Guitar Hero World Tour Impressions

[sportdan30]

Picked up a game rental of GH yesterday afternoon. Looking forward to trying it out this evening and seeing how the game compares to RB2. I'm very curious which one is more forgiving in terms of early and late hits on the drums and guitar. From what I've read, GH seems to be rather forgiving which is nice.

[webdanzer]

Picked up a game rental of GH yesterday afternoon. Looking forward to trying it out this evening and seeing how the game compares to RB2. I'm very curious which one is more forgiving in terms of early and late hits on the drums and guitar. From what I've read, GH seems to be rather forgiving which is nice.

There is no doubt about it that GH is more forgiving on timing for both. Higher level guitar makes up for that some with more complex 'chords.'

[sportdan30]

So, if I'm playing Medium on RB2, I shouldn't have a problem starting on the second level, correct?

[Nozzleman_216]

actually medium is the third level on GH So yes go for it!

[Feanor]

I thought GH only had Easy, Medium, hard and Expert apart from the Wii version which has a difficulty that's easier than Easy.

[webdanzer]

I thought GH only had Easy, Medium, hard and Expert apart from the Wii version which has a difficulty that's easier than Easy.

No, the 360 has a 'Beginner' level too.

Dan, you should be okay starting on Medium. You may have some more chord fingerings, but I don't think they'll be too bad on Medium at all.

[Teal]

I thought GH only had Easy, Medium, hard and Expert apart from the Wii version which has a difficulty that's easier than Easy.

No, the 360 has a 'Beginner' level too.

Dan, you should be okay starting on Medium. You may have some more chord fingerings, but I don't think they'll be too bad on Medium at all.

Yeah, Dan, I had to start on easy, like you, and once I hit medium, I thought I'd never go above it-it was so much more fun that easy, and hard just looked awful to me. Well, now I'm on hard, and it's a challenge on some songs, but that's even more fun than medium. Go for medium, and don't be afraid of the 'slow it down and practice' options-they're fantastic for getting muscle memory down, and you'll be amazed at how well you wind up doing at full speed.

Speaking of muscle memory, I think that may be some of the problem with some people regarding the drumkit. Alot of you guys have been playing RB drums for awhile now, and just looking at the RB kit, it's WAY different from the GH kit.

I've never touched a RB kit, the GH one is my very first attempt at playing drums. Seminole can attest to the fact that I'm not very good at them, but I love playing them. He used his RB kit and just killed me on head to head-possibly just because he's more used to them. And if I already were playing the RB kit, I don't think I'd like the GH kit, either, because it's drastically different. But I love it as it is. Now, I haven't played any drums on RB with them, but I might not, as I just prefer GH over RB. I love RB, don't get me wrong, but something about GH just grabs my interest more.

[JackB1]

There is no doubt about it that GH is more forgiving on timing for both. Higher level guitar makes up for that some with more complex 'chords.'

Are you saying GHWT is more forgiving (for guitar only) than the guitar in RB? Because GH3 was tougher than RB, just for guitar.

[Naples39]

There is no doubt about it that GH is more forgiving on timing for both. Higher level guitar makes up for that some with more complex 'chords.'

Are you saying GHWT is more forgiving (for guitar only) than the guitar in RB? Because GH3 was tougher than RB, just for guitar.

GH3 (and presumably GHWT) have MUCH more forgiving note windows than RB1/2 (or GH2 for that matter).

Generally, Harmonix games (RB1/2 and GH1/2) require precise timing in your playing, whereas Neversoft (GH3, GHWT) gives the players quite a bit of leeway with their hit timing. To make up for it, Neversoft puts up more difficult note charts with more chords.

At the end of the day, GH3 expert guitar was much more difficult than RB1 expert guitar to complete the song because the note charting was much harder. RB2 however has more difficult note charts than RB1, and I understand that the note charts GHWT aren't quite as tough as they were in GH3.

[webdanzer]

There is no doubt about it that GH is more forgiving on timing for both. Higher level guitar makes up for that some with more complex 'chords.'

Are you saying GHWT is more forgiving (for guitar only) than the guitar in RB? Because GH3 was tougher than RB, just for guitar.

Just the timing, Jack. The window is smaller in RB than GH. Ultimately GH may be harder in that it asks you do do more, (More chords, more notes, faster changes, whatever) , but GH is more lenient in 'counting' notes you hit for a time before or after the gems hit the strike bar.

