Footballer, astronaut, rock and roll star: the holy trinity of dream jobs; the often unachievable aspirations of millions of snot-nosed playground dwellers the world over; and, tellingly, the three career options 99 per cent of us will come nowhere near to achieving.
Before Guitar Hero strut into view, there was no way of replicating how it felt to rip off a guitar solo standing astride an arena stage like a geniune spandex clad rock god. But oh how times have changed.
Guitar Hero has given everybody the chance to pretend to be Jimmy Page, or Slash, or whoever it is that floats your six-stringed boat. What hadn’t been taken into account is all those players who actually didn’t want to be the guitarist, but who dreamed of howling up a storm a lá Robert Plant or unleashing some Keith Moon-style drumming madness. For those forlorn types, the backing band that never was, Guitar Hero World Tour is the true answer to their prayers.
This is a Guitar Hero that shifts the focus to the whole band, not just settling on the prima donna histrionics of the lead guitarist. It’s a long awaited development, and one that will push Guitar Hero to a whole new level. “For the first time in the franchise’s history, Guitar Hero World Tour introduces a drum controller and a microphone, bringing home the full band experience,” explains Activision’s Kate Ward.
“The new peripherals have been in development for a long time because we wanted to make them right – even the guitar controller was rebuilt from the ground up – with a new touch-sensitive neck slide for solos and power chords alongside other hardware tweaks. The drum controller is constructed from a soft rubber which provides tangible feedback whilst dampening the sound, and has raised cymbals, too, so the drumming is much more natural. The microphone is the only piece of the band which is wired – but this is so lead singers can swing it round in a proper rock star style.”
With the new peripherals adding a whole new dimension to the series, a graphical spruce up has also been undertaken. “In terms of the software, Guitar Hero World Tour enhances almost every aspect of the game,” continues Ward.
“The visuals are true high definition, featuring cameos from Jimi Hendrix, Sting and Ozzy Osbourne, among others, whilst the track list features 86 master tracks – the biggest selection in the game’s history. In addition, we’ve an in-game recording studio in which players can compose their own original tunes and share them with the world. If you combine this with our ambitious downloadable content plans, then the set list is pretty much limitless.”
“The strap line for Guitar Hero is ‘Unleash your Inner Rock Star’. This concept is no longer limited to the hardcore gamer – because at heart everyone wants to be a rock star. This means that as the popularity of the game has grown, the demographic has also changed to include a lot of casual gamers. Part of the skill has been balancing the set list to offer something for everyone – and in that sense it’s the most diverse in the series. In addition, we’ve introduced new gameplay elements at either end of the scale – so there’s a new beginners’ mode for those who’ve never played before, and the introduction of new power chords and an ‘open’ bass for the more experience players.”
Gig-hardened Guitar Hero pros are already warming up rock moves for this fresh aural assault. One of the key selling points is that World Tour broadens everything out, making what was previously a one-man-against-the-world solo mission into a team outing.
“This will be the biggest Guitar Hero game in the series,” says Ward. “It’ll be the family entertainment of choice this Christmas – and we’ll be continuing to support it throughout 2009. We established this genre, and we will continue to make it our own.”
Pandering to those muso types for whom rocking out to a bit of Bon Jovi is simply not edgy enough, the set list has been massively expanded whilst downloadable content offers a whole new dimension of possibilities in track selection. “The schedule of DLC is by far the series’ most comprehensive,” continues Ward. “We’ve lined up an absolutely staggering array of artists and albums, which will appeal to all music tastes.”
Paying attention to what’s going on in the charts has also influenced the track listing in-game, as has a bit of good old fashioned customer feedback, which has led to the inclusion of all sorts of extras, including a couple of tunes by Burnage’s favourite sons.
“We always listen to feedback from the fans,” says Ward. “For example, this summer we asked our UK fans who they would like to see on Guitar Hero and they told us Oasis. And so at launch we have three songs available from Oasis’ massive number one album Dig Out Your Soul, with the rest of the album available early in the New Year. The songs have to be picked according to a variety of criteria, but high up is that each has to be fun and a joy to play. ”
With marketing plans gearing up for launch, it looks like there will be no escaping World Tour for the rest of the year. “Print, online and broadcast are all ready to go,” confirms Ward.
“We’re on the vast majority of TV networks from pre-order to post-launch. We’ve huge expectations for Guitar Hero World Tour so have developed a media plan which does it justice. You won’t be able to miss it.”
As one of the most anticipated launches of the year, fans will be keen to get involved, whilst newcomers ... Article continues below
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be wondering what all the fuss is about. Either way, you can be sure it’s going to be a rock and roll Christmas.
