Guitar Hero Warriors of Rock

Game Event from Jae - Friday, 27 August 2010 @ 8:17am

Who would've thought a game that made you hit three keys on a small plastic guitar could grow into a multi million dollar business model. We joke constantly about the milking of the Guitar Hero franchise but the sales prove that it's still a popular series that warrants a new iteration every 12 months. Activision managed to put on an event leading up to it's release here in Sydney which Luke and I attended. It was like a rock party with 100 of our closest friends. With three screens set up and multiple guitars where we were able to rock out to the gigantic set list. Luke was looking forward to drumming it out (he considers himself a pro) with the one set of drums set up in the corner. I couldn't really tell if he was doing well but then again it's Luke so the chicks at the event probably put him off his game.

Unlike the Rockband series, Activision plays it safe with GHWoR. There are new guitars that look the part but all the modes seem to play the same. There's quickplay and partyplay straight off the main menu with the latter allowing anyone to jump into a track at any time. This proved good especially in the setting that we were in that night. The theme of the night was definitely rock. The game seems to bring things back to it’s rock roots and has a fair focus on the guitar over everything else.

The new Guitar combines sex and rock & roll

The G.A.P.'s own celebrity, Jeremy 'Junglist' Ray came to the event and fared very well in the Guitar Hero competition. Journalists were allowed to enter the competition with the person who scored highest in The Vine's Get Free taking away with themselves Metallica tickets and a giant trophy. Unfortunately someone swooped in and took the title off Jung meaning he left with the title of coolest GH player (well I think so anyway).

We were told to expect celebrity appearances at this event. To be honest I had no idea who they were but everyone tells me they’re television hosts from some music channel. They were good entertainment though especially when they got on stage to perform the White Stripe’s Seven Nation Army. After talking themselves up they manage to comically fail a few times. It didn’t help that some of them had been playing on expert difficulty. The rest of the evening was entertainment provided by a New Zealand rock group. I think I’m showing my age but I lost the plot a little here as my lack of rock and new music knowledge meant I had no idea who most of the artists were in the 90+ strong set list.

I won't go on about the features of the game, we will surely review the title when it releases on 29th September. We had a fun night and hope to see the final product deliver on some great songs.