[sportdan30]

Well, I played a bit of GH last night. Here are my brief impressions thus far.

- The soundtrack is indeed great. It's nice to play some tunes that are a little more mellow and I actually know the words to.

- I like that you have the option to pick a quick 6 song set list right from the get go. Or you can choose just to play one or two songs if you wish.

- The RB2 instruments perform flawlessly with the game.

- The character models are a step down from the ones on RB2. They seem a bit more cartoonish and more generic. They almost have a last gen look to them.

- I was worried that the musical note interface would be cluttered, but it's not. It's similar to RB2, but the view seems a little bit lower. I don't necessarily have a preference. They're both good.

- The sing-a-long from the crowd is much weaker compared to RB2. It seems like a tacked on add-on instead really adding energy to the game like RB2 does.

- The overall atmosphere seems a little stale compared to RB2. I can't quite put my finger on it. Maybe it's the menus, the overall look and feel, or the cartoony character models, but RB2 just feels more alive.

- Easy on GH seems to mirror Medium on RB2. That's just fine with me, but I'm playing less cords on GH than I am on RB2. When I was playing GH, I missed the two cord notes from RB2 even though I might have preferred the song from GH. Confusing I know, but that's just my personal preference.

At this point, I'm not real interested in purchasing the retail game of GH. As I stated above, the soundtrack is more of what I like to play, but the overall energy of the game is just not there. Then again, it's all the eye of the beholder.

[Teal]

I dunno...maybe it's just me, but I actually prefer the cartoony looking guys. They're a helluva lot less cartoony than they used to be, and the creation tool is really good. The RB guys are just kinda...nondescript. Just faces, mostly. And whoever thought that damn 'Black Kiss' guy in RB2 was a good idea...I want him fired and shot. That's the stupidest character I've ever encountered. You're wailing away on 'Enter Sandman' and this idiot is singing and dancing like a bad Michael Jackson wannabe.

Oh, and this little tidbit is another way that GH bests RB: In a concert set, if a female song comes on, THEY PUT A FEMALE SINGER ON STAGE.

[Teal]

I knew (and loved) that they put Jimi Hendrix songs into GH.

I did NOT know that they put Jimi HENDRIX into GH!

Just played 'Purple Haze', and I'll be damned...there's Jimi playing and singing in all of his motion captured glory. It was great...and a little eery...

You get an achievement for playing the song-it's called 'The Experience'...

[webdanzer]

I only have 2 or 3 more sets to finish up the drums (on Hard...expert next!), and though I'd still love to give this game a shot using the GHWT drum sets, at this point I enjoy RB's drums pretty significantly more.

Two things bother me with GHWTs Drumming:

As things start getting busier in later tiers, I find that the gem clusters are simply harder to read than RB's simpler lines. This wasn't an issue for a while, but I'm finding it to be now. In RB I generally screw up when I can't *do* what I'm supposed to do on the drums. In GHWT, I tend to screw up more when I can't *understand* what I'm supposed to do. The tracks are certainly playable, but this is more of a bother than I thought it was going to be.

Secondly (and this applies to ALL instruments) the loose timing window actually disconnects me from the music somewhat. Because GHWT gives you a large margin for error on both sides of a note, many times you'll hear a note play substantially earlier or later than when you actually input it, including notes playing -and then abruptly cutting out- when you never hit them at all. It just takes away some of the illusion that you're the one playing, and feels a little more that you are just tapping buttons along to a recorded track. (Which of course you are...I just think RB fools you a little bit better.)

Neversoft still gets major props for mapping for the RB set. I lose a little of the experience by using the RB1 set no doubt, but I don't really think it's that much. Sure, I'd rather be crashing a cymbal rather than hitting the blue pad again, but overall they did really good work, here.

[10spro]

The character models are a step down from the ones on RB2. They seem a bit more cartoonish and more generic. They almost have a last gen look to them.

I dunno...maybe it's just me, but I actually prefer the cartoony looking guys. They're a helluva lot less cartoony than they used to be, and the creation tool is really good. The RB guys are just kinda...nondescript. Just faces, mostly.

I am having a challenge following the notes on some songs never mind looking at the rest of the clowns in my band.

[vader29]

I finished medium guitar in career last night, Ozzy singing La Bamba was funny.

[Feanor]

Tarantula by the Smashing Pumpkins is one of the song in the new DS version of GH, but I really hope it ends up as DLC on GHWT soon since I've always thought it would be a great song to play.

