The most recent genre of instrument based music/rhythm games is probably one of the most peculiar we’ve witnessed in terms of popularity. At the onset of the genre, just 5 years ago, the world was introduced to instrument-controllers and intrigued by the mix of casual/hardcore appeal that the new genre brought about. Literally 11 Guitar Hero console games and 6 Rock Band console games later in just 5 years (and 7 of those games in 2009 alone), the genre seems to be marred by oversaturation of titles and an overall drop in public interest. Sure, there are still some new evolutions every now and then including new instruments (typically brought forth first on the Rock Band side of the spectrum) as well as simplified presentation (as I so loved in Guitar Hero 5), but the reality is that the genre that was once one of the biggest fads in the gaming world has begun to go out of style quicker than anything I can remember in my entire lifetime.
I can recall my own experiences with the series as being similarly bi-polar. I myself was an avid Guitar Hero fan, falling in love with the series in 2005 amidst my college years, and becoming even more enthralled by the series with Guitar Hero 2. The competition between my gaming/non-gaming friends/roommates was epic at times and battle lines were often drawn in the living room of our apartment. The excitement grew further with the anticipation of Rock Band and once it arrived, we continued to enjoy music gaming as a full band over and over again. However, by 2008, the arrival of Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero: World Tour seemed to be a little less exciting to me. Sure, I was thrilled when I first received the games but I quickly became bored when realizing that I’d already done the same experience over and over before.
And, if 2008 was the year that marked the beginnings of my lack of interest for the series, 2009 was the year where I (and many other gamers) became jaded. After receiving Guitar Hero 5, Band Hero DS, and Guitar Hero: Smash Hits for review, I quickly began to relate the once loved music playing series to more of a chore (though I found a small glimmer of renewed interest in Guitar Hero 5’s step back into simplicity). Now, with only one Guitar Hero title in 2010, Neversoft has promised a dive back into the roots of the series with Warriors of Rock. Could this be the game that renewed my dwindling interest for the genre?
Redefining a Game
One of the things that I’ve always been a fan of in the Guitar Hero series as opposed to the Rock Band series is the fact that Guitar Hero many times acknowledges the fact that it’s a game rather than going for the pseudo-realistic band mimicking experience that is Rock Band. Though many people play the games because it makes them feel like they’re actually playing an instrument, I’ve always been more about the gaming experience than the musician-wannabe aspects. With epic, face melting guitar tracks in many of the Guitar Hero games, there was no denying to me that the games embraced that they were, indeed, games and I loved them for that.
Thus, when I saw the format of the most recent, Warriors of Rock, I was intrigued by the game’s attempts at upping the narrative portions of the game as well as the new character-based skill system that the game now employed. In a sentence, the story goes a little something like this: players assume the roles of the previous Guitar Hero musicians as they unlock their full potential as musicians and transcend the world of mortal music to fight in an epic battle against an ancient foe. However, with what seemed to be the makings of an epic narrative (even narrated by Kiss’s own Gene Simmons), the story doesn’t transcend beyond a series of evenly dispersed cut scenes and is as dry as previous GH games’ cut scenes.
As for the character-based skill system, I like the fact that it has modified the core music gaming experience by adding a small strategic element into the mix (players can now choose a character with a special skill that either enhances their own abilities or makes up for a shortcoming in their own skills). A few of the skills include guarding a streak (which allows you to miss one note while still keeping a streak intact), increasing the star power multiplier to 4x and 6x instead of 2x, and generating star power for every 10 note streak. There are eight characters in all, each with his/her own specialty.
To progress through the game, players must play through songs within a character-specific set list, collecting stars for every performance (more than 5 stars is possible and sometimes I was able to get 13-14 on the boss songs). Once enough stars are gathered in one venue, the character taps into his/her inner rock warrior and improves their skill dramatically. Thus, what once was a generation of 5% star power for every note now becomes 10% or what once was a 4x multiplier for star power is now 6x.
After gathering your party of rock Gods, players then take on a boss battle or two. The first battle combines all of the powers of the first four heroes for the battle and players must play through the 7-part Rush song, 2012 with narration by Rush. However, once you gain access to all of the heroes, you’re given the chance to form parties of 4 rockers to maximize certain skills. Overall, I liked the idea of varying skills amongst characters but there were some aspects of the game that hurt the overall experience:
Crucial Downfalls
For one, I found that the difficulty in the game is far too sporadic from set to set. One second you’re breezing through a set, the next thing you know, you hit an extremely difficult song, have trouble finishing it, but soon find out that the next song on the list is extremely trivial. It’s nice to be able to switch difficulties within the campaign at any time (a huge improvement introduced in Guitar Hero 5) but when 1 or 2 songs in a set list are much more difficult than the boss song, it’s difficult to find a flow in the game’s progression.
Secondly, I like the idea of lengthy boss battles from time to time but not a poorly executed game design. For the same reason that I disliked Free Bird in Guitar Hero 2, this game’s boss battles are too long and too unforgiving for my own tastes. For instance, in the second big boss battle, you’ll need to organize your band accordingly and split your members into two groups, each with different combinations of skills. Both groups of band members will then need to play through two different songs. The only problem is that you won’t know which members are best for each song before you play them so if you fail repeatedly, you’ll have to start over to switch things up. Then, just when you think you’ve found a good group of musicians for each part of the battle because you finished a song, the game forgets to mention that you need to earn 12 stars to “fully charge the sacred axe.” I swear I was about to throw my guitar at the screen when I lost multiple times at 86% or so on expert, changed my band members and finished the song only to find that I didn’t acquire enough stars, then changed the difficulty and after finishing the first song, realized that my second group of band members wasn’t good enough to defeat the second song with 12 stars (forcing me to start completely over on the first song). Again, I like the strategic design of the large boss battle but am very annoyed by the length and unforgiving nature of the game’s bosses.
The set list itself also seems a little less memorable than before. I don’t know if it’s the fact that we’ve played so many songs in previous games that it’s hard to find these memorable or if the track list is still just not as strong as that of the first few games in the series, but something about the group of tracks feels lacking to me. Perhaps it’s the fact that the game’s ambiance screams metal but the set list only features a hand full of the genre’s songs.
As for the game’s other modes/features, it does include every mode present in Guitar Hero 5 from the improved quickplay+ (that allows you to use the powers of the characters) to the GHTracks editor. However, the emphasis on story mode seems to overlook the other modes and you almost have to search for them to notice that they’re there. Still, I do like the addition of the skills to multiplayer as it allows you build on your own specific strength and strategically choose your character based on that.
Overall, Warriors of Rock has some nice new ideas to bring to the table of the music simulation genre. However, I still feel like the formula hasn’t changed enough to differentiate itself horde of previous titles already on the market. And as the genre moves from gimmick to gimmick, offering only a few new gameplay additions to each experience, I’m starting to wonder if it will ever revive itself back to the glory days I remember just 4-5 years go…