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Pew! Pew! Preview!: Guitar Hero: World Tour (Part 1)
Nick Chester06.20.08 - 12:01 PM 40 comments

Alright, so look -- it was around this time last year that I proclaimed Guitar Hero as we knew it to be dead. You see, I had played this other game. You know, the one with all of the instruments that just fit so nicely with a few drinks and a room full of friends. It's not like I didn't like Guitar Hero III; quite the opposite in fact. (I personally gave it an 8.5 out of 10.) It was just that the other game was so fresh, so new, so ... good.

I didn't need industry-insider insight to conclude that it was the future. Clearly, Activision and Neversoft were thinking the same thing that I was. So when they announced the multi-instrument evolution of their franchise, Guitar Hero: World Tour, no one -- especially not me -- was surprised.

A lot of you had the same reaction I did -- "I already have one game, and I don't need another drum set in my house." Some of you also jumped to conclusions about the title and used expletives that I probably shouldn't reprint. Well, now that I've gotten a first-hand look at the game and the new peripherals (including a newly designed guitar), I'm throwing away a coffee table and a couch to make room in my house for the game's Fall 2008 release. 

Hit the jump for some of the first details and find out why.

“There’s a lot of innovative s**t we’ve done with this thing,” World Tour’s project lead, Brian Bright, told us as we sat and watched a game demonstration at the House of Blues in Los Angeles.

He’s referring to the new iteration of the instrument that got us into this mess in the first place, the guitar. At first glance, the new peripheral is a bit bigger, but not much different than the original Guitar Hero design. The now-iconic colored five-button scheme makes its return, as does the whammy bar (which is slightly longer, making it easier to reach). Although it was hard to see because of the guitar’s all-black finish (which will likely change before it ships, and even has changed in the pictures provided to us), the direction pad is now designed to look like a knob, with the PS3 home or Xbox 360 guide button in the middle. The bridge of the guitar, a small silver bar, now serves as the “back” button as well as a secondary way to activate “Star Power.”

Slight tweaks in look and feel probably would have been fine for even the most hardcore Guitar Hero gamer, but Neversoft and Activision weren’t content to simply rest on their laurels. Further down the neck sits a new feature that will significantly change how you interact with the game -- a touch-sensitive slider. Not merely a gimmick, Neversoft demonstrated a number of ways in which this addition would work with World Tour.

Any notes that appear on screen can be tapped out on the touch pad instead of strumming, for instance, which may help with particularly fast solos or if you’re a bassist looking to “slap.” With longer notes, the touch pad can be tapped to tweak sustain and to alter your guitar sound in other ways. As far as how this ties directly into game, it was noted that the slide pad was perfect for certain songs that featured slide guitar or more synth sounds, and because of this, a new gameplay mechanic was added.

There will be sections where notes will run down the on-screen fret highway; by sliding back and forth, you “catch” the notes, a mechanic that Neversoft likened to the old Activision title Kaboom!. While it’ll still be possible to play the game in a more traditional manner, Neversoft promises that this type of creative playing will be rewarded with higher scores and unlockables. And it should be noted that all of the old Guitar Hero instruments will work with World Tour, despite this redesign ... you'll just miss out on some of the new functionality.

While the additions to the guitar peripheral and game are surprisingly impressive, it’s likely most people are going to want to sit down behind the new addition to the Guitar Hero franchise: the drums. While they weren’t letting us get our hands on the sticks (all of the instruments being demonstrated were prototypes, quite possibly the only ones in existence), the look of the set itself and the features are certainly impressive. Immediately noticeable is that the pads for the cymbals (hi-hat and crash) are elevated above the other three pads (snare, high tom, low tom), giving it that “real kit” look and feel.

“One of our mantras coming out,” Bright told us, “was that if you know the drum parts and you’re a drummer, you can almost close your eyes and play. There’s no tweaking the pad orientation [to fit game] for the songs; it’s like you’re playing a real drum kit.

