| Guitar Hero 5 Posted: This is a great game, and deserves far more credit than it is getting. I own both Rock Band 1 and 2 for Wii as well, and LOVED both of those games far more than any previous entry in the Guitar Hero series. This newest iteration however, is really something special, ESPECIALLY if you play on Wii. Here are some great things about this game:
On ALL Consoles:
*Soundtrack: Several reviews have bashed the soundtrack for this game, and I really don't understand why. The song selection is GREAT. Granted, I imported all of the available songs from Guitar Hero: World Tour and Smash Hits, so maybe that improves the setlist... and I also have lots of downloadable songs. But, that said, the tracks on the disk are great. Please, before you take these reviews at face value, check out the track listing for this game... there are some really great songs. Granted, I honestly do like the Rock Band 2 track list better (but I have over 150 downloadable songs in Rock Band 2... and honestly, several songs that are on GH5 are also on Rock Band...)... so just check out the setlist for yourself before you judge this game!!!
*Party Play Mode - This is a REALLY great feature, and with some tweaking in future games, could be AMAZING. Essentially, as soon as the game starts up, rather than selecting a game mode, selecting a song, players, etc... you click one of the fret buttons and are launched directly into whatever song is playing in the background. You can select a rocker, etc... but are essentially launched directly into playing a song! If you don't like the song, you can opt to skip to the next or another song. The gameplay mechanic for Party Play mode is IDEAL for parties (DUH!). If you have ever had friends over to play Rock Band or Guitar Hero, you know what a pain it can be to actually get into playing.... everyone takes FOREVER choosing a song, which rocker they want to play as, etc.... this is a quick and easy way to get right into playing with your friends. They can drop in and out as they please (without affecting anyone else playing), so it is ideal for groups of friends. When one gets tired or wants to grab a beer, he can jump out, and someone else can take his place! Also, there is no fail in this mode, and there is even a BEGINNER difficulty (more on that later)...
*Beginner Difficulty - FINALLY! A mode where even a toddler can play! Literally! When you are playing in quick play, party play (and some of the other modes I would assume), there is a difficulty level even lower than Easy called Beginner. There are no fret colors to worry about... you simply strum at the right time. This is a really great feature. I have had some friends, as well as kids, that have a hard time grasping the concept of holding the correct fret button(s) and strumming simultaneously. Beginner mode is idiot proof! =) Yesterday, I was jamming along with a 4 year old!! And he actually won over the crowd to save me when I failed out on Expert Drums!!! This is a really nice added touch.
*Song Imports: You can import some (and eventually MOST) of the on-disk songs from Guitar Hero: World Tour and Guitar Hero:Smash Hits for next to nothing (cost me like $6 to import all of the songs). So, the day I brought GH:5 home I imported all of the available songs, and my library instantly grew to around 160 songs. This plus future dlc means this game is going to be a nice compliment to my already expansive Rock Band library!
Nintendo Wii-Specific features:
*Expanded SD Card functionality: Guitar Hero 5 is the first Wii game to make use of the expanded SD functionality added to Wii. What does that mean? With games like Rock Band 2, you were limited to only using standard SD cards (maximum size of 2GB) for storing downloadable songs. With this being the case, Rock Band (as well as Guitar Hero World Tour) lowered the quality of the downloadable songs and removed the album art to decrease the file size so as to maximize the number songs songs we could download. Starting with GH5 however, we can use high-capacity SD cards up to 32GB. Long story short: Guitar Hero 5 is the first game available on the Wii that takes advantage of these large sd cards, effectively adding a "hard drive" to the Wii. You no longer have to swap 2gb sd cards back and forth (before, I had one 2gb card for virtual console and wiiware games, and a separate 2gb sd card that stored rock band downloadable songs). The process is elegant and seamless.... and just plain works! THE ONLY complaint I have is that you can't preview songs that you have stored on the SD card... so when you are selecting a song to play, when you highlight songs that are on the disk, a brief preview plays. If the song is stored on your sd card, it doesn't preview. But, I can live with that, considering the fact that I can easily store 800+ downloadable songs on a single 32gb sd card now!!!
*Roadie Battle Mode - Long story short, this mode allows a friend that owns a Nintendo DS to act as your "roadie" and sabotage other players in this mode. I dont own a DS, but from what I have heard, this mode is FUN, and easily one of the best features of the game. Check it out!
This is a really great game, and I am glad that I didnt listen to all of the negative reviews (I almost passed on it!). I am a loyal Rock Band fan, but with Guitar Hero being the first music game on Wii to adopt the use of the high-capacity SD cards, as well as allowing the import of GH:WT and SH... AND giving away Guitar Hero: Van Halen (which has an AWESOME soundtrack!!!!!!!)...buying this game was a no-brainer. Great songs. Fun and well-done gameplay. Impressive party play and co-op features. If you own a Wii, you should own this game...period.
My review scores:
Gameplay: 10/10
Difficulty: Varied (Anyone from grandma to seasoned hardcore guitar hero veterans can get loads of value out of this game)
Presentation: 9/10
Lasting Value: 10/10
Overall: 9.5/10 |
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