Guitar Hero World Tour Complete Band Game (Wii, 2008)

I find this game to be a total success. It is so different from any other games since you are playing a music instrument (as real as it can get for people that love music but know nothing about playing real instruments like me...)

It completely got me from the beginning and I have been playing it for the past 3 weeks without loosing interest in it at all. Although it is true that you can finish it really quickly, i don't think the real fun relies on just finishing all the concerts. As you get better at it, you earn more money on each presentation and your rates go up. There are some concerts that you can only play if you buy them with the cash you have earned. There are also "encores" available to you at each concert if you manage to get at least 3 stars on all songs. And there is also the "5 golden stars" available for you only if you can finish the song without making a single mistake... pretty challenging from medium level on...

The multiplayer option is great as well so it does not lack the re-play factor at all. It offers you the chance to add friends by using their GH ids. The interface is not good but once you set it up you pretty much forget about this and focus on the game itself. You can choose to go head to head with your friends playing the same chores at the same time, play in cooperative mode or go to "guitar hero war" and choose from different special moves to make your opponent fail.

Comparing it to Guitar Hero III - Legends of Rock I like this one better starting with the guitar itself. I find it a lot easier to manage, the whammy bar is way better and easier to access and the huge star power button is a great asset. The sensitive buttons are pretty innovative and fun to play with also.

I wouldn't say the songs are all great since I am more of an alternative rock type of guy so I wouldn't choose many of them just by looking at the names. But the truth is that once you start playing you actually start enjoying each song because each one has it's own unique thing. Some needs you to move your fingers faster, others make you pay more attention on the rhythm changes, others are more focused on the chores repetition, etc. So don't think many songs are boring just because they are old or belong to some genre you don't usually listen to.

I would definitely recommend this game no matter if you have played some GH/Rock Band games before or if you are new to this type of games. You should also consider buying the complete set (drums, guitar, mic) to have fun with your whole family/friends.

Parents need to know that this is a sequel in the mega-popular Guitar Hero series. Some of the lyrics might raise an eyebrow as being sexually suggestive. Also, some of the female musicians that aren't wearing much clothes onstage.

Families can talk about whether these music games have hit its stride or its peak? Are the changes in games like the Guitar Hero and Rock Band series enough to justify the purchase or is it worth just downloading new songs each week?


GUITAR HERO: WORLD TOUR is the sequel to the best-selling video game of 2007 (Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock). This new version adds drums and vocals to last year's game that was all about playing on the guitar and bass, along with a tour bus-full of new modes and features. For the uninitiated, these music games let you play along to hit rock songs on a plastic guitar, a drum kit peripheral, or sing in a microphone, and you must hit the right note/drum at the correct time in order to rack up points. Perform well and the virtual crowd claps to the beat, but make too many flubs and you might just get booed offstage. When it comes to instruments, the Guitar Hero: World Tour drums has two raised cymbals along with the three main pads and bass drum pedal, resembling a real kit. The newly-designed wireless guitar looks and feels great, and offers extra buttons for improv play and special effects, if desired. The wired microphone provides clear sound for the singer in your group.

After you watch the first of many entertaining animated sequences, you can select from a number of single-player, co-op or head-to-head game modes. A new rock star creator lets you customize the look of your virtual musician before entering a lengthy Career mode that lets players swap instruments as they progress through the story (or choose to stick with one); the Band Career options allows you to join or host an online band with other players. Or why not compete in an online competition – four against four – to see how many points your band can collectively rack up against a rival super group? As with Guitar Hero III, players who dual guitars on the same TV can unleash "battle attacks" to trip up an opponent such as causing a string to break or flipping the left and right buttons.

Very fun game, overall. Customizable characters, guitars, drum sets, etc. Songs are fun to play and enough downloadable content to keep you interested. New Fire Gaming has a great price on this game and were extremely efficient in getting the game to me. Difficulty settings are fair and challenging from the onset. Animations are better than previous versions and playing this game online is much easier with the "auto online" feature. Loads and saves are faster than GH3 and the tranistions between sets are fairly quick. A versatile set list offers even lay "music lovers" like myself a good overall familiarity with most of the songs. Love the game and look forward to adding more accessories as I go (mic, drums, additional guitar).

I really liked the tightness and the innovation of the instruments. Its fun playing the songs together. I didnt like the fact that you need a wiimote for each instrument since they are wireless. I also think they need more downloadable tracks. I liked the song selection though its not as accessible to the casual crowd. The singing needs a little work too. If you are looking for a cheap alternative to rockband this is your game. Its fun but the setlist is hardcore. I would suggest getting an SD card for 5 bucks to save the songs on that you download because they take up alot of memory. I would recommend this.. its a great party game and will be screaming at the TV with the difficulty but laughing at how easy it is.

I have been a fan of guitar hero since it's conception on the first game with the very difficult to play on engine. With every game they upgrade the quality and ease to play the game but it seems that their instruments seem to get lower in quality. With the arrival of the guitar that breaks down into 2 pieces there came many defects with it. Yes it makes it easier to transport if you wanna go play with a friend but if you tilt the guitar wrong some of the buttons don't work or if you're double picking to vigorously the bounce back registers an extra strum action that you didn't wanna do killing your note streak. the drum kits themselves are just too much of a pain to even wanna use and 75% of the time you'll get a faulty set. If you are mechanically inclined all of the repairs and alterations aren't too difficult to do yourself but you can always wait 4-6 weeks and send it off to activision and have them repair it for you. I'm impatient so I like to do things myself. Overall it's a great game but for the price you pay I would suggest that you only get it on ebay.com or amazon.com because the retail price is just too much to gamble with because it's a very good chance you'll get a faulty unit.