- Updated detail in bold. -
L_S here. Well, I got GH5 this past Tuesday from a pre-order (GameStop ftw), and I think I've played it enough to finalize my opinion on it. I haven't worked on a full-on game review in a hell of a long time, so work with me. Here we go.
GAMEPLAY...
The total, overall gameplay hasn't made too much of a change from World Tour, Metallica, or Smash Hits, but it has definitely been overhauled.
To start, I'll begin with the guitar in general. From body to headstock, the whammy bar has been more tightly fitted into the hole it sits in, so it doesn't move as easily as before, which is a good thing. Both of my WT guitars' whammies would slowly droop downward because they were so loosely fitted. The strum bar has been textured and is much easier to keep a grip on, especially with long sets and sweaty palms. It works much better than WT guitar's. I'm sure most of you have experienced the fail strum bar after a while of use (some strums won't register or register late), and I've been playing the hell out of it all week and it still works just fine. Probably the most impressive overhaul is the neck slider; it's been fixed so it won't randomly activate during songs to cause a combo breaker. But, it still works just fine in the slider sections and sustains (it's so fun to finally use the zhwing-oing sound on them now). To be discreet on looks, the guitar has a nice new faceplate complete with red sparkle-ish paint and a pickguard design. The string loopers are now chrome-painted instead of the bland all-black ones on the WT guitars.
Ok, now we go into the game itself. Like I said before, nothing real new has appeared for standard in-song playing. The only kinda-new additions are the "Band Moments," which are certain notes you hit to get a band-wide multiplier if everyone in the band is able to hit them. Kinda like a band-wide Star Power phrase. There is also an addition called Party Play, in which all songs in the game loop and you can jump in/out of a song at will. I've tried it, and it's really nothing too special, but is very useful at parties, hence the name. Career Mode is fresh, and similar to WT's. You start off at one venue, collect a certain amount of stars, and you unlock more and more stuff as you progress. Also a clever addition: challenges. Every single on-disc song has a challenge to it. On one song, you may need to accomplish a certain task for a certain instrument to gain more stars. Sometimes it's a band challenge, where everyone in the band needs to accomplish a similar task. I've played quite a few, and it definitely adds a lot of replay value. Some are pretty easy, like keeping a x4 multiplier for a certain amout of time, then it can get difficult like whammying every sustain in the song as long as possible without missing a note. Very cool stuff. That's pretty much it for gameplay. 9.5/10
LOOKS...
Guitar Hero games' visuals on Wii have never been really impressive at all. GH5 is no different. The graphics have made a
slight improvement since the WT/Tallica/SH generation, but nothing that'll make you go "wow." As for the graphics design in general, it looks pretty good. The Rock Meter has finally been moved onto the edge of the highway, as with the Star Power Meter. The Star Progress Bar and Note Streak Counter are still over there in the right corner, though. When you activate Star Power, it doesn't do that annoying "GRRRZZOITCH" sound so loud, and there's a nice little animation on the highway that has a slight similarity to Overdrive activation on Rock Band, except in the center and blue. When it's drained, it fades out instead of the abruptness previous titles have done. The on-stage characters are more active now, and there is very little to no lag between character movements and song sounds. Some band characters move unique to the song, which adds a bit more 'special-ness' to your favorite songs. An upside to visuals, the menus look very nice. In the Training/Music Store/GHStudio, it has a futuristic, computer-like feel. Like when you use the Ambience stuff when listening to a song on WMP or something. 8/10
SOUND...
Well, the sound has improved. It has a much more noticeable stereo sound. The Star Power activation sound has been tuned down and less annoying, also. Not much to say about this, so I'll move on. 9/10
FEATURES...
Oh, here we go. This is the big headline in GH5: the features. You can now choose a band line-up, play a multitude of online modes, and have the anybody-on-any-instrument deal. The online modes are basic, but fun. They finally ditched the any-difficulty deal, and when you begin to find some players, it automatically searches for players at your difficulty level, and if some are not found in a certain time frame, it asks if you'd like to continue looking for equal opponents or just go with anybody. It automatically signs you in to WFC upon game start up. It also automatically adds any friends registered in your Wii Address Book, which means, no more fiddling with Friend Codes. Just trade Wii Numbers and you're set up. I don't understand why Nintendo didn't do that for all Wii games. :p Oh, here's the good part: in the Music Store, you can download a GH game track pack. Yes, that means for only a measly 250-300 Wii Points, you can download almost the entire song list from World Tour or Smash Hits to play in GH5. The only catch: you need the unique game code found on the back of the instruction booklet, meaning, if you don't already own the game, you can't download the songs. Speaking of which, you can also play your already-downloaded DLC from WT with a simple, free download of a GH5 reader to play 'em. The sound and note charts are exactly the same, just in a different setting. For the Rock Star Creator, to put it simple, it kinda sucks. Why? One: No facial hair for males. Two: No more chooseable character-unique movements. It's only based on your music genre, whether it be Metal, Punk, Pop, Classic, Goth, etc. Three: Can't choose an instrument-specific highway anymore. All in all for features, this game definitely boasts some impressive new doohickies. 9/10
NOTE CHARTS...
Yes, every GH game needs an individual section exclusive to note charts. Good news: the charts are way better than the SH ones (apparently Beenox got scolded). At some rare points, the notes don't sound right and may be a quarter of a beat offset, but nothing excessively noticeable. If you're looking for some good fretting fun, GH5 has it. 9/10
REPLAY VALUE...
Well, it IS a music game... In addition, it has all those challenges to keep you going for a while, and the fun online modes to play with up to 7 other players. You'll most likely be playing this game longer than you would most other post-Harmonix GH games. 8/10
FINAL DECISION...
Guitar Hero 5 is everything you expected World Tour to be and more. This is the true successor to it. For me, I give Guitar Hero 5 a 9/10. Give a big hand to Neversoft this time around.
Linear Mode