Mission accomplished: the live demonstration had Neversoft designer Andy Gentile, a drummer himself, behind the kit. During a hot and heavy performance of Billy Idol’s “Rebel Yell,” I noticed Andy was paying more attention to the kit itself than the notes on screen. When asked about it later, he said he was having trouble seeing both of the screens that were set up for the demo, so he just played what felt right as a drummer. He aced all of the performance on Expert.

Another thing I noticed while listening to Andy’s playing was that some of the notes being hit sounded louder than others. This was later explained -- all of the pads are velocity-sensitive. In layman’s terms, this means that the harder you hit the pads, the louder the sounds you’ll hear coming from the game. The results are subtle, but noticeable; the idea is to deliver a more realistic drumming experience. Like the touch slider on the guitar, this feature finds its way into the gameplay. Certain notes that appear on the screen will have an “armor” on them, making them “accent notes.” By hitting these notes harder than your last few notes, you’ll get extra points. It’s small additions like this -- giving players ways to eke out extra points -- that have Neversoft hoping that World Tour will be the competitive music game of choice.

Construction-wise, the kit is looking solid. As Bright told us, they’re “not pinching pennies” when it comes to the design, with liberal use of silicone in the drum heads and raised cymbals. Again, we didn’t get to hammer away at it, but the 8-inch drum heads supposedly have a bit more bounce (allowing for flams and rolls) and should be quieter than “competing” peripherals. The drums will also be completely wireless, powered only by a few batteries.

For the final piece of the band puzzle, the vocals, there’s not much to report. Neversoft has partnered with Logitech on the simple black USB microphone which is said to have a nice, substantial weight to it. Unlike the other instruments, the microphone will be wired, simply due to the fact that Neversoft “didn’t have time to make [it] wireless.” This shouldn’t be a huge issue -- any singer worth his or her salt knows that swinging the microphone is a key element of proper rock star showmanship and posturing.

When all of this comes together in-game, the results aren’t that surprising. In fact, if you’ve played Rock Band, prepare for a serious case of déjà vu. The on-screen setup is just like Harmonix’s title, with three note highways for guitar, drums, and bass, and scrolling lyrics and a pitch bar on top of the screen. We did notice some of the new gameplay elements in action, including the new “open” string pick mechanic for the bass, where you’ll strum but won’t hit any buttons (this essentially adds an extra “note” for bass players). Visually, the game retains the slightly-more-real-than-real look of previous Guitar Hero titles. Fortunately, the game’s animation has been given more attention this time around, and we’re glad to report the drummer no longer looks like a wind-up toy monkey.

So while on the surface the game seems like -- dare I say it -- a “Rock Band clone,” Neversoft really does seem to be building a product that they can call their own. We doubt they’d admit it publicly, but it really seems like they’ve been watching their competition and taking note of both its failures and successes. This is highly evident when you start looking at the game modes and options they’re putting in World Tour, starting with the game game’s career mode.

World Tour will contain five distinct career paths for guitar, bass, drums, vocals, and a full band career. Unlike previous games, each career is not a linear progression. Instead, each will contain a series of gigs that you can play around the world at your own discretion, unlocking new venues and shows as you advance; at any time, you may have three or four gigs to choose from. The huge news, especially for fans frustrated with Rock Band’s local-only band career mode, is that World Tour allows you to play through a band career both online and off. It’s entirely possible in World Tour to start a band offline, and then continue progression online with completely new members.

Other online modes include the standard versus modes (Face-Off, Pro Face-Off) as well as the battle mode introduced in Guitar Hero III. (It should be noted that the arcade boss battles found in GH III will not be making a return in single or band career modes; instead, head-to-head battles with unnamed “celebrity musicians” will play out in a call-and-response fashion.) Regardless of what mode you’re playing, cash can be earned that will carry over into all game types. Neversoft are also promising detailed statistics tracking and leaderboards, similar to that seen on guitarhero.com.

