Zero Punctuation: Beatles Rock Band and Guitar Hero 5
- Thread starter Yahtzee Croshaw
- Start date
And let's not forget, there's no I'm Only Sleeping.
Come on, I'd like to see even the most hardcore of GH/RB players try that backwards solo.
Come on, I'd like to see even the most hardcore of GH/RB players try that backwards solo.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Led_Zeppelin#Songs_in_other_mediaYahtzee said:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121487474239618065.html (scroll down towards the end)
If it's tl;dr, pretty much Led Zeppelin on NUMEROUS occasions, have denied Activision and MTV's REPEATED requests for a "Guitar Hero: Led Zeppelin" or a "Rock Band: Led Zeppelin"
So as awesome as it would be to have (or just to even have some Zeppelin songs in regular Guitar Hero/Rock Band), it's never going to happen...ever (unless you modify a GH2 disc)
Yeah sure Beatles Rock Band has a wavy difficulty curve... But hey it sure beats a vertical wall after a straight line like in the Guitar Hero World Tour songs. And like you said the songs aren't that challenging anyway... If there's anyone out there who has actually failed one then that's just sad.
The story mode is just so awesome and the dreamscapes included when the band stop touring are pretty sweet. However the song choices are average... Some really good ones (Get Back, Yellow Submarine, Twist & Shout) and then some not so good ones (do you want to know a secret, I am the walrus).
Sure Guitar Hero 5 has loads of songs... But just like with GHWT I still end up only playing and enjoying the ones I like the most (Jailbreak, Blue Orchid, Sweating Bullets). I unlike Yahtzee need to like the song to play it because I don't just play the track. However using the party mode is really fun.
Also one thing... The real achievements in Beatles Rock Band are not for getting 5 stars but getting gold stars which some songs need a full combo to get.
The story mode is just so awesome and the dreamscapes included when the band stop touring are pretty sweet. However the song choices are average... Some really good ones (Get Back, Yellow Submarine, Twist & Shout) and then some not so good ones (do you want to know a secret, I am the walrus).
Sure Guitar Hero 5 has loads of songs... But just like with GHWT I still end up only playing and enjoying the ones I like the most (Jailbreak, Blue Orchid, Sweating Bullets). I unlike Yahtzee need to like the song to play it because I don't just play the track. However using the party mode is really fun.
Also one thing... The real achievements in Beatles Rock Band are not for getting 5 stars but getting gold stars which some songs need a full combo to get.
Gotta agree and disagree with the whole 'youth running off plastic instruments' arguement, because I would've never considered picking up a real guitar if it wasn't for Guitar Hero II.
Although I do deeply agree that Guitar Hero should've schmoozed off the Rock Band idea of tons of DLC instead of tons of games, probably would've made the series succeed a lot more.
Anywho, now the fanboy-ness:
Loved the review, Yahtzee, can't wait until next weeks.
Although I do deeply agree that Guitar Hero should've schmoozed off the Rock Band idea of tons of DLC instead of tons of games, probably would've made the series succeed a lot more.
Anywho, now the fanboy-ness:
Loved the review, Yahtzee, can't wait until next weeks.
Isn't the entire of Guitar Hero and Rock Band little more than quick-time events. Press blue, green, green, blue, red not to die?
All Guitar Hero and Rock Band games have featured you playing non-guitar parts, it's just more obvious in the Beatles Rock Band and Guitar Hero 5.
To most of you, if you want a good setlist, just depend on downloadable content, because you will never win from a game's setlist. Guitar Hero 5 has bloody King Crimson, but for every "21st Century Schitzoid Man" or "Sweating Bullets" there is always a "Feel Good Inc." or "They Say."
To Slipknot4 and everyone else who demand more songs from the past year instead of old tracks like songs by Metallica, over half of this game is music since the turn of the millenium. Three songs were released this bloody year. The reason people have fond memories of the older Guitar Heros is because they are all over the charts, from Jane's Addiction to Heart, not just modern, mainstream crap.
To most of you, if you want a good setlist, just depend on downloadable content, because you will never win from a game's setlist. Guitar Hero 5 has bloody King Crimson, but for every "21st Century Schitzoid Man" or "Sweating Bullets" there is always a "Feel Good Inc." or "They Say."
To Slipknot4 and everyone else who demand more songs from the past year instead of old tracks like songs by Metallica, over half of this game is music since the turn of the millenium. Three songs were released this bloody year. The reason people have fond memories of the older Guitar Heros is because they are all over the charts, from Jane's Addiction to Heart, not just modern, mainstream crap.
the guitar hero series is odd... it's one of those weird games that you just buy... whether you intend on playing it compulsively or not. although there has been many a time i've been ticked off with the song list it is a nice thing to have if i have people over...
I can't believe this glorified "Simon Says" game has lasted as long as it has. Mind you I'm probably just bitter because although I can plonk out a few songs on an actual guitar I got booed off stage within twenty seconds of trying to play the bass part for "Paranoid" in one of the previous Guitar Hero games - which happens to be the only time I've played Guitar Hero. I still say the green button was broken.
