GEN had the honor of being one of approximately 15 press outlets to get a first look at the new Guitar Hero World Tour game, coming out from Activision

I have to admit, being an avid RockBand fiend, I was a little hesitant when I heard that Activision was jumping on the bandwagon and creating a game featuring all 4 instruments. You hear about “second helpings” of games and worry that a “knock - off” may just prove to be an epic fail. My worries were quickly put to rest when I sat down and was entertained by Neversoft’s Brian Bright, Project Lead and Alan Flores, Lead Designer who showed me that Guitar Hero World tour is RockBand …. and more!

Let’s start out by talking a little about the features of each individual instrument:
(Click to enlarge photos)

Guitar/Bass:
1. The Guitar has a back button which also works as a palm muting button to get that perfect bluesy sound
2. The wammy bar is longer so it is easier to go from strumming to wammy’ing (I made up a word) in a shorter time
3. There are milestones in the game, as well as in game cash, for utilizing the wammy and also slider
4. Directly below the fret buttons (the typical Orange, Yellow, Green and Blue) there is an area used as a slider. You can also utilize this area to tap out the rythmn instead of using the (what our lovely co-workers here refer to as) “strummy”
5. There are also milestones and cash for utilizing this slider area as well as many more functions once you get into the music studio - which I will be getting to a bit later

Drums:
1. Drums will be wireless upon release
2. Unlike RockBand, the drums have raised cymbals (in the shape of an upside down open fan) which make playing a lot more realistic.
3. Drum heads are modeled from the Roland V kit
4. The drum pads are made of Silicon, very rugged and are also velocity sensitive for more realistic drumming

Microphone:
1. Weighted at the base to give it that “rocker” feel
2. Modified Logitech mic. (this means good quality!)

After a quick rundown of all of the instruments the crew from Neversoft got up and demonstrated the awesome rockingness (Ooh! another new word) of the game first hand. Let me just state that the singer was pretty amazing! He not only sounded great but also looked the part.

After rocking out, Brian Bright took us on a tour of the character creator. This was probably my favorite part of the demo. The new character creator allows you to create a character that looks exactly like you. With full facial customization, facial sliders, several body types and a full color wheel for make up, hair color and clothing - the character creator ranks up there with something you might find in Tony Hawk or even Star Wars Galaxies (for those who played that)

Graphics can be added and layered from an in depth collection and can be used as tattoos, clothing decorations, instrument decorations and even as your bands album cover. These same images will be seen in your venue, on posters and on your drum kit during play.

The instrument customization is so robust that I’m not even sure I got everything that you can do with it! So, here is a quick list of some of the items you are able to customize:

Guitar/Bass:
1. Shapes
2. Finish
3. Decal
4. Custom Fret
5. Inlays
6. Headstock
7. Hardware
8. You can even choose the strings you want to use, although this really doesn’t affect anything.

Drums:
1. Kits
2. Shell Finishes
3. Skins

Mic
1. Colors
2. Stand (and yes, there is the classic Steven Tyler stand available … scarf and all)

Now into game play. There are 5 career paths in the game: Bass, Guitar, Vocal, Drum and Online Band. The great part about the band is that you can play with your friends in real life and then jump online with others to finish your career. You don’t have to have to have real life friends to get your online career down. Those buddies across the country will work just as well. These career modes are also not linear so you are able to complete them at your own pace and jump from one venue to another quite easily. You are also able to change the difficulty at anytime if there is a specific venue that seems to have a harsher crowd than others.

There is an added difficulty level for the days when your mom or your little cousin want to come over and rock out with you. This is a beginner level and you really only need to make noises and hit notes in order to pass this. More for those who are just getting into the GH world and want to dip their little toes in the pool of awesome! Of course there is also the typical easy, medium, hard and expert for those rockstars who have already perfected their craft.

After playing another set of win, the team showed us a little of the music studio. I’ll be honest when I say this part was completely over my head. There is SOOO much that can be done that I really think it’s something you will need to sit down and fiddle with. There is a wizard to give you a little boost, that will have 20 bass lines, drum loops and 3 tempo speeds - for those who want just a beginner course on the music studio.

All of the songs, around 85 shipped at launch, will be master tracks so that you will have the feeling of playing with the big boys! A few of those “big boys” have been announced and they include:

• Linkin Park
• The Eagles
• Van Halen
• Sublime – “Santeria”
• Billy Idol – “Rebel Yell”
• Foo Fighters – “Everlong”

I was very impressed with what I saw from Activision! Not only did the game look great (and this was still quite a ways off) the team was very generous with our questions and were all awesome guys!

From Left to Right: Neil (Activision PR), Aktrez, Hank (Military Advisor for Call of Duty), VirtualGirl, Rich Farrelly (Treyarch)

VirtualGirl and I with our friend, and GEN community member, Robert Workman (TheDCD) from AOL’s GameDaily

There are many more stories to be told about our two day experience with Activision but this post is long enough so, look out for more coming in the next couple of weeks.

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• Moment of Geek Zen - Nov 25, 2008
• Moment of Geek Zen - Nov 24, 2008
• Moment of Geek Zen - Nov 20, 2008
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