Guitar Hero 5 | Xbox 360 | Music-Rythm | September 11th, 2009

This is what seems to be the 9^th iteration of the long running Guitar Hero franchise. Trying to keep up with Rock Band is a hard challenge to meet with Neversoft at the helm now. With World Tour and a break with Metallica, Activision has is breathing new life in to the series with Guitar Hero 5. With it come a new song list, new modes and the social friendly atmosphere. The music may be the same, but does the game sing a new tune?

With this new entry into the long running franchise comes new songs, modes and complete presentation makeover. Thankfully, Activision has listened to the criticisms brought on from the stints with World Tour and Metallica. To start, the easiest way to jump into the game is through Party Play. Party play allows you to solely or cooperatively jump into game at any given time. For instance, if the game is left idling at the start menu, you can easily jump in and play the current song that is playing. If you don’t like the song you can easily change it even without starting the game itself. You can choose your difficulty and be off to a quick round of the game before your buddies jump in.

 

Getting deeper into the game here, you have Rockfest more of competitive version of “party play”. You’ll play a random set of songs with different rule settings for each. It’s a twist that is certainly keeping you on your feet. You’ll be able to vote on which rule set to use the most which includes ones like Faceoff, Momentum and Streakers. A mode like Momentum makes songs harder as you are completing the song. So, in essence it effectively makes the song harder as you play through it. If you’re playing with a full group of 4 players it can make for an entertaining night of rock.

The games signature 2d style has gotten an updated look and thus tells a more interesting story. Thankfully with a more free flow advancement structure, you’re progression through the game isn’t as strict as what World Tour and other previews titles were. There are even added bonus challenges that aren’t mandatory but fun to remember when playing through each song. Whether you’re jumping into a game online or off it’s much easier this time around. All you have to do is connect your instrument and you’re off to join in on the song currently being played. The new game lobby makes searching for difficulty modes, gameplay modes and more a much easier task. With 85 songs marking the track list this year, there’s more variety then ever before. The game also supports the Import option; here for a small fee you’ll be able to import songs from Guitar Hero: Smash Hits and World Tour.

 

However if you’d like tackle the games GH Studio, the studio itself has thankfully gotten tweaked.  While it may not be as user friendly as you can get; it’s manageable and easier to move around. Creating your own songs is still a blast and though you may not have the skills to keep up with the likes of U2 for instance, it’s still fun to mess around with. You can download songs from other artists as well as songs from Neversoft themselves. While Guitar Hero 5 doesn’t break any new grounds; it still manages to keep things fun and continues to focus on the group play. Thankfully with the added option to import songs and the inclusion of your Xbox 360 Avatar, it makes it probable to compete with Rock Band. There isn’t much online content to even gander at aside from leaderboards.

Outside of that, entering as a full band allows for opportunities to gain a band multiplier. Combining efforts bring you to the top of Star power and spreads it across your band mates. If you manage to play flawlessly you’ll earn even greater power increases your score tremendously in the process. With the addition to play with any number of instruments at one time you could easily start a band with just four guitars or four drums. It makes songs a lot more entertaining with your buddies.

 

Graphics

Although there isn’t much of a major change this year; the game has gotten a bit of change on the aesthetics side. The game manages to keep it’s over all style but mixed with a bit of blur and grain filters to keep an updated look. For those that buy the Xbox 360 version of the game you’ll get a kick out of seeing your own Avatar on stage with the band rocking out to your instrument of choice. The new art style makes Guitar Hero 5 continue to move forward into the realm of the music video. There are also special guests from Johnny Cash to Carlos Santana and Kirk Cobain though in essence they remain just brief cameos.

There are a total of 85 songs in Guitar Hero 5 all ranging from all kinds of artists. Acts like The White Stripes, Muse and even The Killers make an appearance. If you’re tired of the current song list you can check out the downloadable content which is as mentioned before forward compatible. Although the DLC doesn’t compare to Rock Band’s catalog just yet, given some time Activision could easily catch up. All songs are master recordings and should give you no trouble rocking out in that Dolby surround sound entertainment system.

 

Probably the biggest thing that Guitar Hero 5 has going for it is its complete focus on band play. It just makes the experience more fulfilling when completing each song as a group. There is a no fail mode in effect, which when a player fails out of the performance, the entire band has to play almost flawlessly to bring the player back. Thankfully the user interface of the game received some makeovers and doesn’t look as confusing as World Tour. The song studio is much more initiative and actually fun to produce with. While it’s still confusing to figure out how to work the song charts, tutorials are in place to help you along the way.

While Guitar Hero 5 isn’t up to the standard that Rock Band has started from day one; Activision is certainly playing catch up. With the ability to play with 4 guitars or 4 drums in one band,  it’s starting to turn into a hard purchasing decision between the two. With the addition of your Avatar for Xbox 360 owners and party play modes, Guitar Hero 5 certainly strings a new chord on its own. When making your decision between Rock Band or Guitar Hero; Guitar Hero 5 this year manages to be a nice surprise.