the songs with ease, with the exception of Green Grass and High Tides. I also didn’t care for the look of the notes or the hammer-ons and pull-offs. With that said, Rockband broke out some innovations Guitar Hero probably wished they would have introduced first. Top of mind is “Band Play” with drums, bass, singing and guitar. And the crazy amounts of awesome DLC cannot be ignored. These two factors alone started to spell the end for the Guitar Hero series.
Rock Band 2 came out with improved drum and guitar controllers, while supporting older models. New features included a "Drum Trainer" and "Battle of the Bands" modes, online capabilities for "World Tour,” and merchandising opportunities for the players' virtual bands. In addition to the 84 songs included on the game disc and 20 free downloadable songs, over 1400 additional songs have been released for the Xbox 360, Wii, and PlayStation 3 versions. More are added each week. All of these songs, existing and future are compatible with almost all Rock Band titles.
Guitar Hero's answer was Guitar Hero: World Tour. In this version Guitar Hero decided to go toe-to-toe with Rockband 2 with the full band set-up. They also tried to counter Rockband’s never ending DLC with an in-game Studio so we could make our own music. This game basically closed the door on Guitar Hero. The band kit was the biggest fail I’ve ever seen by a game manufacturer. While Rockband was basking in its own glory, with functional and accurate instruments, Guitar Hero: World Tour was striking negative chords in the community. The drums failed hard. Some kits didn’t even work out of the box; others broke in days. The guitar, sporting an improved appearance, failed as well. The strum bar loosened quickly causing missed notes. And what was up with the touch pad nobody used because it lacked a frame of reference when sliding down to it? The in-game music studio was a good idea. But it went virtually unused because of poor usability.
Then Guitar Hero moved toward band-centric versions of the game. Titles that featured Van Halen, Metallica and Aerosmith hit the shelves regularly. Ultimately these were lame $60 discs that didn’t support DLC and featured zero improvements. In fact, some of them had previous game mechanics when a newer version of Guitar Hero was already out. Epic fail!
And here comes the final nail in the Guitar Hero coffin. Guitar Hero has decided to drop a game called Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock. The only addition to this version is called "Quest Mode” narrated to players by Gene Simmons. Quest Mode is a career mode where the players attempt to complete songs and challenges to advance the story and game. It is based on a plot where band players are attempting to release the "Demigod of Rock" and his guitar from imprisonment by "The Beast.” Players gain strength through bringing new members aboard the band. That’s the best they can do? Well truth be told, Activision has released Red Octane and Neversoft’s guitar division, thus pretty much admitting defeat in the video game music world.
Rockband 3 however has hammered that nail with everything fans of both games have ever wanted. They've added a real Fender to the mix, not to mention a keyboard! The game will launch with 83 songs and existing content for other Rock Band games including on-disc songs, downloadable content, and songs from the Rock Band Network. Most content from Rock Band 2 will be exportable in the same manner as original Rock Band content was (cost and exclusions to be published). In particular, Rock Band Network songs will not be as restricted as they currently are in Rock Band 2, and can be used in random set lists, challenges, and customized set lists. Downloaded content released after Rock Band 3 hits is not backwards compatible due to song format changes. The Rock Band Network will gain new features to support vocal harmonies, keyboards, plus Pro drums and keyboards. The Rock Band Network, however, will not support Pro guitar or bass due to complexities with authoring and the testing user base.
So I’m calling it. As long as the Fender lives up to the hype, the winner in dominating fashion is Rockband. I’m a little bothered that I can’t play the Pro Guitar online because co-op is such the draw. But I think I can bear through solo while they work on getting that right. I’d rather they take their time then go the Guitar Hero route and ship a broken product only to crash and burn a franchise.