For those frustrated with the steep difficulty of GH III, Neversoft have heard your soft sobs in the night, and have tweaked World Tour accordingly. They’ve done a lot of work over the past few months balancing difficulty, so there’s a more linear ramp; you’ll first notice this when Guitar Hero: Aerosmith ships later this month. But in World Tour, they’ve taken it to another level, adding a “Beginner” difficulty for babies and your grandma. When playing guitar at this difficultly, you’ll simply have to strum in time with a single colored bar on the screen; when playing drums, just hit any pad; when singing; simply make a noise. Not quite that bad, but still unsure of your skills? Don’t worry; the career progression will allow you to change difficultly as you advance, so that you’ll never get “stuck.”

If Neversoft were to stop here, it’s likely they you’d probably already be writing them a blank check for their yet-to-be-priced title. But they didn’t stop, and there’s more. A lot more. World Tour’s exhaustive feature set also includes full rocker and instrument customization, a mind-numblingly deep custom track creator, and an online song sharing service called “GH Tunes.” But for now, we’ll give your brain a break. Check back later today for more details, and the rest of our first-look coverage of Guitar Hero: World Tour.



MORE IN OUR Pew! Pew! Preview! SECTION

Latest comment by Anus Mcphanus |view all 40 comments
I was never excited for GH:WT but the more I hear about it the more I want it... Let's see if they can deliver the goods...

 Pew! Pew! Preview! Gallery | (12) Images
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Daddygerplex's Avatar
Daddygerplex at 06/20/2008 12:01

FFS.

I was ready to write off GH:WT as i have Rock Band and like so many other people dont have enough room for more bloody drums.

MUST.RESIST.
GAHHHHHHHHHhhhh
Chad Concelmo's Avatar
Chad Concelmo at 06/20/2008 12:06

ARGH! Why did you do this to me, Nick?! I can't have another set of instruments in my house. I have no room! But this actually sounds awesome ...

Damn you, Chester ... :)
falinter's Avatar
falinter at 06/20/2008 12:09

I can't wait to hear what or if Rock Band will fight back with.
ghets's Avatar
ghets at 06/20/2008 12:14

goddammit.
Daddygerplex's Avatar
Daddygerplex at 06/20/2008 12:14

AMMMAAAZINGGGGG!
kratosmaster's Avatar
kratosmaster at 06/20/2008 12:21

Fucking hell. "not pinching pennies" You know what that means for me? I'm guessing my cousin will have to die, for I won't be able to donate that kidney to her, clearly Activision would rather have it...
Gemsi's Avatar
Gemsi at 06/20/2008 12:24

Sadly all this has to do for me to buy it over rock band is be £20 cheaper, but i doubt it will be
GuitarAtomik's Avatar
GuitarAtomik at 06/20/2008 12:25

Man, I REALLY don't want to buy this but it's tempting. Mainly for the create-a-song mode. The main thing I want to know though is if the note-charts are better than GH3 since if they're not, none of this other stuff matters.

The confirmed set list so far isn't winning me over either (I'd go as far as to say it's repelling me).
DibbityDan's Avatar
DibbityDan at 06/20/2008 12:25

I see they're still going for the cartoony look. I'm not getting this.
EX35's Avatar
EX35 at 06/20/2008 12:27

Already reserved the game and ready for the pain.
Mxyzptlk's Avatar
Mxyzptlk at 06/20/2008 12:29

Holy crap. It sounds like Neversoft is really stepping it up.
covah's Avatar
covah at 06/20/2008 12:30

@GuitarAtomik

yeah I know what you mean. I was going to just buy the disc, but gah... that new guitar is tempting.
ZServ's Avatar
ZServ at 06/20/2008 12:31

Lol, neversoft doesnt know what they're doing. Did you not play GH:A? The difficulty is all over the place. This game is officially written off now. :)
Niero's Avatar
Niero at 06/20/2008 12:32

I'm really digging the updated hardware designs. Makes some of the Rockband stuff look clumsy.
Professor Pew's Avatar
Professor Pew at 06/20/2008 12:35

"so there’s a more linear ramp; you’ll first notice this when Guitar Hero: Aerosmith ships later this month."

