Warriors of Rock to Recapture Guitar Hero's "Soul"

[John Funk]

Warriors of Rock to Recapture Guitar Hero's "Soul"

Developer Neversoft thinks that the Guitar Hero series has lost its identity and soul, but that Warriors of Rock will help them reclaim it.

Harmonix may be releasing Guitar Hero: Queen [http://www.gamestop.com/Catalog/ProductDetails.aspx?product_id=78049].

As a result, said Neversoft's Brian Bright to ONM [http://www.officialnintendomagazine.co.uk/article.php?id=18396], the franchise had sort of lost its identity - something Neversoft was hoping to correct with the next installment, Warriors of Rock.

"Yeah, I do [think the series has lost its way.] I think the first 3 had a very strong idea of rock n roll with very strong, very focused set lists and I think Metallica could fit in that bunch as well. World Tour we went to a full band and with Guitar Hero 5 we were trying to please everyone out there and I think in the end you end up not pleasing any one person a lot."

Warriors of Rock, on the other hand, will hopefully feature a set list for people "who liked Guitar Hero 3 and the challenge that it had. We don't have pop songs on there ... [some] articles said [Guitar Hero 5] was a bit soulless. We wanted to put more into this game and give it its life back."

A franchise rediscovering its soul is a good thing. But alas, this means my dreams of one day playing Guitar Hero: Lady Gaga will sadly never be.

(Official Nintendo Magazine [http://www.officialnintendomagazine.co.uk/article.php?id=18396])

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[JokerboyJordan]

Yeah, I agree with them and I'm looking forward to GH6, hopefully it will recapture what made the first 3 so good. I like the confirmed setlist so far and hope that the DLC will be in theme too.

 

[LawlessSquirrel]

Sounds like they're just trying to get a cheap burst of support from fans in my opinion. I do agree though, GH 1-3 were good, but just didn't interest me after that. Harmonix moved on to Rock Band, and so did I. The Neversoft games seemed like they were trying to cash in on the namesake with fancy effects but minimal improvements; all flash no substance, as the saying goes.

Not including GH3. That was my start on the series, and was great fun.

 

[Dorkmaster Flek]

That's great, but it kind of goes against the whole full band mentality that they were going for with the last several titles. Obviously the guitar gets the most love now, hence the title. Oh well. This basically means GH will be "the metal one" and RB will basically be for everyone else. GH6 and RB3 are literally going totally different directions, and I for one think that's great. It will allow the two to co-exist much better, as they truly appeal to different audiences.

 

[Cynical skeptic]

Please don't tell me that image is of the new controller. It just screams "Y DON'T U KIDS LIEK TEH GUITAR HERO? IS IT NOT XXXXXXXXTREME ENUF??"

 

[Torque669]

When I first saw it I loved the song list as it feels like there going for more metal and concetrating more on the guitar which it should be doing because it cant stack up to Rock Band on every scale.

However what the fuck is with the characters transforming? Is that the new Star Power where they go and collect the hearts of the audience to save their performance?

 

[Jared]

That is one funky controller! if thats the controller...wow?

 

[ThaBenMan]

I think this is great news - Guitar Hero definitely did lose it's way when it went full band just to compete with Rock Band. They definitely should just focus on rock and guitar to fill their own niche. I may just have to check out this new title.

 

[JaredXE]

Didn't Guitar Hero's soul go out and form another company?

 

[Corven]

Personally I'm more interested in power gig than this or other music games, it might flop but I'm willing to give it a chance.

 

[John Funk]

Please don't tell me that image is of the new controller. It just screams "Y DON'T U KIDS LIEK TEH GUITAR HERO? IS IT NOT XXXXXXXXTREME ENUF??"

One of them. Actually, you see how it has a middle "shaft"? That's the actual controller, it'll have a bunch of different "shells" like the one you see. So you could have that controller, a Les Paul controller, a Stratocaster controller, etc. It's actually really cool.

 

[Sight Unseen]

Please don't tell me that image is of the new controller. It just screams "Y DON'T U KIDS LIEK TEH GUITAR HERO? IS IT NOT XXXXXXXXTREME ENUF??"

