Guitar Hero Live launches today and it has been a while since most players picked up a new copy of GH and went at it. When it was first announced, I wasn’t quite sure of what to make of it. Honestly, the game had somewhat hit a wall (Rock Band included on this) and what could it possibly offer to change up things? You play music, you get a high score — not that difficult to pick up, right? Well, FreeStyleGames has done their best to bring a new experience to the series. Yes, you still have to pick up a guitar and wait for the magical pick icon to cross the onscreen saddle, while pushing the strum bar for the strings at the right time — that hasn’t changed. Nope, this time around the focus of change has been laid squarely on modes and how the game itself works, though the general concept we have all come to know and love hasn’t strayed too far away from the flock.
Let’s get this started.
The first thing you’ll notice about the game, after you go through the tutorial, is that you’ve got no colored buttons on the guitar, rather you are now strapped in to six buttons on the end of the guitar neck and the usual suspects (whammy bar, saddle strip) on the body. You’ve also got a high powered button that isn’t so easy to use in times of need, but we’ll get to that in a second. The new button layout is actually quite good, though if you have big hands (like I do), the buttons can cramp your fingers just slightly. It’s not a terrible thing, just sometimes not comfortable. I do wish the buttons were just a tad separated from each other. My wife, who has tiny hands, had no issues with it. I also had a small issue with the high-powered button, which I would accidentally hit on occasion, which would disrupt my flow a tinge. Not terrible things, just annoyances. Correctable ones that I could work around at the time of this review.
Anyway, once you get into the tutorial of the game the biggest difference right out of the gates will be the lack of animated models, which are replaced by the immersive, real life video with a first-person perspective. You might shrug a bit and say, “Why is that immersive?” and I will respond with the question, have you ever been on stage looking at a huge crowd before? As goofy as you might imagine it being, the crowd is a bit jarring in HD and with the responsiveness towards how you’re playing can affect your mood (I’m a sensitive guy). Physically seeing the dissatisfied looks of actual people and hearing their jeers to go along with it can be nothing short of uncomfortable. It doesn’t help that your bandmates can grow pissed with your playing as well. It’s a different experience, folks, and one that you’ll relive over and over again when you play the Live mode of Guitar Hero Live. Before we dig too far into that let me just add that the video editing in this game is unbelievably superb. This sort of full motion video (FMV) experience where your actions dictate the video you’re seeing is breathtaking. I’m a video editor by career, so I appreciate the amount of effort that went into bringing happiness/sadness instantly to the player. It’s quite impressive to see everything turn on a dime when it calls for it.
So, this Live mode thingy, what’s that about? In this mode you’re put into a series of different festivals to play 3+ songs at a time (back-to-back-to-back), while being judged on overall performance (the scoring is broken down into individual efforts as well). The Live mode gives you that first-person perspective view and is just good dumb fun when you’re trying to change up the game a bit. I can’t tell you how immersive the first-person view makes the experience. It’s impressive to play and see, and it does a great job of bringing the player into the musical fold when things are going right, or wrong as the case was with me (at the beginning). In a sense, this is the campaign mode for Guitar Hero Live. It lasts a limited amount of time and probably (assuming) doesn’t grow as fast as the next mode we’re about to get into. Out of all the modes in GHL, this one has the most effort put into it visually and, again, does a great job with immersing the player into the music. I know most people may not love it, you cynical bastards know who you are, but it works well on all intended levels. As you progress through it, you will unlock more festivals, but given the amount of effort put into this mode, I can only imagine that more and more of it won’t roll out quickly after launch. I hope it does, but it’s probably a huge production to get that type of quality out of the festivals and into the game.
Again, I hope it does. This mode has some major potential to expand into something musically fulfilling.
The other mode is interesting, though, and almost the complete opposite. While there is no live video shot for this or a first-person perspective during gameplay, the TV mode of GHL offers you a series of genre-based channels to strum through. Think of it, and I know this is a foreign concept to most of you out there nowadays, of an MTV or VH1 type of deal, except there was music on the channels rather than shitty reality television (seriously, it’s SHITTY television, you sheep). Hang tight one second…*gets off soapbox*…okay, I’m good.
