Guitar hero world tour. Music gaming at its best (Guitar Hero: World Tour Band Bundle (PS3))

Member Name: peppersandwich

Product:	Guitar Hero: World Tour Band Bundle (PS3)
Date:	12/11/08 (332 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fun for all, can play at any level together as a band

Disadvantages: It is rather expensive

The music game of the year in my opinion. I am going to split this review in to 5 sections for ease of reading. These will be Setlist, instruments, gameplay, online and finally graphics.

Set list

(full set list at end of review)

As you can see from the setlist there is a very wide range of songs spanning several decades. Whatever your genre there is going to be some songs in that list that you will absolutely love to play. There are also some fantastic "guilty pleasures" such as eye of the tiger, la bamba and others.

All this does not even include downloadable content which is being released regually and at a reasonable price. Fantastic news for all those who like metallica the entire new album is aviable for download on GH3 and world tour!


Instruments

I believe this is what makes GH:WT unmissable. I have played with both guitar hero and rock band. For me the quality of the instuments is far better with the guitar hero bundle. Not only do you have an innovitive touch pad on the guitar for adding sliding and slap bass effects but the drum kit is FAR superior for several reasons. Firstly the actual layout of the pads make much more sense, instead of 4 pads in a row (ala rock band) guitar hero gives you 5 pads but spaces them more like a real drum kit with them staggered and 2 slightly raised (as cymbals). So although giving you 1 extra pad to hit this makes the game feel much more fluid and makes sense as you play. Secondly The bass petal on rockband regually made my leg hurt. The guitar hero one though is much larger and rather than a spongey feeling as you press it so you dont really know what its been hit there is deffitate tap as you this the bass. finally the kit is MUCH quieter, this makes for less annoyed family members which is always nice!


Gameplay
Gameplay is very similar to past guitar hero/rock band games. Hitting notes as they corss a line at the bottom of the screen. There are a few new additions to World tour which I will explain now. The most simple addition is the ability to stum an open string on the bass. This means you actually play the strum bar without holding a fret button, this in effect gives you a 6th note to worry about! Next we have sliding and slap. There are new translucent notes that if joined by a purple line you can play by just sliding you finger up and down the touch pad, if they are not connected then you can tap the colour they respond to without even stumming! Another feature of the touch pad is a wah effect which is similar to using the whammy bar.
A couple of changes to the star power have been made also, you can activate star power on drums and vocals when ever you wish by either pressing a button or clapping for the mic or hitting both cymbals on the drums. You can also pick up star power even if its active at the time.

Another new "gameplay" element is the music studio. This is an extreamally complex tool that allows you to compose you own music (although without lyrics) that can be played along in GH and then shared with the world on GHTunes. Difficult to master but with much time spent alot of fun can be had with this new feature.


Online
The online features are 2 fold, sign up for the GH community (at community.guitarhero.com) and you can link your account with your game allowing you to upload your high scores and enter tournements to win real life prizes!
There is also the more obvious online features such as head to head guitar battles or even a full battle of the bands! These all seem stable but I am not finding very mnay people playing online - yet!


Graphics

Not that is matters but this game is perfectly good looking. You are able to create you own rocker for the first time in GH giving you much more freedom to make a band that looks like you and your friends. The play area itself is crisp and clean with no stuttering, especially good looking on a HD screen.

All in all if you like rythm games this is a fantastic game, just think what crimbo will be like with the family standing round pretending that they are a band!

Current price aprox £150 for the full band kit, this often included a free extra guitar controller to use as a bass. This is compaired to rock band which is retailing for about £80 and then an extra guitar controller will set you back around £55.



