Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock (Wii) Review
To me, it is quite surprising that with the annual releases, sometimes even bi-annual, that Guitar Hero / Band Hero have not burnt out. Instead, they’re still selling pretty well, from what I can see anyway. Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock is the sixth instalment in the Guitar Hero franchise, and despite my negative stigma surrounding the series, it’s nice to see that the developers are still trying a few new things to keep the experience fresh. It’s even better to see that the Wii version is almost as good, if not better than other versions due to some added functionality.
Oddly enough, Warriors of Rock is the first Guitar Hero game to feature a proper story this time around – albeit a very odd and strange one. The game’s “Quest Mode” is narrated by none other than Mr. Gene Simmons, and details the fall of a demi-god of rock, who the player must save by defeating a mechanised creature known as “The Beast”. I somewhat read into this story as being a clever comment on how rock music is kind of losing its lustre in today’s society to “mechanised” music, but perhaps I was reading into it too far.
The game’s Quest Mode is cleverly implemented as it requires players to win over certain characters who you will recognise from previous games, but playing music that is associated with them. Recruiting these characters is beneficial because, well, they have special powers, each one unique, that will be very handy in destroying “The Beast”. Those of you who have played another rock-inspired game by another publisher will probably see parallels in the story here, though a quick trawl of the web insists that the team developed their own story from the ground up.
An element of the game’s Quest Mode that should probably be addressed – it’s not that particularly interesting. Especially during a well-publicised segment which follows Canadian progressive rock band “RUSH” through their album, “2112”. I understand that this may be someone’s interest, but the segment was not only boring to play but peppered with rather uninteresting dialogue from the band members themselves. This really brought down the Quest Mode. When Harmonix did it with The Beatles, it was okay. This was not.
Visually speaking, Warriors of Rock doesn’t do much more for the game’s presentation than previous games have. The artwork plastered across all the menus and loading screens are quite clearly inspired by classic rock album covers, and this is a very nice touch. Each of the characters looks well put together, and becomes especially over the top when they transform into their “Super” modes during the game’s story. Putting all that aside though, this is still the same old Guitar Hero with the same old graphical presentation – including the rather “try hard” designs of the lead characters.
It would be pointless to divulge to anyone living under a rock for the past six to seven years just how rhythm games work. However, since then, we’ve come a long way, and drum and microphone support is still included in addition to guitar modes. The lack of a keyboard mode following Guitar Hero’s major competitor is rather disappointing, however, it seems the team is more concerned with refining existing content, rather than expanding. This is fine with me. Your standard online play and Quickplay mode is still included in the mix, however, the new Quickplay+ mode allows players to complete challenges similar to those introduced in Guitar Hero 5 – and earn extra stars to unlock more costumes, guitars and other unlockables for their game. It’s a very nice mode that adds a bit of length to the game outside of the usual casual modes – and definitely adds longevity to the title.
The most awesome thing about the Wii version of Warriors of Rock, however, is the return of the ’Roadie’ mode from Guitar Hero 5. Using the Wii/DS connectivity that developers don’t use enough of these days, Roadie Mode allows players to complete mini games on their DS to supplement and increase their player’s score without having to play an instrument. Similarly, just like in last year’s Band Hero, the developers have allowed players to develop a setlist for Quickplay mode utilising their Nintendo DS – another nice feature. The use of the console’s advantages in a third party developed title is very nice to see.
The setlists available to players in Warriors of Rock is no doubt going to be polarising, and is probably going to be the biggest determinant of whether or not you would pick up the game or not. With over 93 songs on the game’s disc at launch, along with backwards compatibility with some downloaded content, there are HEAPS to do with Warriors of Rock. Ironically, despite the project leader’s comments, the large slew of songs actually dilutes the game quite a bit – there are heaps of songs that are just boring to play, and we foresee many players avoiding them like wildfire, which is a bit disappointing too. As previously mentioned, the narration during Quest Mode, particularly by RUSH, is very boring to listen to as well. Still, the game’s very diverse soundtrack, although plentiful in numbers, may not appeal to everyone. I, however, was impressed with how many tracks we can fit on a disc these days.
As you would expect, there are heaps of songs to play through in Warriors of Rock and as such you’ll get heaps of time out of the package if you wish to – as in, if you’ve got people to play with. The Quest Mode is a very nice touch and an interesting idea, but ultimately falls flat on its face in terms of harbouring players interests to finish the whole thing to the end (which we did, but struggled). Combine this with the importing of downloadable content, and new downloadable content, and Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock is probably one of the most comprehensive packages for the Wii so far.
As a quick side note, the game does come with a new guitar. The design is great, and the detachable wings allows for customisation (we got a pair from a local retailer) which is also a nice touch. There was nothing uncomfortable about the new guitar, and overall it looks much slicker and much more, well, “rocky” than any of the guitars previously released by RedOctane/Activision. A job well done in that regard too.
How I feel about Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock still has varying levels of ambivalence. I like the fact that the game has so many tracks packed on the disc, and yet I found a lot of them were uninteresting to play. I always wanted a decent single player experience from this franchise, and now that I have one, it’s pretty underwhelming. Overall, it’s safe to say that if you enjoy the game’s set list, you’ll get a lot out of this package. If you don’t, then this iteration of Guitar Hero is not going to get you rocking more than you used to. A very well put together music game package, that doesn’t change a lot, but what it does refine, for the most part, works great.
Graphics 7.0
The games inspiration clearly comes from classic rock albums, and this artistic direction is a very nice touch to create atmosphere.
Gameplay 8.0
This is still the rather enjoyable Guitar Hero experience youre used to, just with more songs. Quest Mode adds a new, albeit disappointing twist to the formula, while Quickplay+ mode is a very interesting and welcome addition. The charting is starting to catch up with Rock Band too, which is a very good thing.
Sound 8.0
Despite having over 90 songs on the disc, Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock feels very watered down and almost as if its having an identity crisis some of these artists are by no means “Warriors of Rock”. Narration of the Quest Mode is uninteresting and dull, but the sheer number of tracks saves this one.
Tilt 8.0
Importing songs from the previous two Guitar Hero games is definitely a plus when you add them to the already large list of available songs. Different modes provide more mileage for your dollar too, with DS connectivity being a great hook for newbies or “guitar-shy” players.
Value 7.0
Having to play through some genuinely boring songs was a bit of a chore, but overall I had a lot of fun with Warriors of Rock, more so than previous Guitar Hero games.