That scares me, because the difficulty of GH:A was all over the place. Slow songs were ridiculously easy near the end of the career while faster songs could be quite hard near the beginning... Don't mess it up! A difficult Expert mode is not a bad thing as long as it's doable!!
Cyberxion's Avatar
Cyberxion at 06/20/2008 12:38

Holy fucking shit. This game is looking better and better every time I hear about it. I better start saving up for it now.
SilverDragon1979's Avatar
SilverDragon1979 at 06/20/2008 12:41

While it all looks very impressive I think I will wait for Rock Band 2. I don't feel like throwing away my coffee table to make room for another $190 set of plastic intruments.
RonBurgandy2010's Avatar
RonBurgandy2010 at 06/20/2008 12:45

OK, I'll admit it. I'm impressed.
DaTgUy's Avatar
DaTgUy at 06/20/2008 12:46

PASS
AKK's Avatar
AKK at 06/20/2008 13:05

Everything in this game will be in Rock Band 2, but better. Why? Because all Harmonix has ever done is make music games. There is a reason they are the kings of the music game industry.

Guitar Hero died in my eyes with Guitar Hero III, and since there are four other iterations already announced (three for this year at least), I'm not going to fork over any cash to the imitators.
Slick Icarus's Avatar
Slick Icarus at 06/20/2008 13:13

Wait, I'm excited for Guitar Hero again? Guitar Hero Aerosmith and DS? Meh. This? Lookin' good, though I doubt you'll be picking this up if you already have Rock Band.

The song creation stuff has me interested... Metroid theme, here I come!
king3vbo's Avatar
king3vbo at 06/20/2008 13:15

Is it just me, or does this look exactly like Rock Band...
Stahlbrand's Avatar
Stahlbrand at 06/20/2008 13:18

I am not yet impressed.

I will have to get hands-on to really render a positive opinion after GH3 vs RB. It sounds like they're just doing the obvious to me - taking everything that RB had and trying to make incremental improvements. The music creator is interesting (not to me, but in general) and thats a good add, but it doesn't effect the core gameplay.

I know alot of people are cheased at RB because of the stupid euro pricing/release schedual, and the really sketchy early equipment (not that they ever fixed the bass pedal, but they did eventually get good guitars out the door). I just don't think GHWT is bringing the fire yet. I remain open to the idea that it could be worth owning in addition to RB -- I just don't see it yet at all though.

Also, I just hated the visual design (from the characters, to the backdrops, to the GUI) of GH3, and this looks like the same stuff again, which is disapointing. The lack of licsenced instruments (is that confirmed yet?) means the visual team will turn their brown eyes to the guitar models this time as well - while the Gibson models were the saving grace of GH3, the in-game guitar pictured points to FAIL.

I want to learn more about the music creator - I don't have the talent to use it probably, but it is GHWT's only distinguishing feature so far, so they should get some real content out there about it.

The touch-sensitive area of the guitar controller looks to be about as useful and important as the extra fret buttons on the RB Strat - ho, hum. Sounds like they'll just be used for wankery outside of the music creation deal.

Drums look good, no doubt about that. Probably prefer wired honestly, but thats just IMO.
Demtor's Avatar
Demtor at 06/20/2008 13:19

Wow, they really went with the whole rockband thing didn't they? Jeezus...
SLiFE's Avatar
SLiFE at 06/20/2008 13:26

Goddamn you Activision. Goddamn you all to hell.

It all hinges on the note charts. If they're as terrible as GH3, where notes were arbitrarily added to artificially increase difficulty, then they can go fuck themselves.
If they give me notes that match what I'm hearing, then we're good to go.
Stahlbrand's Avatar
Stahlbrand at 06/20/2008 13:27

Yeah, I heard they like ripping off harmonix ;P

HMX = GH1, GH2 (awesome games)

Neversoft = GH3 (souless copy of GH2 with horrible new ideas bad note charts, and ugly art)

HMX = Rockband (awesome game, marred by first gen hardware problems and akward non-US release setups)

Neversoft = GH:WT (souless copy of RB with horrible new ideas bad note charts, and ugly art? It remains to be seen).