Anyway, there are several music channels to choose from, you have hard rock, heavy metal, alternative and classics (there are more, but that’s what I hung around during this review period). You can flip between them instantly and you can run into the middle of a song sometimes, which you can join instantly. While playing the game, you get treated to the actual music videos of the song. For example, Weezer’s Buddy Holly song is a joy to watch in motion with flashbacks of Happy Days occurring while notes are trying to be hit. It’s pleasant, though some of the video from older music doesn’t translate in a pretty manner onto an HD screen.
Having said all this, how this mode functions is also new to the series. There is a leveling system that rewards players the better they do with a song. Depending on how you end up on the global leaderboard with individual songs (you’re competing against other people across the globe — I had a player from Sweden contact me this week talking trash…I knew her, though. She had a right to talk trash), you’re rewarded with a certain amount of XP and coins. One way to get more points than the rest of the schmoes out there in the global world is to have a good vocalist in your group. My wife sang during my review period and at times garnished more points than my guitar skills brought in. Keep that in mind when you want to go head-to-head with the globe. Anyway, when you actually level up/change ranks, you’re rewarded with songs/festivals and this new thing called ‘plays’. While the rest is self-explanatory, the plays are probably going to be an initial sore spot of skepticism with players going into GHL. I had a problem with the concept before the game began.
‘Plays’, from afar, are essentially an element of the gameplay that pseudo-reflects what you would find in a free-to-play title. For every song you want to play in TV mode, you’re required to pony-up a ‘play’. You earn plays through playing the game and leveling up. You can also purchase plays through the game, if you’re impatient. Again, I cringed at the concept, but honestly it hasn’t gotten in the way of me playing the game. I haven’t gotten to the point in the last week where I have had to potentially go the purchase route and FreeStyleGames assures me that this probably won’t be the case with the game. I’m counting on that assurance, as I’m not a fan of purchasing plays, coins or whatever in any retail game that I have already (hypothetically) purchased. The game should allow the players the opportunity never to have to dip into their wallet. Again, so far, so good.
For now, plays should be viewed as motivating factors to keep playing and performing in Guitar Hero Live. For now, this is the way I’m thinking until it’s proven otherwise. The fact that you can earn plays quite easily through the game is so far proof of concept that FreeStyleGames was telling the truth about them (and I have no reason to believe otherwise until the game proves otherwise). It’s good motivation and since each song costs one play, they don’t go fast, although if you want to repeat a song it will still cost one play, so you’re literally playing for ‘one’ play. There is a potential that you’ll acquire more plays than you’ll use at the beginning of GHL’s life. With 200+ songs planned for the initial launch (you’ll have to unlock some through playing and whatnot), I’m okay with plays for now.
Other points of interest in the TV mode is the ability to play ‘premium shows’, which are accessed through a series of completed challenges in the game. For example, scoring a certain amount of stars/points on a certain set of songs will earn you access to a premium show. The shows are special events that give players the chance to play songs with actual concert footage (and other such things) and gain rewards. Neat stuff and I was able to unlock premium shows during my review period. It wasn’t that difficult and I was playing on the casual setting. Sorry, I’m not as hardcore as some of you out there.
There are other options coming to the game, so it’s not limited to what I’ve already stated. One particular option that I have yet to try is called Party Pass. This allows for the game’s gambit of songs to be opened up for a party situation for 24-hours. I’m sure somewhere in the world there is a fantastic Guitar Hero party waiting. I want to be there, with my terrible singing voice and all. Of course, there is a $5.99 charge for this, but I can honestly see where someone would lay down the money to have the full gambit of songs at their disposal. I probably wouldn’t pay it, but it’s not a bad deal.
In the end, Guitar Hero Live brings to the table some new ways to play, a new immersive mode that has been revamped from its original rooted concept and provides some hope that the game is only going to get better. I’m really happy that FreeStyleGames thought outside of the box with GHL, as the way it was going up to this point (or around 2010) was honestly quite stale. Credit them for taking some risks, praise them for achieving some of their goals, but feel free to be a tad bit cautious at the idea of paying for anything extra outside of the actual game.
Overall, Guitar Hero Live is a fun experience that has some hopeful potential to get better in the next year or so.
