andPOP » guitar hero

Contest: Win DJ Hero, Guitar Hero, Cypress Hill’s Album and More

Michael Levine — Mon, 24 May 2010 22:04:46 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

We have a great contest running now for fans of Cypress Hill and Guitar Hero games.

West Coast legends Cypress Hill have teamed up with andPOP.com, Activision and Skull Candy to give fans the chance to win the following:

- A RARE RISE UP FLAG, FROM THE BAND’S PERFORMANCE ON JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE, AUTOGRAPHED BY CYPRESS HILL, TOM MORELLO OF RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE AND JOHN DOLMAYAN OF SYSTEM OF A DOWN.
- A DJ HERO SET (FOR CONSOLE OF CHOICE)
- A GUITAR HERO SET (FOR CONSOLE OF CHOICE)
- A COPY OF THE CYPRESS HILL’S NEWLY RELEASED ALBUM RISE UP

FIVE RUNNERS UP WILL BE SELECTED TO RECEIVE A LTD EDITION RISE UP ARTWORK LITHOGRAPH, SIGNED BY CYPRESS HILL, WITH A COPY OF RISE UP, PLUS A PAIR OF NOISE-ISOLATING “SMOKIN’ BUDS” FROM SKULLCANDY.

To enter the contest, click here.

Contest ends June 17th, 2010.

DJ Hero: Review

Elliott Rudner — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 20:59:21 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

Put Your Hands Up Here Comes My DJ!

In an industry that has been said to be over saturated with peripherals for rhythm games do we really need a plastic turntable? People that don’t enjoy the gentle musings of Children of Bodom and Metallica would have to say: Yes!

Activision and FreeStyleGame’s DJ Hero is a game that still has you making coloured circles disappear much like previous Guitar Hero games but adds in the new functionality of scratching and cross-fader manipulation. Does DJ Hero have the replay value and fun factor to have it stand beside Guitar Hero though? In the words of Flava Flav, “CHECK THIS OUT!”

The Controller

: One Turntable and No Microphone

DJ Hero’s controller consists of a spinning record with three buttons on it, a cross-fader that has slight resistance/click in the middle, an effects knob, an euphoria button (DJ Hero’s star power), and of course the standard native system controls shielded by a hinged compartment.

The controller works great from the hours I’ve put into it, though I think that the effects knob and the euphoria button should be swapped as I find my hand knocks the cross-fader around while twisting. The disc itself spins very easily, sometimes on complicated scratching sections this can be bothersome as the buttons sometimes slip away from me. Being a right handed guitar hero player, complicated button patterns can be quite daunting as the hand positioning is awkward at first and having to press and scratch with my strumming hand can be quite tiresome.

You cannot play this game without the turntable peripheral which forces the $130.00 package on you. Or, if you are an Eminem/Jay-Z fan, the $230.00 package for The Renegade Edition.

Gameplay

DJ Hero’s learning curve is interesting. You cannot start the game without playing the tutorial which ensures the player knows the basics of the game. The only way to bypass the tutorial is with the unlock all code which disables all achievements. After the tutorial narrated by Grandmaster Flash you get to play 3 of the easiest songs in the game. The next tier however is significantly more difficult, I still haven’t gotten 5*s on some of those songs and it only gets harder from there.

DJ Hero compensates for this increased level of difficulty by making the game all about getting points, there is no way to fail (you can only fail yourself). Once you unlock later set lists such as The Scratch Perverts or Daft Punk’s Record Bag you’ll understand why.

DJ Hero’s set up is fairly simple and when watching a video of it you might find it appears to be very easy compare to the 5 lanes in Guitar Hero you’ve come to know.

: I think it just kicked in…

The green track (left) represents record one, The red track (middle) are your samples, and blue (right) is record two. Using the cross-fader you have 3 positions you can be in: Left, Middle, and Right. On earlier difficulties scratching is non-dependent on what direction you move but on Expert not following the pattern of up or down will cause you to break combo.

Some things that set aside DJ Hero’s gameplay mechanics from Guitar Hero’s is the new concept of rewinding. Rewinds occur when you reach a 60 note streak and allow you to go back to a section of the song you’ve already played. How far you go back depends on how fast you spin the turntable backwards (as far as I can tell). Rewinds should be used as soon as you get them as you cannot store more than one.

The second feature of DJ Hero is the effects knob which can be used on sections with an orange bridge over the track. The faster you twist the knob, the more points you get. If you are familiar with the club scene you might like to slowly twist the knob for an interesting effect reminiscent of a real mixer setup with less points awarded.

Euphoria works like the star power in guitar hero however you can activate it after only one phrase is collected. Activating Euphoria auto-cross-fades allowing you to focus on button taps and scratching. However, if euphoria runs out and your cross-fader is not aligned properly you will break combo instantly.

While providing a challenge, DJ Hero’s game play is quite fun!

Who would’ve thought that scratching a complicated section would feel as cool as hitting a crazy solo in Guitar Hero!

Graphics

: Screw you LCD Soundsystem- Daft Punk is playing at MY house!

DJ Hero is a game about the club scene, so it features scantily clad female dancers, flashing lights, and of course DJs!

The Graphics are good for what they are, which is essentially Guitar Hero 5 but in the Club. Though, I doubt you will be paying attention to them much given the fact you’ll be concentrated on looking at the notes. One thing that could be improved is sometimes the DJ on screen doesn’t exactly do what you are doing with your peripheral. Maybe DJ Hero 2?

One thing to note however. is the great job they did on the Celebrity DJs. DJ AM (RIP), DJ Shadow, Z-Trip, and yes even Daft Punk all look fantastic.

Sound

This game sounds great! Even artists I previously hated (Black Eyed Peas, The Killers) have mixes I enjoy.

I especially enjoy playing the mixes involving KRS-One’s Jack of Spades and Daft Punk. It also should be mentioned that I have never been a fan of Jay-Z yet I keep coming back to his set list for more.

One downside however is the lack of electronica/dance music but the David Guetta DLC pack coming out on Tuesday (November 24th, 2009) will fix that.

DJ Hero boasts 93 original mixes so there is bound to be something you’ll like!

Multiplayer

: Plastic Guitarists get to have fun also

Here is the downside of DJ Hero.

In my opinion it is a very anti-social game, when it comes to actually playing. While the Guitar/DJ Mixes can be enjoyable there are only 10 of them and the scroll speed difference seems to make playing them quite tiresome. This could however be corrected with the Hyperdeck code which for some reason nobody can figure out.

Online Multiplayer is a total wash since there is no ranked matches or indication of any reason to try to win against people besides an achievement/trophy.

One amazing thing though about online is that your score achieved in a pro face off match is transferred to your career- a feature that should definitely show up in future Guitar Hero games.

Given the fact there is no stand-alone turntable available I see no real reason to even consider playing anything but the single player campaign in this game- maybe a future DJ Hero game will address this.

The Interface

One thing that has to be said about DJ Hero, is the whole set up of “Make a Setlist” is very confusing at first. You have to add mixes to play a setlist with the blue button rather than with green as we’d come to expect. As well there is no way to sort the setlist by title. You can only sort by mix author, intensity, high score, and stars needed. This makes finding one song out of 93 quite annoying. Also DJ Hero erases your lower scores even if they were on a higher difficulty than the one you achieved a higher one on.