Set list

1994 "About a Girl" (Unplugged) Nirvana
2007 "Aggro" Enemy The Enemy
1970 "American Woman" Guess Who The Guess Who
1980 "Antisocial" Trust
1993 "Are You Gonna Go My Way" Lenny Kravitz
2006 "Assassin" Muse
2005 "B.Y.O.B." System of a Down
1973 "Band on the Run" Wings 1982 "Beat It" Michael Jackson
1997 "Beautiful Disaster" 311
1980 "Crazy Train" Ozzy Osbourne
1997 "Dammit" Blink-182
2005 "Demolition Man" (Live) Sting
1972 "Do It Again" Steely Dan
1984 "Escuela de Calor" Radio Futura
1997 "Everlong" Foo Fighters
1982 "Eye of the Tiger" Survivor
1994 "Feel the Pain" Dinosaur Jr.
2004 "Float On" Modest Mouse
1998 "Freak on a Leash" Korn
1977 "Go Your Own Way" Fleetwood Mac
2007 "Good God" Anouk
2008 "Hail to the Freaks" Beatsteaks
1979 "Heartbreaker" Pat Benatar
1995 "Hey Man, Nice Shot" Filter
1978 "Hollywood Nights" Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band
1984 "Hot for Teacher" Van Halen
1977 "Hotel California" Eagles
1973 "Joker" "The Joker" Steve Miller Band
2008 "Kick Out the Jams" MC5's Wayne Kramer
2006 "Kill" "The Kill" 30 Seconds to Mars
2005 "L'Via L'Viaquez" Mars Volta The Mars Volta
1987 "La Bamba" Los Lobos
2007 "Lazy Eye" Silversun Pickups
1986 "Livin' on a Prayer" Bon Jovi
1967 "Love Me Two Times" The Doors
1987 "Love Removal Machine" The Cult
1994 "Love Spreads" The Stone Roses
2001 "Middle" "The Middle" Jimmy Eat World
2007 "Misery Business" Paramore Paramore
2005 "Monsoon" Tokio Hotel
1988 "Mountain Song" Jane's Addiction
1980 "Mr. Crowley" Ozzy Osbourne
2005 "Never Too Late" Answer The Answer
1987 "No Sleep Till Brooklyn" Beastie Boys
2006 "Nuvole E Lenzuola" Negramaro
2002 "Obstacle 1" Interpol
1980 "On the Road Again" (Live) Willie Nelson
2000 "One Armed Scissor" At the Drive-In
1987 "One I Love" "The One I Love" R.E.M.
1979 "One Way or Another" Blondie
2006 "Our Truth" Lacuna Coil
2008b "Overkill" Motörhead
2002 "Parabola" Tool 06.1 Tool (USA)
2007 "Pretty Vacant" Sex Pistols
1998 "Prisoner of Society" Living End The Living End
1992 "Pull Me Under" Dream Theater
1967 "Purple Haze" (Live) The Jimi Hendrix Experience
1973 "Ramblin' Man" The Allman Brothers Band
2008 "Re-Education (Through Labor)" Rise Against
1984 "Rebel Yell" Billy Idol )
2006 "Rooftops (A Liberation Broadcast)" Lostprophets
1996 "Santeria" Sublime
1987 "Satch Boogie" Joe Satriani
2001 "Schism" Tool
2007 "Scream Aim Fire" Bullet for My Valentine
2000 "Shiver" Coldplay
1995 "Some Might Say" Oasis )
1992 "Soul Doubt" NOFX
1995 "Spiderwebs" No Doubt
2003 "Stillborn" Black Label Society
1975 "Stranglehold" Ted Nugent
1974 "Sweet Home Alabama" (Live) Lynyrd Skynyrd 1993 "Today" Smashing Pumpkins The Smashing Pumpkins
2007 "Too Much, Too Young, Too Fast" Airbourne
2006 "Toy Boy" Stuck in the Sound
1984 "Trapped Under Ice" Metallica
1970 "Up Around the Bend" Creedence Clearwater Revival
2006 "Vicarious" Tool
2002 "VinterNoll2" Kent
2007 "Weapon of Choice" Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
2007 "What I've Done" Linkin Park
1967 "The Wind Cries Mary" Jimi Hendrix
2005 "You're Gonna Say Yeah!" HushPuppies

Summary: If you can afford it go and buy it, if not...save up!