HMX = RB2 (will it continue HMX's tradition of quality and innovation, or will it be the first HMX game to be a 'bleh' cash-in? Time will tell here too).
heyricochet's Avatar
heyricochet at 06/20/2008 14:01

Just attach the bass pedal to something and someone has finally made the drum game I've dreamed of. I've been waiting for cymbals like this since I bought Drummania 4 years ago.
Sharpless's Avatar
Sharpless at 06/20/2008 14:08

Thanks for writing this up, Nick. While I'd much rather that they leave the full-band stuff to Rock Band and let GH stick to guitars, I'm very impressed with what I see here. I still prefer the Rock Band brand, but this definitely looks worthy, and not just a total rip-off.
Gynecologist Cobra's Avatar
Gynecologist Cobra at 06/20/2008 14:25

Goddamn it. I wanted so much to hate this game, but there was one part that convinced me to buy it.

"“One of our mantras coming out,” Bright told us, “was that if you know the drum parts and you’re a drummer, you can almost close your eyes and play. There’s no tweaking the pad orientation [to fit game] for the songs; it’s like you’re playing a real drum kit."

I've been drumming for about 3 years now, and I'm going to have fun with this shit. Well, there goes 180 bucks.
Gorelord's Avatar
Gorelord at 06/20/2008 14:26

bass pedal for drums still sucks.
Samit Sarkar's Avatar
Samit Sarkar at 06/20/2008 14:49

Well, I’m warming up to World Tour after reading this...but I’m going to still hold out for Rock Band 2, at least until I see a confirmed (partial) tracklist for this game, and/or get some hands-on time with it.
Dexter345's Avatar
Dexter345 at 06/20/2008 16:19

I do like that you can now activate Star Power on the mic and drums at any time you want. That was always a slightly annoying part of Rock Band, like when you had to save a band mate, but then ended up waiting until the next fill, and in the meantime your band failed.
Necros's Avatar
Necros at 06/20/2008 16:20

Why does this actually seem good?

Still, they need to secure that fucking bass pedal, I don't want that moving around.
Ed Cetera's Avatar
Ed Cetera at 06/20/2008 17:18

"I can't wait to hear what or if Rock Band will fight back with."

EA, being the publisher of Rock Band, will probably have some exclusivity deals to answer that question.
DJKoolaid's Avatar
DJKoolaid at 06/20/2008 17:27

HMX products only, please
SWE3tMadness's Avatar
SWE3tMadness at 06/20/2008 17:33

Interesting.

I wasn't actually planning on getting RB, because I have a Wii and I'm not really willing to pay full price for the stripped-down version that Harmonix is offering. However, there are so many awesome songs on the RB playlist that it makes it more difficult to decide between it and GH:WT. The deciding factor on which game I get is probably just going to come down to which has the better set of songs.
loki d20's Avatar
loki d20 at 06/20/2008 22:25

Not to be too rude, but that sounds written like an advertisement for the game. Lots of the stuff you mention, as if it's brand new, has been known for ages.

That or I'm being extremely skeptical with GH4.
countryfan1123's Avatar
countryfan1123 at 06/21/2008 01:36

I can't wait for this game to come out. I love the new slide peripheral, and if this game is going to have slide guitar songs in it then the Allman Brothers would be a natural fit and I would love to see them in it. Luckily my friend got rock band and i can play it anytime i want, so i don't have to have rock band. Bring on GH:WT.
Crumpet Lips's Avatar
Crumpet Lips at 06/21/2008 11:45

I never did like Rock Band after those fuckers decided Australia was a country that was not important to them. We still don't have that here! I think I will be getting GH: World Tour as I have not played GH3 for quite a while now and it would be good to play with those ugly drums
Anus Mcphanus's Avatar
Anus Mcphanus at 06/22/2008 14:12

I was never excited for GH:WT but the more I hear about it the more I want it... Let's see if they can deliver the goods

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