Your best way of going about making a set list is going to quick list rather than using the “Custom DJ Set list 1/2″

Final Thoughts

DJ Hero is off to slow start much like the original Guitar Hero. Nobody would have thought a game where you play plastic guitar would get as big as it is now, yet many people scoff at the idea that anyone would want to play DJ Hero.

I say to you, try the game before you dismiss it! It’s one of the most refreshing, unique, and difficult titles North American rhythm gaming has ever seen.

DJ Hero is also a game that can be as difficult as the mix authors want it to be, they don’t need to depend on whether a band has a guitarist that can shred for hours for the song to be difficult- and if the final songs are any indication of what FreeStyleGames/Activision can come up with, expert players should be very scared for what’s to come.

Gameplay: 4.5/5

Graphics: 4.5/5

Sound: 5/5

Replay: 4.5/5

Codes for DJ Hero

DJHero.com

Guitar Hero Announces November Line-Up of Downloadable Content!

Elliott Rudner — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:54:02 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

Band Hero let's you be Taylor Swift without being interrupted by Kanye West!

After last week’s amazing DLC 3 pack of Gwar, Marilyn Manson, and The Misfits is there any better way to follow it up than offering a new game featuring Taylor Swift and Adam Levine? Heck no!

On November 5th as a way to celebrate Band Hero being released, plastic instrument fans can either export 69 songs from Guitar Hero 5 into Band Hero or 61 songs (out of 64) into GH5 from Band Hero!

The songs that will not export from Band Hero to Guitar Hero 5 are as follows:

Jesse McCartney- “Beautiful Soul”
Aly & AJ- “Like Whoa”
Styx- “Mr. Roboto”
Hilary Duff- “So Yesterday”

Look on the bright side though you can make Kurt Cobain sing Taylor Swift!

The export runs you 400 Microsoft Points on Xbox 360, $4.99 on Playstation3, and 500 points on Wii.

November 12th is all about Lenny Kravitz as Guitar Hero commemorates the 20th anniversary of his 1989 debut album Let Love Rule. This three song track pack includes the title track “Let Love Rule,” “Lady” off his seventh studio album Baptism, and “Fly Away,” a song which I will assume you all know because it’s freakin’ “Fly Away”

On November 19th paint your faces and grab your tongue extensiosn because it’s time to rock out with the one and only KISS! This track pack includes their new single “Modern Day Delilah,” which has a ripping solo “I Was Made for Loving You,” their second Gold single and finally “Lick it Up,” which was the title track off their album which was also named… Lick it up.

It’s been awhile since Guitar Hero gave us anything for free and on November 24th they’re doing it SIX TIMES! The Neversoft Thanks The Fans Track Pack features: “Lemon Frosting” by Bunny Knutson, “RockNRola” by Nancy Fullforce, “From the Blue/Point of No Return/T.T.R.T.S” by An Endless Sporadic, “Love Holds It Down” by Dom Liberati, “You Really Like Me” by Davidicus and “Guilty Pleasures” by Tony Solis.

These may appear to be unknown bands to the casual player but I can tell you that I am super excited to play more An Endless Sporadic (from GH3 and GHWT DLC respectfully) and Guilty Pleasures sounds awesome as well.

For reasons unknown this track pack will only be available for Playstation3 and Xbox 360 as of this announcement.

We aren’t done quite yet though for the Wii fans out there that have been feeling not metal enough lately the 8 missing tracks from Metallica’s Death Magnetic will now be able to be downloaded as singles on your Nintendo Wii! This offer begins on November 24th so prepare to shred!

Lenny Kravitz Track Pack

KISS Track Pack

I Was Made For Loving You

Modern Day Delilah

Neversoft Thanks The Fans Track Pack

From The Blue/Point of No Return/T.T.R.T.S

http://guitarhero.com

DJ Hero Video Game Song List Revealed

Sara Harowitz — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 22:01:33 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

Move aside, guitar, there’s a new Hero taking over the video game world: the turntable.

Video game creator Activision has released the much-anticipated massive set list for the DJ Hero video game, which comes out on Oct. 27, according to CHARTattack.

The game features 93 exclusive mixes by some of the industry’s top DJs, including Cut Chemist, DJ Shadow, and the late DJ AM. On the game these DJs slice up songs by artists such as Daft Punk, The Killers, Jay-Z, Public Enemies, and the Beastie Boys.

DJ Hero aims to expand on the technology used in video games such as Guitar Hero and Rock Band. The game will use a turntable controller to help immerse players into DJ culture. It will give aspiring DJs the chance to learn DJ techniques including sampling, crossfading, and scratching.

DJ Hero is being marketed as a game to be played in groups. Activision is hoping the game will do for house parties what Guitar Hero did for guitars. Unlike other games of its kind, DJ Hero actively encourages players put their own artistic input onto the tracks, as there is room for creative expression on all mixes.

The Renegade Edition of the game, featuring Eminem and Jay-Z, includes a copy of the game, a premium controller, and a hard-shell turntable carrying case that converts to a performance-ready DJ stand. The special edition also contains an exclusive Eminem and Jay-Z two-CD pack including some new and unreleased material.

Here is the full DJ Hero set list:

