Guitar hero 5

It all began with Guitar Hero, then Rock Band upped the ante with additional instruments. So Guitar Hero answered back with World Tour, taking the full instrument band in another direction. Now, the heir apparent to World Tour, Guitar Hero 5 drops like a hammer on all of eagerly awaiting rockers. And for those owners of the Wii, this could be the rock game to end all rock games.

Now I said "could be" and that is because everyone has different tastes in music. What I consider good "rock" my father, who is a fan of these games, might not always see eye-to-eye with me. And likewise, his affinity for long-winded 60's and 70's rock isn't always my cup of tea. So it was with mixed emotion that I played through the plethora of songs on the latest Guitar Hero. For me, "Kryptonite" by 3 Doors Down, "You Give Love a Bad Name" by Bon Jovi and Nirvana's "Smells like Teen Spirit" represent everything that I love about these rock games. Good, fast-paced rock songs that I can get behind. Of course, there are plenty of others to enjoy for my taste; these just happen to come to mind as genuinely good songs and help to power through the many songs I did not particularly care for.

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But that's the thing now isn't it? You simply cannot make games like this with every single song a winner. Some people like their rock with punk flair, some more classic, others really hard, and the game does a fairly good job at making sure all the different "types" of rock music is represented. So while I might not be behind the song selection, I can't really fault it either. Plus, with the Wii, you can download the entire song library from World Tour and with that comes improved sound and info downloaded from your World Tour game. So with the game itself, and the free Van Halen add-on that some retailers are offering and the downloadable content, that's like 7 million songs right there. Ok, maybe not that many, but the sheer number of songs is mind boggling to say the least, putting all fears aside, because even if you only like 33% of the songs, that's still a ton of good music.

Now, interestingly enough, the game has made several subtle changes to help move the franchise in another direction. Starting with the game's title screen, you can access the hidden "party" mode which allows anyone to play any instrument with any difficulty easily and on the fly. Meaning, if you have the game going with a bunch of people, everyone can play simply by passing instruments around and no matter how bad or good you are, its easy to switch difficulties and get to rockin'.



But if you are a hardcore rocker and have the full band wanting to take the game's tour, then this title also has some answers for you. Having the game's downloadable content available is a big step in the right direction, but then the system itself manages to do something it hasn't done before by allowing the player to log on and remain online for up to the minute info really helps the game become something more. Auto detection will find and make friends without ever having to have to plug in the Wii system information. And, the new SD cards allow players to pull information straight from the cards (which can have downloaded info) and into the game rather then jump through the systems onboard memory first.

Add to all of this the ability to actually connect your DS to the system and game and begin affecting the stage lights, cameras and on-stage shenanigans. It's kind of a quirky add-on, but still intriguing and fun all the same. But to finally push players over the edge, there is a new mode called the roadie battle that requires two players playing on the guitars and two other players playing on their DSs which is now wirelessly connected to the Wii. The battle starts off with both guitarists playing like normal, then the fun starts. The roadies begin messing with their opponent's equipment, messing with speakers, fluctuating power and doing all sorts of other underhanded stuff. As the roadie you must provide an offense and a defense, quickly correcting any attacks on equipment that has occurred while doling out the same. This is in all actuality the most fun I have had playing a rock style game in a long time.

Of course, the game's sound is much better than your average game. It is a rock game and there is an awful lot of rock music coming out, but it sounds really well. I have lamented on how I wish the Wii had made the possibility of Dolby digital plugs in the past, and while the game isn't screaming out of my system, the game does come across very clean sounding and tight. Miss a note in competitive mode and you can hear it crisply. This is a powerful addition to the Wii library in terms of sheer rocking sound.

Lastly, the game looks very nice. I have spoken about other rock games and how you really don't look at all the stuff that happens in the background because you are too busy watching the note line. Well, with roadie battle that does change the way you look at the game since you are fiddling around with amps and electronics as you attempt to sabotage your competition. It is a smart looking game, it certainly doesn't push the envelope of how we look at games, but it is a solid and well put together looking title.