Video:Guitar Hero Warriors of Rock

Transcript:Guitar Hero Warriors of Rock

Hi, I’m Shane Murphy, your video game Guru for About.com. Today we’ll review all of the additions and features of the new Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock.

Warriors of Rock Satisfies, but Doesn't Impress

Those gamers familiar with the Guitar Hero series and its trappings will find Warriors of Rock neither disappointing nor particularly innovative and fresh.

What Stayed the Same

You and three other friends can still rock out on guitar, bass, drums, and the microphone to a healthy collection of tracks. The rhythm based note hitting remains tightly accurate and can still deliver the familiar rush of perfectly nailing that solo.

All of the different game modes perfected over time return as well. In Party Play anyone can jump in and out on any instrument when their favorite song comes on, and you can still enter a practice mode for individual areas of the song.

New Features to Watch For

With so many returning staples in the series and essentially the same gameplay, what’s in it for those of us who’ve faithfully bought most of the flood of guitar hero games? Thankfully, there are a couple of new features.

All About Quest Mode

The biggest departure for the series is the new story-driven Quest mode, which tells the tale of an epic rock god trapped in stone, waiting to be rescued by the different characters in the game. The entire experience is narrated by Gene Simmons and replete with over the top, often drawn out cinematics.

Gain Power with Different Characters

As you progress and gain stars with different characters, they eventually power up into uber versions of themselves, which really just makes for a new costume and another silly cutscene. What really differentiates characters are their different rock super powers used to gain more stars and a higher score. Echo Tesla, for example, gains star power every time she nails 10 notes in a row.

Song Selection

The Warriors of Rock set list has over 90 songs, with a decided favoring to the metal and hard rock crowd. Overall, the song selection can be pretty hit or miss.

Playing certain songs will provide everything you want out of the guitar hero experience. The custom character animations for “Bohemian Rhapsody” is hilarious and meaningfully adds to a song that’s already a blast to play. Playing through Rush’s epic 2112 is a similar joy.

On the other hand, is there really anyone that wants to play keyboard parts on the guitar, as you do in a couple songs? Some tracks, like Linkin Park’s Bleed it Out, just do not lend themselves well to the Guitar Hero formula, even if you do like the song…

If you’ve never made that leap into the rhythm genre, then Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock may not be a bad place to start. For those that have though, this iteration could be a skipped, especially considering the 60 dollar price tag. Thanks for watching…to learn more, visit About.com.