2Pac – “All Eyez On Me” vs. The Aranbee Pop Orchestra — “Bittersweet Symphony (Instrumental)”
50 Cent – “Disco Inferno” vs. David Bowie — “Let’s Dance”
50 Cent – “Disco Inferno” vs. InDeep — “Last Night A DJ Saved My Life”
Afrika Bambaataa – “Zulu Nation Throwdown” vs. Freedom Express — “Get Down”
Beastie Boys – “Here’s A Little Somethin’ For Ya” vs. DJ Shadow — “The Number Song (2009 Version)” (Produced and mixed by DJ Shadow)
Beastie Boys – “Intergalactic” vs. Blondie — “Rapture”
Beastie Boys – “Lee Majors Come Again” vs. Daft Punk — “Da Funk” (Produced and mixed by Cut Chemist)
Beck – “Where It’s At” vs. DJ Shadow — “Six Days (Remix ft. Mos Def)”
Bell Biv DeVoe — “Poison” Beat Juggle
Bell Biv DeVoe – “Poison” vs. Beastie Boys — “Intergalactic” (Produced and mixed by DJ AM)
Bell Biv DeVoe – “Poison” vs. Cameo — “Word Up!”
Benny Benassi – “Satisfaction” vs. Tiësto — “Elements Of Life”
Billy Squier – “The Big Beat” vs. N.E.R.D. — “Lapdance” (DJ-Guitar mix)
Black Eyed Peas – “Boom Boom Pow” vs. Benny Benassi — “Satisfaction”
Bobby “Blue” Bland – “Ain’t No Love In The Heart Of The City” vs. 2Pac — “How Do You Want It”
Bobby “Blue” Bland – “Ain’t No Love In The Heart Of The City” vs. Connie Price & The Keystones — “Fuzz And Them”
Boogie Down Productions – “Jack Of Spades” vs. David Bowie — “Let’s Dance” (Produced and mixed by DJ Shadow)
Chuck Brown & The Soul Searchers — “Bustin’ Loose” vs. The Zombies — “Time Of The Season” (Produced and mixed by DJ Shadow)
Chuck Brown & The Soul Searchers —”Bustin’ Loose” vs. Young MC — “Bust A Move”
Common – “Universal Mind Control (U.M.C.)” vs. Masta Ace — “Jeep A** Gutter (Aaron LaCrate & Debonair Samir RMX)” (Produced and mixed by The Scratch Perverts)
Cypress Hill – “Insane In The Brain” vs. Classics IV — “Spooky”
Cypress Hill – “Insane In The Brain” vs. David Axelrod — “The Edge”
Daft Punk – “Around The World” vs. Young MC — “Bust A Move”
Daft Punk – “Da Funk” vs. N.A.S.A. — “Strange Enough ft. Karen O, ODB & Fatlip”
Daft Punk — “Megamix 1″
Daft Punk — “Megamix 2″
Daft Punk — “Robot Rock” vs. Hashim – “Al Naafyish (The Soul)” (Produced and mixed by The Scratch Perverts)
Daft Punk — “Robot Rock” vs. Queen – “We Will Rock You”
Daft Punk — “Short Circuit” vs. Boogie Down Productions – “Jack Of Spades”
Daft Punk — “Technologic” vs. Gary Numan – “Cars”
Daft Punk — “Television Rules the Nation” vs. No Doubt – “Hella Good”
David Axelrod — “The Edge” vs. Eric B. & Rakim – “Eric B. Is President”
Dizzee Rascal — “Fix Up, Look Sharp” vs. DJ Shadow – “Organ Donor (Extended Overhaul)”
Dizzee Rascal — “Fix Up, Look Sharp” vs. Justice – “Genesis”
DJ Shadow — “Six Days (Remix ft. Mos Def)” vs. D-Code – “Annie’s Horn”
Eminem — “My Name Is” vs. Beck – “Loser”
Fedde Le Grand — “Put Your Hands Up For Detroit” vs. Sandy Rivera and David Penn — “I Can’t Stop (David Penn Remix)”
Foo Fighters — “Monkey Wrench” vs. Beastie Boys — “Sabotage” (DJ-Guitar mix)
Foreigner — “Juke Box Hero” vs. DJ Z-Trip ft. Murs — “DJ Hero” (Produced and mixed by DJ Z-Trip)
Foreigner — “Juke Box Hero” vs. DJ Z-Trip ft. Murs — “DJ Hero” (DJ-Guitar mix, produced and mixed by DJ Z-Trip)
Gang Starr — “Just To Get A Rep” vs. Mobb Deep — “Shook Ones, Pt 2″ (Produced and mixed by J. Period)
Gorillaz — “Feel Good Inc.” vs. Blondie — “Atomic”
Grandmaster Flash’s — “Boom” vs. “Tap” (Produced and mixed by Grandmaster Flash)
Grandmaster Flash, DJ Kool, DJ Demo — “Here Comes My DJ” vs. Gary Numan – “Cars” (Produced and mixed by Grandmaster Flash)
Gwen Stefani — “Hollaback Girl” vs. Gorillaz – “Feel Good Inc.”
Gwen Stefani — “Hollaback Girl” vs. InDeep “Last Night A DJ Saved My Life” (Produced and mixed by DJ AM)
Gwen Stefani — “Hollaback Girl” vs. Rick James — “Give It To Me”
Herbie Hancock — “Rockit” Beat Juggle
Herbie Hancock – “Rockit” vs. N.E.R.D. – “Lapdance” (Produced and mixed by Grandmaster Flash)
InDeep — “Last Night A DJ Saved My Life” vs. Cameo — “Word Up!”
Jackson 5 — “I Want You Back” vs. Gang Starr — “Just To Get A Rep” (Produced and mixed by DJ Yoda)
Jackson 5 — “I Want You Back” vs. Third Eye Blind — “Semi-Charmed Life” (DJ-Guitar mix)
Jackson 5 — “I Want You Back” vs. Third Eye Blind — “Semi-Charmed Life”
JAY-Z feat. Pharrell — “Change Clothes” vs. 2Pac — “All Eyez on Me”
JAY-Z — “Izzo (H.O.V.A.)” vs. Eminem — “My Name Is”
JAY-Z — “Izzo (H.O.V.A.)” vs. Jackson 5 — “I Want You Back”
JAY-Z — “Excuse Me Miss” vs. Rick James — “Give It To Me”
Jean Knight — “Mr. Big Stuff” vs. Masta Ace — “Born To Roll”
Jurassic 5 — “Jayou” vs. Billy Squier — “The Big Beat”
Jurassic 5 — “Jayou” vs. Herbie Hancock — “Rockit”
Kid Cudi — “Day ‘N’ Nite” vs. Black Eyed Peas — “Boom Boom Pow”
Kool Moe Dee — “How Ya Like Me Now” vs. Reel 2 Real featuring The Mad Stuntman — “I Like To Move It”
Little Richard — “Tutti Frutti” vs. Shlomo — “Beats” (Produced and mixed by DJ Yoda)
M.I.A. — “Paper Planes” vs. Eric B. & Rakim — “Eric B. Is President” (Produced and mixed by The Scratch Perverts)
M.I.A. — “Paper Planes” vs. Wale — “Lookin’ At Me”
Marvin Gaye — “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” vs. David Bowie — “Let’s Dance”
Marvin Gaye — “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” vs. Gorillaz — “Feel Good Inc.”
Motörhead — “Ace Of Spades” vs. Noisia — “Groundhog” (DJ—Guitar mix)
N.A.S.A. — “Strange Enough ft. Karen O, ODB & Fatlip” vs. Isaac Hayes — “Theme From Shaft”
Noisia — “Groundhog” Beat Juggle (Produced and mixed by The Scratch Perverts)
Paul van Dyk — “Nothing But You” vs. Sandy Rivera and David Penn — “I Can’t Stop (David Penn Remix)”
Public Enemy — “Shut ‘Em Down” vs. Beck — “Where It’s At”
Public Enemy ft. Zakk Wylde — “Bring The Noise 20XX” vs. Justice — “Genesis” (Produced and mixed by DJ Z—Trip)
Public Enemy featuring Zakk Wylde — “Bring The Noise 20XX” (DJ—Guitar mix)
Q—Tip — “Good Thang” vs. Billy Squier — “The Big Beat” (Produced and mixed by J. Period)
Queen — “Another One Bites The Dust” vs. Beastie Boys — “Brass Monkey” (Produced and mixed by DJ Z—Trip)
Queen — “Another One Bites The Dust” vs. Daft Punk — “Da Funk”
Rihanna — “Disturbia” vs. Kid Sister — “Control”
Rihanna — “Disturbia” vs. The Killers — “Somebody Told Me” (DJ—Guitar mix)
Rihanna — “Disturbia” vs. The Trammps — “Disco Inferno”
Shlomo — “Beats” vs. Billy Squier — “The Big Beat”
Street Sweeper Social Club — “Fight! Smash! Win!” vs. Beastie Boys — “Intergalactic” (DJ—Guitar mix)
Tears For Fears — “Shout” vs. DJ Shadow — “Six Days (Remix ft. Mos Def)”
Tears For Fears — “Shout” vs. Eric B. & Rakim — “Eric B. Is President” (Produced and mixed by DJ Jazzy Jeff)
Tears For Fears — “Shout” vs. Eric Prydz — “Pjanoo”
The Aranbee Pop Orchestra — “Bittersweet Symphony (Instrumental)” vs. LL Cool J — “Rock The Bells” (Produced and mixed by DJ Jazzy Jeff)
The Scratch Perverts Beats and Pieces (Produced and mixed by The Scratch Perverts)
The Killers — “Somebody Told Me” vs. Eric Prydz — “Pjanoo”
Vanilla Ice — “Ice Ice Baby” vs. MC Hammer — “U Can’t Touch This”
Vanilla Ice — “Ice Ice Baby” vs. Paula Abdul — “Straight Up”
Wale — “Lookin’ At Me” vs. Black Eyed Peas ft. Tippa Irie — “Hey Mama”
Weezer — “Beverly Hills” vs. Evidence, The Alchemist, Aceyalone, Rakaa & 88 Keys — “Fresh Rhymes And Videotape” (DJ—Guitar mix)
Wild Cherry — “Play That Funky Music” vs. Gang Starr — “Just To Get A Rep” (DJ— Guitar mix)