One of them. Actually, you see how it has a middle "shaft"? That's the actual controller, it'll have a bunch of different "shells" like the one you see. So you could have that controller, a Les Paul controller, a Stratocaster controller, etc. It's actually really cool.

And a gamestop pre-order bonus gives you a new set of "Wings" that makes it look vaguely like an axe.... stupid gimmick is stupid. Everyone should just play GH6 on a stick guitar for the most realistic experience...


Can I haz Rock Band 3 pleaze?

 

[ultimateownage]

Meh, probably still won't buy it. Looks boring. The idea of a swappable controller mentioned in previous posts sounds like a good idea though. To be honest, I kind of like that design.

it'll have a bunch of different "shells" like the one you see. So you could have that controller, a Les Paul controller, a Stratocaster controller, etc. It's actually really cool.

A Les Paul you say? Activision, if you don't make a Slash Les Paul Standard model I will never forgive you. Either that or a flying v.

 

[Rawker]

Rock Band 2 tried to capitalize off of GH2. A ton of bands that were in GH2 magically appeared in RB2. RB tried to please everyone as well, and was doing fine somehow. GH2 was loved for it's lack of pop-itude. I blame the fall of GH on them losing Harmonix. I blame Rock Band for being the Mario Party of music games.

 

[Cynical skeptic]

One of them. Actually, you see how it has a middle "shaft"? That's the actual controller, it'll have a bunch of different "shells" like the one you see. So you could have that controller, a Les Paul controller, a Stratocaster controller, etc. It's actually really cool.

... *squints* ... *enlarges* ... *finds the video thats a screencap from*

My initial impressions remain unchanged. It looks like their marketing research department watched the yahtzee guitar hero and rock band reviews and didn't take away anything beyond "the controller is gay."

Unrelated note, the dependency on "video" is getting out of hand. That controller could've been represented in a simple jpg. But no, I have to go find a goddamn video showing shit flying off and on the strangely phallic central shaft before I'm even allowed to see what the damned thing looks like.

 

[technoted]

I'm still not sure, I enjoyed the soundtrack on GH: Metallica the best because it was lacking Emo music, GH3 was pretty good because it contained a fairly large amount of metal 1&2 had a good soundtrack but they weren't by the actual bands. Warriors of Rock is still leaving me feeling a bit curious though.

 

[Virgil]

Rock Band 2 tried to capitalize off of GH2. ...

You seem to know that Rock Band was created by the same people that created Guitar Hero, but you're still talking about Guitar Hero in the same sentence as if it was something separate from the creators. You can't separate the game from the studio that created it like that. Here's what the game development tracks look like for the two main developers:

Harmonix = Guitar Hero -> Guitar Hero 2 -> Rock Band -> Rock Band 2 -> The Beatles: Rock Band -> Rock Band 3

Neversoft = Guitar Hero 3 -> Guitar Hero: World Tour -> Guitar Hero 5 -> Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock

You should expect similarities from that content line. Neversoft pretty much took the Guitar Hero source code and tried to figure out how to make the game based on it. Harmonix, on the other hand, actually created the game. It should be no surprise that the quality of the Guitar Hero games hasn't held up as well.

 

[Geoffrey42]

Didn't Guitar Hero's soul go out and form another company?

Exactly. Anytime Neversoft tries to claim some sort of ownership/authorship of "Guitar Hero", especially in reference to what "was" Guitar Hero 1 and 2, it is just sad. Harmonix was the soul behind Guitar Hero. I don't see how Neversoft plans to "recapture" the spirit of what Harmonix was doing by turning up the "game" aspect of Guitar Hero, and turning down the "musical experience sim" aspect. Don't get me wrong: I really like that Neversoft keeps exploring the boundaries of the music game genre (even with features like the power-ups for competitive play and the boss battles in GH3, both of which I personally despised). It is just silly that they would claim that they're "reclaiming the soul of the original Guitar Hero games", when they're obviously headed off in their own direction.

 

[The Last Nomad]

I like how they are changing it up. Its hard to change such a simple design and they didnt for a long time.
However, they should be looking back to Guitar hero 1 and 2 for inspiration, not 3.

 

[Programmed_For_Damage]

I liked the first three Guitar Hero games and loved GH: Metallica (mainly cos of my love of metal).
The other GH games sucked so a return to the original formula may be just what the doctor ordered.