Guitar Hero World Tour (Xbox 360, 2008)

I enjoyed this game as much as rock band 2. It plays well and has a few extra features not seen in RB2. The song list is good and will keep you entertained for quite awhile. The music editor is a nice addition and allows you to make your own songs but without any vocal tracks it makes the songs you create less interesting also alot of the songs end up sounding like a computer made them, they just seem to lack any soul. There are alot of songs other people made for download but most of them just try to play fast and put as many notes in it and make it as hard as possible instead of making a "good" song with a good groove. It is cool that they put this feature in the game although I don't really use it. Like rock band you can download more content so it is a game that can last for a long time. If you want a great music game GHWT and RB2 are great fun alone or with friends. I should also mention that you can use rock band instruments with this game and its how I played it so I can't comment on how well the official guitar, drums and microphone work but from what I have read online they all work well. I think these games need to add in some more variety instead of just saying "You Rock" if you finish the song. They should have multiple comments like " not bad", "keep practicing" , "amazing" ect. also it would be great if your band mates commented on how you did and even allow you to join different bands to achieve "legendary" status. They could also have fans reactions after the "show" and have that effect sales and turn out, these games just need more interaction to keep it from getting stale. Anyway, overall it is still some of the best fun you can have playing games and I recommend it.

I bought the whole band set brand new - drums, guitar, mic, everything. My friend has it and I fell in love with it the first night I played it! Everything worked perfectly fine from the start.
There are only a few complaints I have about this game.
One is that if you are playing with a friend(s) either via xbox live or in the same room, if one of you fails, you ALL fail. Unlike Rock Band, Guitar Hero does not allow you to go into overdrive (star power) to "save" your friends if they are losing. It's kind of a crappy deal if you want to keep playing the song!
Also, the storyline/actual game play isn't as good. If you're looking for a game that isn't really a GAME, and more like just playing music, then Guitar Hero is perfect. But if you are looking for more of a story line I would go with Rock Band. In RB2's Tour Mode, you can "travel" to different cities and countries, and different landmark places to play at, and by playing certain Music Sets, you unlock other aspects of the game. You also have a staff, and you unlock certain people by playing at different places. You get a certain number of fans and stars with every song you complete, and with every place you play at, you need a certain number of fans/stars accumulated.
It is also more fun on Rock Band to personalize your band character. Guitar Hero III has more extensive facial features to pick from, which is great, but RB2 has more of a wardrobe, more make up, accessories, shoes, and even tattoos. You can also make a band logo and personalize that too (with colors, size, etc.) on RB.
Guitar Hero III has great songs, but again, Rock Band 2 has more of a selection already on the game, as well as in their Music Download store. It took me a couple of hours just to go through all of RB2's available songs to download!
Don't get me wrong though, Guitar Hero III has a lot of great songs too, including Dez Moines, by The Devil Wears Prada; On Broken Glass, by Chimaira; Grave of Oppurtunity, by Unearth; including songs by Lacuna Coil, Dream Theater, No Doubt, Tool, Paramore, Ozzy Osbourne, The Doors, Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, and many more. So they both have their fair share of great music, but RB2 definitely includes more songs.
As far as instruments are concerned, from what I have seen with friends of mine who own RB2 instruments and other friends who own GH3 instruments, the GH3 instruments win the fight. I have seen more complaints about the Rock Band instruments - and that includes drums AND guitar. I have not had any problems with My GH instruments thus far (knock on wood) and have had them for about 6 months already. One of my friends has an instrument set from RB and although his guitar works fine, his drums are pretty much destroyed. They break through easily and are all taped up. I have heard about some problems with the cymbals with GH though. Not really sure about that too much.
As far as graphics, I would rate them about the same. Both have outstanding graphics.
Well there you have it. My completly unimportant opinion on Guitar Hero 3 World Tour vs. Rock Band 2. Thanks for reading!