Guitar Hero 5 rocks October with Downloadable Content!

Elliott Rudner — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 00:15:45 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

Welcome to GWAR into your home this October with Guitar Hero 5!

No tricks here folks just treats as Guitar Hero rolls out a fine month of DLC for Guitar Hero 5.

It all starts with a Queens Of The Stone Age Pack featuring three tracks from their debut album, with Dave Grohl being featured on Avon you know it’s going to be a blast on drums. The week after that we get three tracks from Billy Squier with “The Stroke” which funny enough was the first Guitar Hero custom ever! Coming up next is Mike Patton’s favourite band Wolfmother featuring three tracks from their forthcoming album Cosmic Egg.

The second most exciting pack of DLC in October would have to be The Classic Rock 2 Track Pack featuring another epic from Peter Frampton with “Show Me The Way (live)”. Canadian rockers Triumph make their debut on plastic instruments with their hit “Lay It On The Line” which is sure to give guitarists a run for their money. Finishing it all off is a track from The J. Geils Band “Freezeframe” which is sure to make you go “Oh YEAH! That song.”

The most exciting announcement however is The All Hallows’ Eve track pack with the debut of GWAR’s “GOR GOR” so make sure you don’t wear your Sunday’s best when you sit down to play with all the blood and umm “GWAR juice” coming out of your screen. Adding to the Halloween spirit Marilyn Manson submits his smash hit “The Beautiful People” and we finally get an authentic horror-punk band with The Misfits “Astro Zombies” (let’s hope it’s the original with Danzig).

Downloadable Content – October 1

Queens Of The Stone Age Track Pack

* “Mexicola”
* “Avon”
* “How to Handle a Rope”

Downloadable Content – October 8

Billy Squier Track Pack

* “The Stroke”
* “Everybody Wants You”
* “When She Comes To Me”

Downloadable Content – October 15

Wolfmother Track Pack

* “Pilgrim”
* “California Queen”
* “Cosmic Egg”

Downloadable Content – October 22

Classic Rock 2 Track Pack

* The J. Geils Band – “Freeze Frame”
* Peter Frampton – “Show Me The Way (Live)”
* Triumph – “Lay It On The Line”

Downloadable Content – October 29

All Hallows’ Eve Track Pack

* GWAR – “Gor Gor”
* Marilyn Manson – “Beautiful People”
* The Misfits – “Astro Zombies”

http://guitarhero.com

Game Review: Guitar Hero 5

Elliott Rudner — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 16:37:06 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

PARTY ON!

In early 2006 Harmonix split ways with the Guitar Hero series and went off with MTV to create Rock Band leaving Activision to contract Neversoft to re-build the game that Harmonix arguably perfected. This move marked the day that split the plastic instrument community right down the middle.

While some people saw no problem with the direction that Guitar Hero went in there is a hardcore contingency of people that would like nothing more than to see Guitar Hero vanish into obscurity and let Harmonix’s Rock Band franchise rule supreme. It has been said that ever since Rock Band was released Guitar Hero has been scrambling to avoid doing just that by “ripping off” Rock Band any chance they get. Well if that’s the case then on September 1st, 2009 they finally caught up.

Guitar Hero 5 seems to have fixed everything “wrong” with Guitar Hero World Tour and thrown in all the improvements we have received from the side games that followed (Metallica, Smash Hits). What we have now is a sleek interface with incredible graphics which still retain the trademark over the top Guitar Hero style mixed with a bit of Rock Band’s low frame rate use to give the illusion of a music video. Guitar Hero 5 also boasts a different take on some of Rock Band’s innovations: the ability to “save” your band mate once they fail through maintaining a long enough streak of notes hit, individual star-power for each member of the band which if maxed out will overflow to other members, and band moments which work much like Rock Band’s “Unison Bonuses” however focused on band multipliers rather than added star-power/overdrive.

The really big feature however is Party Play mode which combined with the fact Guitar Hero 5 allows any instrument to join allows you to have just that- a party. As soon as the game loads up the music starts playing and all you need to do is press Yellow (Y Button on your controller) and you are able to join instantly! Pick your instrument (Guitar/Bass) your difficulty and off you go! Same thing applies to vocalists and people with drums, I especially liked how it remembered my hyper-speed settings dependent on the slot my instrument was connected to (Player 1, Player 2) and yes Hyper-speed is now in the options of quickplay- it’s no longer under cheats!

Another nifty feature in party play is making playlists of up to 125 songs and you don’t even need to play them you can just sit back and watch the animations and join at anytime! If your group of friends has a fondness for the music Guitar Hero licenses this will no doubt be a hit at parties- I mean come on… Who doesn’t like a bit of Rammstein followed by Stevie Wonder.

Contraversial digi-Kurt, an in-game character.

Track lists are of course subjective by nature but I really feel that the setlist for Guitar Hero 5 while not having the most insanely difficult “ow my hand hurts please make it stop mommy” songs it still has some fairly challenging Guitar songs (Scatterbrain by Jeff Beck, Done with Everything Die for Nothing by Children of Bodom) it does have a 14 minute song by Peter Frampton after all complete with Talkbox solo and an outro solo that may take you by surprise. If I had to guess though that as we go forward with these games the focus seems to becoming more about drummers and vocalists because with Guitar Hero 5 it surely delivers on that front. 21st Century Schizoid Man by King Crimson and Brianstorm by Arctic Monkeys will give any expert drummer a run for their money- or hard difficulty drummer even. Another plus is that the Rock Band drum kit which is 4 pads as opposed to Guitar Hero’s which is 5 has been modified so that the orange crash note is now on green- which allows more a much better feel while playing the reduced charts.

As vocals are primarily my main instrument there are some real interesting picks here, who would’ve thought singing Bush’s 90s hit “Come Down” would be so fun! There’s quite the challenge in store for you as well if you play expert vocals as vocal phrases are now scored by how much of each phrase you hit. Singers with high lung capacities and accurate pitches are rewarded with higher scores and Neversoft has finally given us a visual feedback meter to help us determine how much of the phrase we are hitting akin to Rock Band’s pie meter.