[webdanzer]

GHWTs Drumming:

As things start getting busier in later tiers, I find that the gem clusters are simply harder to read than RB's simpler lines. This wasn't an issue for a while, but I'm finding it to be now. In RB I generally screw up when I can't *do* what I'm supposed to do on the drums. In GHWT, I tend to screw up more when I can't *understand* what I'm supposed to do. The tracks are certainly playable, but this is more of a bother than I thought it was going to be.

Hey, if anyone else finds the above to be an issue too, I suggest enabling the code for Hyperspeed. It may sound counter-intuitive, but because this speeds up the rate at which the notes come down, it actually creates more space between the notes on the track, making it easier (for me, at least) to read.

[matthewk]

The Wii RB drum sets are now only $50. I like the look of the GH set, but for $50 this might be a worth a try with GHWT.

[sportdan30]

The Wii RB drum sets are now only $50. I like the look of the GH set, but for $50 this might be a worth a try with GHWT.

That seems like a great deal actually. Are these the original RB drums or RB2?

[matthewk]

Original. I don't think any RB2 stuff comes out for the Wii until December.

[sportdan30]

Original. I don't think any RB2 stuff comes out for the Wii until December.

Gotcha. Are they compatible with the GH:WT game?

[webdanzer]

I finished the Drum career over the weekend, all songs on at least Hard. Some notes:

-Props to GHWT for keeping the song style selection relatively diverse pretty much all the way through, but ESPECIALLY in the last couple of tiers. A nice change from the RB games, whose last couple of tiers tend to be all the same style of music. Big plus here.

-Though I'm a middle level Expert drum player on RB, I played on Hard level in GHWT for my first playthrough in case there were any 'wall' songs to keep me from getting through eveything. (Like Run to the Hills in RB1) There weren't any. In fact, things were a little boring for about half of the run, then got interesting for a while in the middle, and decently challenging in the end. All in all, easier than RB's drumming I think. (But some of this may indeed be because I was using a RB drum set)

I only failed out on three songs, all of them on the tracks nearing the very end of the career. Two of the three I failed out on were because the song hit me with a decently complex chart right at the very begging of the song, and you can fail out pretty quickly from the beginning in such cases. (like 2-5% of the song!) In both of those cases, I passed it on the second try after getting a glimpse of what was going on. The third song was legitimately harder for me, but it still only took me three tries...far less than some RB songs.

I DO think GH has gone the way of 'easier to pass, harder to master,' which is probably a good thing. Though I have to say I kind of miss slamming into a tough song that stops me for a while, only to finally overcome it later on. I may get that on expert level in GHWT. We'll see.

In any case, if you can handle a good chunk of expert songs in RB, you should probably start with expert here.

- It seems GHWT treats all hits as equal. What I mean by this is that in the RB games, it's more important to keep the beat with the bass and snare, and it's less important (in terms of judging your overall performance) to hit the toms and cymbals. In GHWT it seems like all hits raise or lower your performance meter by the same amount. If you're like me and find complex bass patterns trickier than anything you have to do with your hands, you can kinda feel like you are cheating by ignoring the bass notes...for a long, long time, actually!

- The option to change difficulty at any time for any particular song is a good one! Though you have to start that particular song over (makes sense) it allows you to beef up a song that you are finding to be too easy, or nerf one you are finding to be too difficult. Nice option to have.

- IMO, this game is still a 'guitar first' title. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but I think the drum charts suffer a little because of it.


Other notes:

-If I never play Tool again (on drums) it will be too soon. Though maybe this will change on guitar, the entire set was tediously long and boring on drums. And this is a taste thing, but you get one band for your game to have three songs, and it's Tool?!?

-I enjoyed the settings for some of the venues. No effect on gameplay whatsoever, but still some nice touches.

-Definitely looking forward to going through with guitar and (especially) bass.

-GHWT seems to make a bigger, more favorable impression with 'noobs' than RB does. A lot of this is because of the track lists, but overall presentation seems to be a factor as well.

-Overall I'm happy with the purchase, though since I'm more of a drum player, I thihk I'll still be spending more time with RB.

[Teal]

The last Tool song is hard as hell on guitar, on hard difficulty. Barely, barely passed it.

[Spooky]

The last Tool song is hard as hell on guitar, on hard difficulty. Barely, barely passed it.

Yeah, well, they're f*cking impossible on Expert drums!