Let me just start off by saying this: I don't care about Kurt Cobain or Johnny Cash being in this game. Think what you want about the issues involved here but I'm just going to pretend it never happened.
Anyways, Guitar Hero 5, though it's the 12th game in the series (not counting Van Halen because it's technically not out yet) is exactly what you'd expect. Activision gives you a bunch of new and old songs to jam through with your plastic controllers, hitting the right note at the right time. Same old song and dance here. But what did impress me about this game, is that the developers seem to pay attention what works and what doesn't, making everything shiny and seemingly flawless. Out with the mess and in with the good but it seems that some bad habits are hard to get rid of.
When first launching the game, you'll notice you have two options now. One is to head into the normal main menu where you'll find all the different play modes and so forth. However, the other is Party Play. Ever want to play that song in the background of the main menu? Now you can! Simply pick your instrument , your difficulty and that's it. They've even put hyper speed in the quick menu, for good measure. You'll play song after song, which as the name suggests, is perfect for a party. Did your buddy come in too late for an awesome guitar solo? No problem; your pal can set up just as easily as you did even though you're in the middle of a song. Dropping out to get some food after hours of playing is the same deal, back out and your buddy can jam without you, though it is still just as awkward to play alone as it ever has been. This is one of those features that I don't understand why it was never there before. For a game that involves so much playing together as a band, why was there never a mode for instantly jumping in to play with all your friends? I find this feature mandatory for any rhythm game sequel to come, whether it be Guitar Hero or Rock Band.
However, if you rather not play "Hungry Like a Wolf" as your first song, jump into quick play which is nice enough to have all the songs unlocked already. While this is great to, once again, play instantly with your friends, it renders career mode useless. Well, unless you're a big fan of unlocking venues and new clothes for your created character, then go for it but don't expect a killer story line here. It seems Activision has run out of rags to riches stories already.
The only thing that inspired me to go through with career mode were the challenges. Each song has a different challenge for a select instrument or for the band to complete as a group. Each challenge can range from highest score, to strumming up and down an entire song or even how long can you whammy a note for. Instead of simply beating a song, this is the new way to unlock items and cheats which adds to the difficulty and replay ability. The only problem is that unless you're playing with a person on every instrument, you'll have to go back a couple of menus to change what you're playing if you're not using the instrument assigned to the challenge. Quick instrument change is available only in Party Play for some odd reason and would be very valuable to have here.
Probably my favorite new feature is the ability to play whatever instrument you want, no matter if someone else is playing it. I finally won't be stuck with bass while all the better players play the hardest guitar songs. Want 4 guitars at once? Go for it. This is another great feature for parties, leaving no person left out of some incredible musical game play. Just another feature that should be added to all games to come.
Now here's the bad news: besides the features listed above, this is still plain old Guitar Hero. The crowd meter and star power are still way too small to see, the crowd is a copy and pasted three characters over and over again, and songs are hit and miss. There has to be some classic songs still out there that haven't been used yet and did I seriously play couple keyboard notes on my guitar controller? You can do better than that, Guitar Hero. Not to mention that the only way to use star power on drums is to hit the two cymbals at the same time, ruining my x4 streak and nullifying the point of trying for a x8 multiplier. There has to be an easier way.
Other messes that the developers left behind are in the music studio and create a character. While both have a ton of options to choose from to create exactly what you want, they're still poorly put together and hard to use. For the next rendition, they should work on the customization aspects of the game.
Some new, some old, all together Guitar Hero 5 is on the right track to make a great game. It's not perfect, but it's getting closer to making me want to spend my money on buying it. With some better choice in music and refined customization, Guitar Hero could be as good as it was back in 2005.
The Good:
All the new features make this rendition the best one for playing with friends. Quick switching instruments and difficultly should have always been in the series.
The Bad:
Customizations are hard to use and songs selection could be better. Please find less songs that I have to play the keyboard part for. But if I do, make a keyboard controller or something.
The Awkward (because it has to be said):
Kurt Cobain, Johnny Cash and an interview with DJ AM in the trailer for DJ Hero.
The Bottom Line:
This edition seems to be simply a test of some good new features. Just needed a little more work before they sold it.
This review is based off the xbox 360 version of the game.
P2 likes to play as his avatar. Judge me how you wish about this.
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