Everyone should know by now that Kurt Cobain is in the game as a playable character and unlike Hendrix (in Guitar Hero: World Tour) you can play other songs with him! Of course if you choose to do that Kurt won’t be left handed anymore and you wouldn’t want to do that, now would you? It’s great to play Lithium and Smells Like Teen Spirit with his character however and it’s an experience only had in the career mode of the game, which can be played with any combination of instruments and online!

Use your Xbox Live avatar as an in game rock god? SCORE!

To add to the replay value each song in career mode has a challenge associated with it I won’t list them all but to get some of these diamond challenges you are either going to have become really good at expert guitar or find someone online to play with you and that goes for any challenge (vocals, drums, bass) as long as they are in your band you get the challenge unlocked.

Another great thing about Guitar Hero 5 is the ability to import my World Tour DLC into the game which feels brand new in comparison, and additionally a portion of songs (which is rumoured to expand eventually) from World Tour and Smash Hits for a small fee of $3.50 US for each game (approximately on Xbox Live). However you must actually have the manual from the game in your possession, and with the way people are I could see the code being copied at stores and people being unhappy when they buy it and have their code show up as invalid. It’s nice to see my song list up to 195 songs though.

The online mode has also been revamped with new competitive modes that while still are about hitting all the notes provide an added challenge through modes such as Momentum, Do or Die, Perfectionist, and Streakers. I’ve played them and they were a blast and a nice change from who can use starpower at the better opportunity while hitting every solo ever.

In short while Guitar Hero 5 doesn’t have the level of expert difficulty Dragonforce gives us or Guitar Hero: Metallica it’s still a great game with tons of replay value especially if you are willing to play different instruments. This game is great for parties I can’t stress it enough- being able to join instantly in the middle of a song may be the best idea ever for these games. Plus the game has King Crimson – 21st Century Schizoid Man if that won’t sell the copies I don’t know what will.

Gameplay: 5/5

Graphics: 5/5

Sound: 4/5

Replay Value: 5/5

Courtney Love Comes To Virtual Kurt Cobain’s Rescue

Emma Renda — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 18:02:39 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

Ah, Twitter, where would we be without you.

In the first of today’s Twitter-leaked news stories, Courtney Love spilled the virtual beans last week about her outrage over the new Kurt Cobain Guitar Hero avatar.

“FOR THE RECORD, I DID NOT APPROVE KURTS AVATAR FOR GUYITARHERO5. i think Kurt would despise this game alone let alone this avatar,” she wrote.

Then came the more telling post: “We are going to sue the shit out of Activision we being the Trust the Estate the LLC the various LLCs Cobain Enterprises.”

Activision has since responded in a less-mouthy fashion.

“Guitar Hero secured the necessary licensing rights from the Cobain estate in a written agreement signed by Courtney Love to use Kurt Cobain’s likeness as a fully playable character in Guitar Hero® 5,” according to Pitchfork.

Certainly the idea of iconic Nirvana frontman and unofficial leader of grunge, not to mention the figurehead for a generation of disenchanted teengers in the early 90s, is upsetting. Imagine the shaggy, plaid-wearing singer known for his gravelly, disenchanted moan belting ”Total Eclipse of the Heart” at the mercy of some audacious gamers or drunken frat-boys.

It’s enough to make you sick, or at least that’s what happened to Love. (Though it’s probably not that difficult.)

“I saw a piece of [Kurt's] avatar on the nightly news. I actually had to vomit,” she said via Twitter.

Former bandmates Dave Grohl and Kris Novoselic were less violently opposed to the avatar, and actually articulated their stance in an official statement.

Though they claim to have been aware of Cobain’s likeness appearing on Guitar Hero, they didn’t anticipate the control players would have over the avatar.

“This feature allows the character to be used with any kind of song the player wants. We urge Activision to do the right thing in “re-locking” Kurt’s character so that this won’t continue in the future,” they wrote in the statement found on Pitchfork. “It’s hard to watch an image of Kurt pantomiming other artists’ music alongside cartoon characters. Kurt Cobain wrote songs that hold a lot of meaning to people all over the world. We feel he deserves better.”

It remains to be seen if Love’s claims of legal actions will become a reality, but stay tuned to her Twitter where you will probably find all that information and what she f*****g had for dinner.

Guitar Hero Smash Hits — a Smash Hit!

David Barmak — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 22:17:24 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

I still remember the summer when Guitar Hero 2 came out. It was a summer not unlike this one. The sun was hot and the air was clear, but I did not go outside. I stayed in and worked my way through career mode on medium, then hard, and then expert. Would you believe, I started impressing girls with my button-shredding abilities?

Video game fans, take my advice. Stay in this season and hone your fake guitar skills with Activision’s Guitar Hero: Smash Hits. Some may scoff at this newest entry, a compilation of the greatest hits from previous guitar hero releases, but the core gameplay remains tight and challenging as ever. The tracks have been taken from Guitar Heroes 1, 2 and 3, with entries from Rock the 80′s and Aerosmith. All of the tracks are now playable by the whole band – guitar, bass, vocals and drums – just as in Guitar Hero World Tour. The selection features lots of reliable favourites, but like the rest of the series there’s a heavy weighting on classic rock and metal.

GH has always separated itself from Rock Band by playing up the competitive aspect of the game. Where Rock Band 2 added favourites like Psycho Killer by the Talking Heads and Eye of the Tiger by Survivor, Guitar Hero 3 saw soul-crushing entries like Raining Blood by Slayer and Through the Fire and the Flames by Dragonforce. As a devoted Guitar Hero player since the series started, I could simply not get through either of the latter songs, even on hard mode. Guitar Hero: Smash Hits has remedied the problem by smoothing out the gap between difficulty modes. It took me lots of work to beat Raining Blood on Hard in GH3, but the song has been rejigged to make it less complicated this time around. The difficulty definitely ramps up in Expert mode – but even Through the Fire and the Flames lets you play most of the song on the slider bar without worrying about strumming. On the other hand, it means that the note layouts on your favourite song have probably changed. If you had almost memorized The Sword’s Freya, for example, you might be as bothered as I was to have to learn the song again.

As the music genre slowly evolves, gamers are becoming more familiar with plastic instruments. Guitar Hero: Smash Hits doesn’t quite offer anything new in the way of gameplay that a previous entry hadn’t already done. Guitar Hero: Metallica brought us Expert+ mode on drums – and it’s back. Some really tough songs have a skull and crossbones icon, meaning you can attach a second bass pedal to your drum kit and blast your way through Lamb of God’s Laid to Rest, among others. The bass has recently been improved with an open note, where no buttons are pressed, and this makes songs like Rush’s YYZ all the more dynamic and enjoyable.

Despite these subtle changes I have described, this is still a Guitar Hero game, and you have definitely played this before. The game runs on the same engine as World Tour, and features many of the same options including customizable avatars, guitars and tattoos. Activision has recently announced a downloadable licensing patch that will make Guitar Hero 5 backwards compatible with most of the tracks on the Smash Hits disc. This will certainly give the GH franchise some legs, as it jostles to dethrone Rock Band 2 as the reigning rhythm game.

