Summary World Tour is the first Guitar Hero title to feature the whole band ensemble. How does it hold up to Rock Band?

Description The sixth entry of the console Guitar Hero games takes a turn down the Rock Band road with full band gameplay over the guitar only design of the other games in the series. How do the new Guitars, Microphone, and Drums fare over the original concept of RB's peripherals? Let me start by saying that I have absolutely no clue how the new GH:WT guitar w/slider bar is, as I'm playing using GH2 and 3's X-Plorer and Les Paul. I've heard problems about the new slider bar being very difficult to find during actual gameplay, and already having 2 working controllers, I decided that paying out-the-ass for another $60 controller just wouldn't be worth it, as I'd also recommend to anyone else with other perfectly working Guitar Hero or Rock Band controllers. Just like with the guitar controllers, Rock Band drum kits and microphone will work just fine with Guitar Hero: World Tour. There are some ups and downs of the new drum kits however. Activision decided to go with a 3 drums and 2 cymbal design for World Tour opposed to Harmonix's 4 drum pad approach with Rock Band. I do like the realistic feel of World Tour's drum kit, as it has cymbal pads right out of the box (you have to pay upwards of $20 if you want to deck out your Rock Band 2 drums with optional cymbals), and while they are nice, they are not without their flaws. Maybe it's just because I suck so freakin' horribly, but the cymbals just seem too close to the drum pads for their own good. I continually found myself accidentally hitting the Yellow cymbal from underneath after I struck the Red pad, which made it surprisingly difficult to keep even a 2x multiplier going because I was hitting notes that weren't even there. The kick pedal is constructed much better than Rock Bands. In RB, to even consider playing the drums, you had to strip your feet to the sock so you didn't risk breaking the fragile little bastard with your street shoes, but now you can (like I do) play wearing working boots and the thing will still withstand. It's also alot quieter than RB's pedal, as are the drum pads. Also, do you remember the awkward "drum roll then hit the green note" approach to using Star Power in RB? Thankfully, Activision had acknowledged this and made Star Power much easier to use. All you have to do now is hit both the Yellow and Orange cymbals at the same time - that is assuming you can actually get any Star Power by not accidentally hitting one of the cymbals unintentionally while hitting the notes. Not much new to report about the mic. It's your one-stop-shop for all your Guitar Hero/Rock Band singing needs - that is if anyone actually wants to sing. This is less of a problem specifically with World Tour, and more of an inherited problem with the original concept. The introverted nerds of Guitar Hero and the screechy center-of-attention American Idol rejects don't usually overlap, but I have the balls to sing Pat Benatar, so there! Now that we have the peripherals out of the way, time to start reviewing the bulk of the bundle - the actual game. Gameplay: Go play Rock Band............................ OK, OK. While the concept remains the same........................................ I really don't know how to finish that. If you've ever played Rock Band, you've seen pretty much all there is to see. With the new additions to the instruments and a slightly more colorful aesthetic appeal, it's really the same game. That's not to say Guitar Hero: World Tour isn't better than Rock Band - quite the opposite really. What is it that makes a music game a music game?...... That's right, THE MUSIC! While Rock Band gives you mountainous piles of copper (that is to say, obscure stuff you've probably never ever heard of), Guitar Hero: World Tour gives you a small trash bag packed with gold and platinum. While GH:WT does borrow (a.k.a. copy) some of the songs from past Guitar Hero titles and Rock Band, the stuff it adds makes up for it. - ASIDE- (This is probably the point when you've noticed that I'm holding up every freakin' standard of World Tour to those of Rock Band, but you'll understand the reason. I could go on and on about what I like about GH:WT, but it all means nothing if I can't hold up any of its strengths or weaknesses to those of a concept that has already proven massively successful.) Why would I want to play songs like "Buddy Holly" by Weezer when I could be playing The Eagles' "Hotel California" - a song that's lyrics and rhythm have been embedded in my head by the sheer force of being, I don't know, actually good. And why would I choose to play Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive" (a song of theirs I never really cared for) over one of the biggest rock hits of the entire 1980s decade, "Livin' on a Prayer"? OK, that may be a bit of an unqualified statement, as "Livin' on a Prayer" is also in Rock Band 2, but Billy Idol's "Rebel Yell" isn't! Really though, the mediocrity of Billy Idol's "White Wedding" in RB has nothing on "Rebel Yell" found in GH:WT. Anyway, this is becoming a bit tangential. The instruments work great (most of the time), and graphics don't really matter all-that-much when you'll spend the majority of your time watching colorful circles fall down a mine shaft. I really can't recommend GH:WT over Rock Band in terms of gameplay innovation; it just comes down to which game you prefer the soundtrack over. Moving on - Sound: The sound quality is phenomenal! Just like with Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, all track are the master recordings by the artists themselves. And while we're on the subject, I truly think that World Tour would've been the game that would merit the whole "Legends of Rock" thing. In Guitar Hero III, the only real "Legend" of rock was Slash from Guns'N'Roses, but World Tour features renderings of Ozzy Osbourne, Zakk Wylde, Blink 182's Travis Barker, and Paramore's Haley Williams. Anyway, all there really is to say about the sound quality is that you are no longer plagued with those God-awful covers that you would've found back in the GH 1, 2, and Rocks the '80s days. World Tour also offers the ability to make your own songs (excluding the mic) in the GH Tunes, but that's just the sort of thing that I, along with other non-losers, wouldn't ever consider actually using, but that means that there will always be mediocre player-made songs to play. Thank you very much, but I think I'll stick to the content made by, you know, professional game designers. Here is the final word. You have to pick up Guitar Hero: World Tour despite its flaws - that is if you can get the band set for less than what it retails for. Because I'm not as thick as most gamers, I got every item in the set individually for cheaper than the whole band kit costs together. The game for $35, the guitars for $10 and $25, the mic for $10, and the drums for $65, totaling $145 (the kit costs $199.99 at retail stores). Other Scores Guitar Hero: World Tour (360) Received Game Informer - 9.25 (out of 10) IGN - 7.9 (out of 10) GameSpot - 8 (out of 10) 1up.com - A- (A+ being the highest) X-Play - 4 (out of 5) Review Page Hits: 1 today (19 in the last 30 days) Create Your Own Review or