XD
that limerick business made it seem like Yahtzee was getting tired of repeating the same old criticisms over and over to a wall of dense game programmer offal.
But these last two have reminded me why I have to keep coming back here every week.
Besides the undying wit and astute criticism, there is a level of personal reflection, and even confession, that is so often absent, even in today's blogtwittube world.
As a musician, I love playing these music games...as is the case with other musicians I know, I could never let myself "master" a RB or GH song, since that would require practice, and practicing a fake musical instrument instills deep levels of guilt in the face of the mountains of work required to play actual music. So we'd treating Rock Band or GH sessions as fun ways to listen to popular music and practice reading musical figures when drunk. Playing game drums seemed like a good compromise, since it felt the most like playing an actual instrument, but when I got behind a real drum set, I realized that all the work I had done amounted to about 20 minutes of reading a book about how to play drums and that the real deal was much heavier and stranger than the Rock Band equivalent. Ultimately, the songs that really touched me in the pop rock genre were constantly absent from the set lists....
So, slowly my interest has dwindled. I still have the set-up in case the right scenario arises where I have some people who want to play, but I've converted my Rock Band energy into learning Ukulele energy - since playing real guitar was always an exercise in frustration for me as a windist, and as a band nerd I always secretly resented the guy at the party playing green day on the acoustic - on which I can now learn to play and sing any song that I like, even Jethro Tull's Thick as a Brick.
that limerick business made it seem like Yahtzee was getting tired of repeating the same old criticisms over and over to a wall of dense game programmer offal.
But these last two have reminded me why I have to keep coming back here every week.
Besides the undying wit and astute criticism, there is a level of personal reflection, and even confession, that is so often absent, even in today's blogtwittube world.
As a musician, I love playing these music games...as is the case with other musicians I know, I could never let myself "master" a RB or GH song, since that would require practice, and practicing a fake musical instrument instills deep levels of guilt in the face of the mountains of work required to play actual music. So we'd treating Rock Band or GH sessions as fun ways to listen to popular music and practice reading musical figures when drunk. Playing game drums seemed like a good compromise, since it felt the most like playing an actual instrument, but when I got behind a real drum set, I realized that all the work I had done amounted to about 20 minutes of reading a book about how to play drums and that the real deal was much heavier and stranger than the Rock Band equivalent. Ultimately, the songs that really touched me in the pop rock genre were constantly absent from the set lists....
So, slowly my interest has dwindled. I still have the set-up in case the right scenario arises where I have some people who want to play, but I've converted my Rock Band energy into learning Ukulele energy - since playing real guitar was always an exercise in frustration for me as a windist, and as a band nerd I always secretly resented the guy at the party playing green day on the acoustic - on which I can now learn to play and sing any song that I like, even Jethro Tull's Thick as a Brick.
when he said why couldnt it be dlc I just had the biggest "thats excatly the same thing i've been saying" moment although i'm not a chump and still by the games.
They actually have quite a few more recent songs in those games than you make it seem. The issue simply is that most people remember playing a truly iconic song they knew and loved before over playing some decent song from some good, but relatively unknown band. Have a few friends come over and play those games. A few days later, ask them what they remember they played. I doubt you'll hear many titles from smaller bands, but most of them probably would remember playing something like "Don't Fear the Reaper" or "Won't Get Fooled Again".swaki said:
True, there was some good music in the past 10 years... but let's be honest here: The golden days of rock and metal (the genre >GuitarRock< Band obviously focus on) are over.
Yes, some good albums in those genres have been released, but IMO there was barely anything released that begins to compare to albums like "...and justice for all", "Images & Words", "Operation: Mindcrime" and only a few bands can seriously be compared to giants like AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Metallica and more. Even smaller bands from the past have had more iconic hits than the ones today do. Just take a look at Journey, Boston, Thin Lizzy and others. Almost everybody knows a song or two from those guys, even if they don't know the band's name.
I realize that many of those haven't made it into one of these games yet, but perhaps you get my point: There haven't been that many lasting hits in rock and metal in the past 10 years.
Most new rock and metal albums are so caught up in cliches they try so hard to escape that it just takes away all the suspense and leaves little room for something to really stand out... on top of that, many of them are mastered so loud that the damn songs are actually distorted (yes, I'm thinking of the new Metallica album, for example) out of the box and have no room for any dynamics... something which helps making classic songs like "Stairway to Heaven" so awesome.
I could go on, but I stop here and: Sorry for the rant.
As for the review:
Well... to me, there wasn't much of a review there, sorry. IMO it was more of a rant about how Yahtzee had enough of those games. On the other hand, there's not much to review about those games, anyway. We all know the drill by now and the additions in both titles aren't that big of a deal. Was there really no other game released to review / tear apart?
How about Rockband : Queen
http://wireninja.com/a-better-idea/
I have nothing against the beatles but I'd prefer a challenge.
http://wireninja.com/a-better-idea/
I have nothing against the beatles but I'd prefer a challenge.