Guitar Hero: Smash Hits has the same visual style as its predecessors. There is a cartoony feel to the characters on screen matched by realistic motion capturing. The venues are exotic this time around, everything from the pyramids in Egypt to the strangely-chosen final level in Quebec City. The sound is generally pretty good in this game, but there are some slight discrepancies between the tracks as they appear here and their original recordings. No One Knows by Queens of the Stone Age suffers from this – the bass is way too quiet in the game mix. Audience effects are pretty minor here, and I’m fondly reminded of Rock Band here; nothing sounds as exhilarating as when the audience sings along with your song.

Ultimately, the gaming enthusiast has two distinct choices on the console. Rock Band is known for its lengthy list of downloadable tracks. Lots of popular genres are represented, including simpler tracks that demand less skill to play. This can make it boring for extended play sessions. Guitar Hero, on the other hand, has always curated a list of challenging songs. Sure, the series features I Love Rock and Roll and other ultra-basic tracks, but the difficulty ramps up fast. The career mode of Guitar Hero: Smash Hits is where it’s at. Practice with this game, and you will be a fret-shredder in no time.

Gameplay: 5/5

Graphics: 4/5

Sound: 4/5

Replay Value: 4.5/5

Grunge Rock Pioneer and Icon Kurt Cobain to make his Video Game debut in Guitar Hero 5 this September!

Elliott Rudner — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 00:33:58 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

In a move sure to delight and anger plastic instrument enthusiasts everywhere Kurt Cobain has been included in Guitar Hero 5 alongside living rockers Santana, Matt Bellamy, Shirley Manson and deceased Johnny Cash.

The addition of Kurt Cobain gives us two never before used Nirvana tracks in a Guitar Hero or Rock Band video game, “Lithium (live)” and the holy grail *drum roll* “Smells Like Teen Spirit”.

One has to wonder how much money Courtney Love made off this little foray but in any event I’m excited to take my flannel jacket out of the closet and rock out come September 1st.

Game Review: Guitar Hero On Tour: Modern Hits

sarge-ak47 — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 16:21:19 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

Encore once more…

You know what’s funny? I did a bit of digging around before I got down to writing my review and realized that the DS version of Guitar Hero has seen its third offering in about a years time. So you know it’s been selling relatively well to merit a sequel and since the Guitar Hero Brand is popular there is no stopping this juggernaut on any platform. Despite that it’s a bit too quick to be releasing so many sequels if you ask me.

With Activition’s third offering for the DS we dive into the basic same game with a different playlist and more broad approach to single player progression. Save for a few key setbacks this has become my favorite Guitar Hero title on the DS simply because of the aforementioned feature and playlist.
Now andPOP has reviewed the previous iterations so for a full understanding I will kindly ask you to refer to those in depth reviews to get a broader understanding of the game.
I find it funny that this game actually took physical form, it couldn’t be download only on the DS, but had they gone that way I wouldn’t be surprised since that’s the amount of content that’s packed within the cart. That’s not to say it’s not worth a pick up if you are a huge fan of the series on the DS but if you’ve played and owned the previous two versions than you’ve essentially played the third. Now if you don’t have any of the DS incantations then this is the version you have to pick up.

Game play
Developed by Vicarious Visions, the same fine people who blew our minds on the Gameboy advance with the stellar Tony Hawk conversions. These guys know and understand the DS and this is evident the moment you start the game. Essentially the true Guitar Hero feel and vibe is spot on and the presence has been scaled down and fit inside your DS screens.

The game play has remained the same tried and true formula of playing songs in different venues to open up more songs and more venues. The primary difference this time around is that this experience is made less linear. Now each venue has different songs categories that need to be played; these are Headline, Opening, and Fan request. Essentially you are free to check each venue and play either category in any order you want in order to progress to the next venue and their list of songs.

In a sense you can probably call this just an organizational method cheekily hid behind “a new game play” banner and you’d be almost right. I said almost because the third mode in each venue-fan request- has you playing through the songs with special conditions to satisfy. Sometimes you’ll have to hit a 100 note streak, other times you have to use no star power, and a couple more to make the repeated songs you’ll play seem a bit fresh. It gives the game a small boost since objective play was very rare on any of the consoles previous installments.
The title has the same game play options since its debut, save for the online component and playlist, you will feel like you’ve played this twice before (assuming you did buy the other two versions). I must say I did enjoy the guitar strumming on the DS and my hand didn’t cramp this outing, probably because it’s used to it by now. The pic stylus always makes me smile. The once unique control still suits the title and has not lost its charm.

um... the 80's called and want their style back.

Graphics
It wasn’t really broken so they need not to try and fix the visuals, but I wanted something of an upgrade.
It’s hard to demand upgraded visuals of a title that probably was developed in tandem with the other DS version and knowingly released a good few months later.
It’s sort of sad but none of the animations have changed and things still don’t sync up to what you are playing, not that it was ever their intention to do so but you lose the connection with the visuals knowing they’re just there and are not affected by your actions. For what it’s worth it has the Guitar Hero look and feel but still carries the late N64 era visuals that look half decent on the DS screen (go read our review on Guitar Hero: On tour for the DS). I’m sort of getting a bit bored with the ultra stylized look and feel of the Guitar Hero games and this game doesn’t help. Maybe it’s time for a visual overhaul and a fresh rocking look guys?

Sound
The most important part of the game is handled very well.
You won’t believe the sound quality on these 25 tracks (plus 2 bonus), not only do they sound crisp but they manage to avoid sounding like glorified cell phone ring tones. I never knew my DS could output such quality. Kudos to the developer! Personally I like the music selection the most in this version, with favs like the Strokes-Reptillia, Tenacious D-The metal, and Kaiser Cheifs- Ruby this is the best selection of different styles of music to ever make it into the DS version. That’s more or less a personal taste thing here. If you dig The Strokes, Modest Mouse, AFI, and Wolfmother then you’ll dig this game.
I won’t ruin the whole playlist for those few that are like myself and through game progression discover what made the cut, though if you’re not sure you’ll like the selection offered just check the rest online and make your decision.

Replay
The game is very short and you’ll realize the linear nature of the Guitar Hero games more on the hand held than any other platform. We all love and bought every Guitar Hero game on the consoles but it was the plastic guitars and multiplayer options that made the game worth. It was a party machine on the consoles and here it seems like an alternative to listening to your MP3 player. Granted the multiplayer options have been beefed up so as you can connect with any of the previous two games and have access to the combined playlists of the series (OVER 50 TUNES!!), but this is only if you have friends who decided to buy the DS version instead of the console offerings. You certainly will get a kick out of how fun the multiplayer option can be on the hand held, but even with the entire list of shared tunes you will find this isn’t the same as its console brethren. Adding to the replay factor is the fact you have either the lead guitar and rhythm or bass to play and a bit more replay can be squeezed out of each song.

What this game is at its core is an updated playlist with a couple of added features. If you must have anything and everything Guitar Hero this will satisfy your appetite! For all the others out there, this is getting a bit redundant and repetitive since the games launch. They could have done some really cool groundbreaking things such as streaming live selections online every week, or new download only challenges (Professor Layton, I’m looking at you) but they just opted for an updated playlist and new title.

If I were to get one version of the hand held series this would be it, but they have to do something more than just a playlist update the next round to keep my attention. As it stands it’s fading pretty fast.