Guitar Hero World Tour brings a whole new experience into music videogaming. Instead of only having a guitar, you get to rock out on the drums and microphone as well. I was a little leery at first when I saw the drum set. It does look rickety but it is very sturdy. You can bang on the drums and cymbals with the real drum sticks and not harm a thing and the stand hardly moves. The drum stand also has a height adjustment that makes it comfortable for anyone of any size to play it. Also both the guitar and the drum set are wireless! So you don't have to worry about people tripping over each others' cords and breaking your precious xbox 360 system or the controllers. The only thing that might be nice to see in the future is a wireless microphone, but it does its job and having one single cord is hardly anything to complain about when you're playing with an entire band of four people. Now, honestly, if you're looking for a more realistic feeling guitar, rock band would unfortunately be the better choice. The Guitar Hero controllers are definitely sturdy but they do have a toy-like feel to them. Especially if you're used to playing a real guitar and sliding your hand up and down a regular wood neck. The guitar hero guitar neck is slightly boxy although it does have rounded edges and its made of plastic with no shiny smooth covering over it either. One of the best things about all of the controllers (besides the mic) is that they have all the controls you need right on them, including the big round xbox menu button. (The microphone requires you to have a standard xbox controller also connected to choose difficulty and navigate through menus). On to the actual game... It's awesome. A great selection of songs from all different time periods. Young or old you can appreciate the rock 'n' roll in each and every song they put on this disc. Now the game does say 86 tracks are included but don't expect to be able to play all of them right away. That would be too easy. You have to play the career in single player mode in order to "unlock" the other songs for band and quick play. This should be no problem because isn't that what you bought the game for? All in all, great fun for a group of friends or an entire family to rock out with each other and have a good time.

Guitar Hero World Tour delivers more ways to play than ever before. Virtual musicians can live out their rock and roll fantasies by playing either a single instrument, or any combination of instruments, in addition to the full band experience. In addition to all of the online gameplay modes from Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, Guitar Hero World Tour introduces Battle of the Bands mode which allows eight players to join online and challenge each other band-to-band to determine who is the best of the best. In the Band modes, up to four players can jam together, online or off, as they progress through the game, and in single-player Career Mode, players can jam on any of the instruments in branching venue progression enabling them to rock out in the order of their choice. This version of the Guitar Hero World Tour package lets you rock out as your favorite guitar god with a custom Guitar Hero guitar controller.

After suffering the huge letdown of Guitar Hero III and the only slightly less disappointing Aerosmith rendition, I waited quite a while to invest in this full band version. There are quite a few new features that set it apart from Rock Band, some good and some unwelcome. The open notes on bass are a good addition that challenges the players used to snoozing through a bass line. The tap solo sections on guitar are hit or miss depending on the song, and since GH still does not prompt the player when they are actually playing a solo they can be difficult to anticipate. Drumming is a chore due to the colors and somewhat cleaned up but still distracting note highways GH uses. The character creator I found to be actually done well, despite the art style Neversoft uses that makes mockery of the human form.

On to the music itself; There are some good track selections not available in Rock Band, as well as the big names like Tool, The Eagles, Hendrix and Van Halen, but the charting seems uneven from song to song(at least the guitar sections). For the first few tiers of difficulty it seems that Neversoft has finally caged the 3-note chord demon that plagued their first two attempts, as well as his buddies the random wankery solo monster and the evil hopo break imp that requires what seems to be random strums in the middle of very tightly packed hopo sections. But by the last half of the setlist they plopped themselves back into the gameplay on several of the gigs and tainted what could have been a much more enjoyable experience. It keeps the difficulty ramped up and I suppose the replay value is higher for it, but in the end the biggest differences it makes to me are I have a lot less fun playing the game and my hand cramps up much faster than I'd like it to.

Overall I am not disappointed with my purchase(at least not anymore than I was expecting to be)and I have found some new musical gems I was unaware of prior. That said, I paid under $20 for the game and would not have considered it worth any more, not when I have a very polished and, just as important, more playable game in Rock Band 2. Recommended for the music game enthusiast, as well as those who like a higher difficulty curve.