

Perhaps the most egregious of the issues has nothing to do with the game itself rather, the hardware that you use to play it is showing some serious need for quality control. By trying to take the innovation that Rock Band offered and apply it to Guitar Hero, Neversoft has turned the mechanic into an awkward experience that is surpassed by the Rock Band franchise in almost every way. We’ve been playing Rock Band for over a year now, we’ve been playing Rock Band 2 for a couple of months, and the concept of a four-instrument rhythm game model is old hat at this point. The problem, of course, is that we’ve seen the top of the mountain. We might even be debating the question of whether “Hot for Teacher” or “Satch Boogie” should be considered the new “Through the Fire and Flames” pinnacle of Guitar Hero difficulty. We would be talking about whether Guitar Hero World Tour could actually help you learn to play the drums and marveling over the fact that Neversoft actually put aside enough time to implement a song creation mechanism (no matter how clunky). Expanding the Guitar Hero formula into a game that actually allows for up to four-player bands, incorporating drums, bass, and even vocals, would be seen as a major step forward for the rhythm game genre. If Rock Band and its sequel simply didn’t exist, Guitar Hero World Tour would truly be a triumph.