Game Play 2.5 /5
Graphics    3 /5
Sound         4.5 /5
Replay      2 /5

Activision unveils entire Guitar Hero 5 Setlist!

Elliott Rudner — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 18:46:56 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

Finally the last 15 songs have been revealed for Guitar Hero 5, and September 1st is fast approaching. Included in the list is the coveted “Smells Like Teen Spirit” that Rock Band couldn’t seem to get for their Nevermind DLC, Dire Strait’s “Sultan’s of Swing” a highly requested classic song with an amazing call and response guitar solo sure to delight people everywhere, a Muse song which isn’t just fast strumming the majority of the time, and a Megadeth song which has a relatively tame solo.

Of course this game isn’t just about guitar anymore so vocalists get ready to be destroyed by Queen & David Bowie’s “Under Pressure” along with Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition” and drummers prepare to fail Arctic Monkey’s “Brianstorm” over and over.

One thing is for sure September is going to be a big month for carpal tunnel and future arthritis.

Final Released Tracks:

3 Doors Down – “Kryptonite”

Arctic Monkeys – “Brianstorm”

Blink-182 – “The Rock Show”

Dire Straits – “Sultans Of Swing”

Jimmy Eat World – “Bleed American”

Johnny Cash – “Ring Of Fire”

Megadeth – “Sweating Bullets”

Mötley Crüe – “Looks That Kill”

Muse – “Plug In Baby”

Nirvana – “Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Queen & David Bowie – “Under Pressure”

Stevie Wonder – “Superstition”

The Killers – “All The Pretty Faces”

The Raconteurs – “Steady As She Goes”

TV On The Radio – “Wolf Like Me”

Previously announced tracks include:

A Perfect Circle – “Judith”
AFI – “Medicate”
Attack! Attack! UK – “You And Me”
Band Of Horses – “Cigarettes, Wedding Bands”
Beastie Boys – “Gratitude”
Beck – “Gamma Ray”
Billy Idol – “Dancing With Myself”
Billy Squier – “Lonely Is The Night”
Blur – “Song 2”
Bob Dylan – “All Along The Watchtower”
Bon Jovi – “You Give Love A Bad Name”
Brand New – “Sowing Season (Yeah)”
The Bronx – “Six Days A Week”
Bush – “Comedown”
Children Of Bodom – “Done With Everything, Die For Nothing”
Coldplay – “In My Place”
Darker My Love – “Blue Day”
Darkest Hour – “Demon(s)”
David Bowie – “Fame”
Deep Purple – “Woman From Tokyo (’99 Remix)”
The Derek Trucks Band – “Younk Funk”
The Duke Spirit – “Send A Little Love Token”
Duran Duran – “Hungry Like The Wolf”
Eagles Of Death Metal – “Wannabe In L.A.”
Elliott Smith – “L.A.”
Elton John – “Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting)”
Face To Face – “Disconnected”
Garbage – “Only Happy When It Rains”
Gorillaz – “Feel Good Inc.”
Gov’t Mule – “Streamline Woman”
Grand Funk Railroad – “We’re An American Band”
Iggy Pop – “Lust For Life (Live)”
Iron Maiden – “2 Minutes To Midnight”
Jeff Beck – “Scatterbrain (Live)”
John Mellencamp – “Hurts So Good”
Kaiser Chiefs – “Never Miss A Beat”
King Crimson – “21st Century Schizoid Man”
Kings Of Leon – “Sex On Fire”
Kiss – “Shout It Out Loud”
Love and Rockets – “Mirror People”
My Morning Jacket – “One Big Holiday”
Nirvana – “Lithium (Live)”
No Doubt – “Ex-Girlfriend”
Peter Frampton – “Do You Feel Like We Do? (Live)”
The Police – “So Lonely”
Public Enemy Featuring Zakk Wylde – “Bring the Noise 20XX”
Queens Of The Stone Age – “Make It Wit Chu”
Rammstein – “Du Hast”
The Rolling Stones – “Sympathy For The Devil”
Rose Hill Drive – “Sneak Out”
Rush – “The Spirit Of Radio (Live)”
Santana – “No One To Depend On (Live)”
Scars On Broadway – “They Say”
Screaming Trees – “Nearly Lost You”
Smashing Pumpkins – “Bullet With Butterfly Wings”
Sonic Youth – “Incinerate”
Spacehog – “In The Meantime”
Sublime – “What I Got”
Sunny Day Real Estate – “Seven”
T. Rex – “20th Century Boy”
The Sword – “Maiden, Mother & Crone”
Thin Lizzy – “Jailbreak”
Thrice – “Deadbolt”
Tom Petty – “Runnin’ Down A Dream”
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “American Girl”
Vampire Weekend – “A-Punk”
Weezer – “Why Bother?”
The White Stripes – “Blue Orchid”
Wild Cherry – “Play That Funky Music”
Wolfmother – “Back Round”

Guitar Hero 5 releases on September 1st for Xbox360, Playstation2, Playstation3, and Nintendo Wii.

Guitar Hero and Activision Unveil DJ Hero Renegade Edition!

Elliott Rudner — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 17:32:22 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

If you’re a fan of plastic instruments but can’t get into wearing spiked bracelets and headbanging to Children of Bodom perhaps the forthcoming DJ Hero will be more akin to your tastes. DJ Hero which is released in October 2009 for PlayStation 3, PS2, Xbox 360 and the Nintendo Wii will finally tap into the giant market of people that don’t enjoy Guitar Driven music such as hip-hop, R&B, pop, rock and electronica.

DJ Hero delivers them all with over 100 individual songs, highlighted in over 80 unique never-before-released mixes.

Now chances are if you are interested in DJ Hero you are most likely a fan of two of the biggest names in hip-hop, Eminem and Dr. Dre, well boy does DJ Hero have something for you!

Presenting the DJ Hero Renegade Edition!

DJ Hero Renegade Edition includes:

*   DJ Hero game
*   Renegade turntable controller featuring premium metal controls
and finish
*   Hardshell turntable carrying case that converts to
performance-ready DJ stand
*   Exclusive JAY-Z and EMINEM 2-CD pack featuring unreleased tracks
and collectible case designed by artist Shepard Fairey

Unfortunately no “Chronic” is included though- maybe DJ Hero 2 featuring Snoop Dogg- hizzle.

http://djhero.com

New announcements bring excitement to Guitar Hero 5

Josh Salem — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 17:48:48 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

Unveiling 24 more songs to Guitar Hero 5′s massive 85 song list (not including new songs added for download in the future) Activision gives a taste of their variety in this upcoming title by announcing such hits as Iron Maiden’s “2 minutes to midnight”, Rush’s “The Spirit of Radio” (an exclusive live recording), No Doubt’s “Ex-Girlfriend” and much much more.

That’s not the big news that excites me however as not only will GH5 feature the unreleased single “Medicate” from AFI’s upcoming album Crash Love (available in game before the album’s release) but also Two legendary acts will join forces for the greater good of the global gaming… group.

Public enemy and Zakk Wylde have teamed up for an exclusive re-recording of Public Enemy’s rap anthem “Bring the noise 20xx”. You will love it, and you will only be able to enjoy it on Guitar Hero 5.

