Developer: Neversoft

Publisher: Activision

Release Date: Oct. 26, 2008

Systems: PS3 (reviewed), PS2 Xbox 360, Wii

ESRB Rating: T

Official Web site

0:00 I've played all the previous Guitar Hero games, but haven't even touched this one in previews. I'm especially excited to see how the drums hold up to those from Rock Band, one of my favorite games of all time.

0:13 Jumping the clock forward to account for the time it took to unbox and set up the drums and guitar. The setup is actually a touch more complex than that for Rock Band, although the drums already seem a bit sturdier.

0:14 I put the game in the system. The preview screen blares: "SHARE THE EXPERIENCE! Join together for the definitive rock & roll gaming experience in Guitar Hero World Tour." Jeez, what marketing major dropout wrote that?

0:15 Shocker ... there's a game update that needs to be installed. A 19 MB download delays the start of the game yet more.

0:17 Downloaded, installed and finally ready to go ... after some more loading, of course.

0:18 Logos, then the traditional animated opening. A Kenny G lookalike plays a clarinet on stage in front of a huge, bored-looking crowd. In the wings, a guy with an evil grin and a devil ring looks on. The music notes turn into a spiral that hypnotizes the crowd. A big-haired glam-rock singer gets the "GH" signal on his phone. A girl with a tiny cup of coffee gets the same on her watch. A blonde-haired guy in a white robe gets it in the forest. A pink-haired girl sitting in an airport also receives the call. They all rush to the stage and break the hypnosis with a concentrated blast of pure rock. WHOO!

0:20 More loading and a relatively long setup for the save files. The game names my band "Free Shelter." I can change it, but I really don't feel like it. Let's just get on with it!

0:21 The audience is on fire in the background of the menu screen as "It's time to rock" floats by on a little sign. The whole presentation seems kind of chintzy, especially compared to the Rock Band interface. Also, I have to reach up and use the d-pad on the drums to navigate the menu. In Rock Band I can just hit the middle two pads to go up and down.

0:22 On to Drum Career. A "life and times of a drummer" cut scene runs. He starts as a baby banging stuff from his highchair, then becomes a wild drummer who drowns out a jealous singer. Kicked out of the band, he grabs a "Drummer Wanted" ad from a flier.

0:23 The selectable difficulties are Beginner, Easy, Medium, Hard and Expert. They just had to add an extra one, didn't they? I was doing Hard drums on Rock Band 2, but I don't know how this one is calibrated, so I start with Medium.

0:24 I can create my own rocker, but I don't know why I'd bother when Axel Steel is available. ROCK! I skip the tutorial, figuring these drums should work just like the Rock Band drums, right? Right!

0:25 My choices for first locale are Sweden, Los Angeles and "USA." Isn't L.A. in the USA? I end up going with the you-ess and its awesome songs: Lenny Kravitz's "Are You Gonna Go My Way" and Linkin Park's "What I've Done." I'm impressed with the selection!

0:30 I get 94 percent of the notes, with an 82-note streak in there somewhere. What I like so far: the lower bass pedal, which causes much less strain on my legs; the "3-D" feel of having to reach up to hit the raised cymbals; and the timed "countdown" when the game un-pauses. What I dislike so far: how loud the drums are when I hit them (the cymbals especially sound like they're going to come flying off any second!); the tiny note area; and the jagged edges on the note jewels themselves. So far the dislikes are winning out.

0:35 I have to turn up the volume on "What I've Done" to hear it over the clacking of the drums. I get another 94 percent. My rank is ... a picture of a pig? I don't know what this means. More interface annoyances: The score multiplier is this tiny little thing to the right of the note crawl. I can barely read it on my non-HD TV. Also, the game seems to be missing notes I'm obviously hitting. On Rock Band I'd be getting 98 to 99 percent on these simple patterns. I'm starting to get annoyed here.

0:37 Apparently I've earned an encore. As an errant beer pong ball sends alcohol into our speakers, we start in to "Livin' on a Prayer." I played this on Rock Band 2, so this should be a good comparison.

0:42 Another 94 percent ... I swear every note in that 6 percent I missed is because the drums just didn't work. There's way too much "give" on the cymbals, making it hard to do quick note sections. My rank is up to a picture of go-go boots ... is it so hard to use stars? Also, I tried to activate Star Power by hitting both cymbals when I didn't have the requisite power meter. This counted as a missed note ruining my combo. I miss Rock Band's drum solos.

0:43 Decibel magazine says "Free Shelter" was "A little *TOO* Hot!" Um ... right. I get $500 from Zildjian as a sponsor.

0:45 I go up to Hard difficulty, which requires backing all the way out to near the main menu. This time I pick L.A.'s mellow, classic mix: "On The Road Again" and "Band on the Run."


0:48 Well, that was a bust ... the drum part in "On the Road Again" is almost entirely a boring, constant stream of one note, with occasional bass pedal hits. Who thought this was a good song for a game like this? On the plus side, I scored a 96 percent this time, which seems to prove that the cymbals are the main problems.

0:49 One more thing I've noticed so far ... Star Power is much stingier here than in Rock Band. It's also harder to tell when you have enough Star Power and when it's going to run out. This interface is just overall worse than Rock Band's, no question.

0:54 I score a 90 percent on "Band on the Run," and I'll swear on a stack of my mothers' graves that it wasn't my fault. I think I figured out the drum recognition problem actually ... the cymbals don't seem to register reliably unless I hit them REALLY FREAKING HARD. I'm reluctant to do this, though, because even when I hit them softly they're REALLY FREAKING LOUD!

0:56 Even though time is running out, I'd feel bad if I didn't try out the new GUITAR Hero, after all.

1:04 Wow, I forgot how long Oasis' "Some Might Say" is. I don't really like the distinct clicking of the strum bar. I also don't like how the fret buttons are further apart than those on Rock Band's guitars, which makes it harder to slide my fingers from note to note. Of course, the new little touch-sensitive area might obviate this, but it doesn't seem to work. Is there a special section in some songs where I can use it or something? (I skipped the tutorial.) Otherwise, it's just like Guitar Hero has always been, with a slightly worse interface.

Would I play this game for more than an hour? Not much.


Why? While I like the song selection, the interface and instruments are just so much worse than those in Rock Band 2. That said, I might toy around with the song creator and vocals a bit before I give it up.

This column is based on a retail copy of the game purchased by Crispy Gamer.

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