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| Source // Nintendo |
So, Harmonix made a few Guitar Hero games, unleashing the plastic plague upon second-hand electronics stores the world over, before they swapped bands for whatever reasons and played for Rock Band, which introduced more plastic peripherals into households that really didn't need them, proving that there was - somehow - a market for this tat.
Not wishing the up-and-coming competitor to have all the fun, whoever was left in the original Guitar Hero band thought they too could pull off a microphone and drum kit and here we are: Guitar Hero World Tour.
Yes, it's got one fewer drum, but it has two more cymbals, so ner. Is that enough to get me to play it? You know the answer to that.
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| Source // PlayStation |
Frustrations
It is 2021, Coid-19 is still rampant in these parts, current lockdown rules allow you to meet up with only one other person from one other household, providing you remain 2 meters from each other outside either of your homes, preferably wearing masks, frequently washing hands, desperately hoping anti-vax twats won't drag the country down with them.
In short, it's not a good environment for playing World Tour. Also, I don't own it, have no intention of owning it, will not likely find myself stumbling into it at any point, and don't exactly have a good track record of musical ability - I air drum to guitar solos.
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| Source // Nintendo |
I am, continue to, and will forever be the wrong person to talk to about any of these games, but here I am, sticking down a few sentences in case I ever need to jog my memory about what games I've played in my past.
Hey, future me. If you're reading this and you have played Guitar Hero World Tour, say something obscene.
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| Source // Nintendo |
From what little I've seen, you know how this plays. Up to four players rock out to the sounds of Fleetwood Mac, Ozzy Osborne, Coldplay and an awful lot more, each on their own instrument and preferably pulling their own weight, as points are shared and a good performance is the only way to make any progress.
What appears to be new is the customization options, not just of your character and instruments, but with the ability to create your own songs in-game and share them with the rest of the community. Though you can't record lyrics, you can make whatever music comes to mind, including popular songs that aren't on the tracklist, one would assume. I wonder how well policed this part of World Tour turned out to be...
Well, I don't, of course, what with not caring about it.
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| Source // PlayStation |
Final Word
Having not played Guitar Hero World Tour, I cannot provide a comment on how good or bad it is. It's on a must-play video game list, but the reaction to it was a little mixed. There was a challenger to Rock Band, but Rock Band was still the better game for groups. The tracklist seems to cover quite a few names that I recognise, but I read that some songs had players bash notes that weren't present or neglect notes that were.
Why the inclusion on the 1001 list then? Blummin good question, and one I can't answer. I suspect it's because it was the next iterative step for the genre. Now you can create songs. Marvellous. What's next? Do we get a peripheral to hurl bottles at bad musicians?
If you like these games, carry on enjoying them, but I won't be joining you any time soon.
Fun Facts
Big-name drummers including Chad Smith and Stewart Copeland would provide feedback on a more realistic drum peripheral, pushing for the inclusion of elevated cymbals. Not only do I not know why that's important, I thought they were spelt with an 's'.
Guitar Hero World Tour, developed by Neversoft, first released in 2008.