On top of all this GH5 goodness, a number of bands will pop their proverbial game cherry such as A perfect circle, Brand new, Eagles of death metal, Gorillaz, Gov’t Mule, Grand Funk Railroad, King Crimson, Peter Frampton, Spacehog (wow, that’s a band name I haven’t heard in a LONG time), Sunny day, Real estate, and the Derek trucks band.

I’m not sure what I’m more excited for with Guitar Hero 5′s release on September 1st, all these new bands that have never been in a game before, or the Zakk Wylde / Public Enemy collaboration. No wait… I’m definitely more excited for more Zakk Wylde!

and hey! here’s a list of all the songs that have been announced for GH5 so far!

* AFI – “Medicate”

* A Perfect Circle – “Judith”

* Billy Idol – “Dancing With Myself”

* Brand New – “Sowing Season (Yeah)”

* Bush – “Comedown”

* The Derek Trucks Band – “Younk Funk”

* Duran Duran – “Hungry Like The Wolf”

* Eagles Of Death Metal – “Wannabe In L.A.”

* Gorillaz – “Feel Good Inc.”

* Gov’t Mule – “Streamline Woman”

* Grand Funk Railroad – “We’re An American Band”

* Iron Maiden – “2 Minutes To Midnight”

* King Crimson – “21st Century Schizoid Man”

* No Doubt – “Ex-Girlfriend”

* Peter Frampton – “Do You Feel Like We Do? (Live)”

* Public Enemy Featuring Zakk Wylde – “Bring the Noise 20XX”

* Rush – “The Spirit Of Radio (Live)”

* Scars On Broadway – “They Say”

* Smashing Pumpkins – “Bullet With Butterfly Wings”

* Spacehog – “In The Meantime”

* Sunny Day Real Estate – “Seven”

* T. Rex – “20th Century Boy”

* Weezer – “Why Bother?”

* Wild Cherry – “Play That Funky Music”

Previously announced tracks include:

* Attack! Attack! UK – “You And Me”

* Band Of Horses – “Cigarettes, Wedding Bands”

* Beastie Boys – “Gratitude”

* Beck – “Gamma Ray”

* Billy Squier – “Lonely Is The Night”

* Blur – “Song 2″

* Bob Dylan – “All Along The Watchtower”

* Bon Jovi – “You Give Love A Bad Name”

* The Bronx – “Six Days A Week”

* Children Of Bodom – “Done With Everything, Die For Nothing”

* Coldplay – “In My Place”

* Darker My Love – “Blue Day”

* Darkest Hour – “Demon(s)”

* David Bowie – “Fame”

* Deep Purple – “Woman From Tokyo (’99 Remix)”

* The Duke Spirit – “Send A Little Love Token”

* Elliott Smith – “L.A.”

* Elton John – “Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting)”

* Face To Face – “Disconnected”

* Garbage – “Only Happy When It Rains”

* Iggy Pop – “Lust For Life (Live)”

* Jeff Beck – “Scatterbrain (Live)”

* John Mellencamp – “Hurts So Good”

* Kaiser Chiefs – “Never Miss A Beat”

* Kings Of Leon – “Sex On Fire”

* Kiss – “Shout It Out Loud”

* Love and Rockets – “Mirror People”

* My Morning Jacket – “One Big Holiday”

* Nirvana – “Lithium (Live)”

* The Police – “So Lonely”

* Queens Of The Stone Age – “Make It Wit Chu”

* Rammstein – “Du Hast”

* The Rolling Stones – “Sympathy For The Devil”

* Rose Hill Drive – “Sneak Out”

* Santana – “No One To Depend On (Live)”

* Screaming Trees – “Nearly Lost You”

* Sonic Youth – “Incinerate”

* Sublime – “What I Got”

* The Sword – “Maiden, Mother & Crone”

* Thin Lizzy – “Jailbreak”

* Thrice – “Deadbolt”

* Tom Petty – “Runnin’ Down A Dream”

* Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “American Girl”

* Vampire Weekend – “A-Punk”

* The White Stripes – “Blue Orchid”

* Wolfmother – “Back Round”

Guitar Hero Smash Hits and Guitar Hero on Tour Modern Hits in Stores Now

sarge-ak47 — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 23:05:25 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

This week We get to see two new Guitar Hero games hit store shelves. First off is Guitar Hero Smash Hits, which basically takes 48 tracks from Guitar Hero, Guitar Hero II, Guitar Hero encore rocks the 80′s, and Guitar Hero III: Legends of rock but now opens them up for the entire band set up. So the once guitar only tracks have full fledged support of the mics, drums and well.. the usual guitar and bass. Guitar Hero Smash Hits is now available for Xbox 360, Wii, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 2.

The other title hitting stores now is a DS exclusive and is Guitar Hero on Tour: Modern Hits. Providing a new non linear career progression, new multi-player modes, and a new fan request mode. With 28 new tracks it’s another reason to be jamming on your DS.

Guitar Hero 5 Brings Even More Versatility, Obsession to Fans

Brett Caron — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 15:53:09 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

With the upcoming release of Guitar Hero 5, Activision is pulling out all the stops in getting the fans on board. An online scavenger hunt is underway that will send fans across websites, TV and other media. The prize – 5 tickets to 5 concerts featuring bands included in the new game. Fans can check out the GH5 site for current updates on the bands that have been announced already, as well as information on upcoming announcements.

As for the game itself, it looks like… well, a Guitar Hero game. I mean, what exactly has changed? There are a few new features to the game, though. You can now actually play with multiple instruments of the same type – vocals, guitar, bass or drums. So less arguments about who gets to play what… meaning less entertainment for those of us who don’t play Guitar Hero watching those who do fight over the drum set. Ah, party drama.

Game Review: Guitar Hero Metallica

Josh Salem — Thu, 14 May 2009 00:46:27 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

After Guitar Hero: Aerosmith fell as a bust, I was extremely hesitant to pick and try a guitar hero title based on one of my favourite metal bands, but through my loyalty of both the game and the band, I figured I’d give it a shot, after all, Metallica would never sell out, right? (that was a joke). Guitar Hero: Metallica (GH:M) delivers everything it promised. Open for the band, play with the band, be the band. While presentation, music, graphics, and extras are all phenomenal (and all that are important to the Guitar Hero brand); I still felt a little off about GH: M, more the vibe I get from the band itself than anything else. GH:M promised us three things. A kick ass sound track, a real feel for what the band does almost nightly while on tour, and visuals that rival a live concert. In all three sections, GH:M meets expectations and does it with flair.

Visually I enjoyed GH: M not only as a video game but how closely it felt to a live concert. As I had attended a Metallica concert a couple of months ago, with the show fresh in my mind I decided to compare it to their virtual stage presence. Their signature moves were all there, stances, postures, actions and facial reactions were all accurate. In fact a couple of times it kind of weirded me out that they could nail down the motion capture so perfectly. Again however, this lead to an issue I’ve always had with Guitar Hero, that being that the stage presences during songs felt too scripted. If you were to play the same song three times in a row for example, all three times James would whip his guitar up in the exact same manner at the exact same point every time, an issue you witness less with their rival game, Rock Band. Otherwise when playing as the house band you’re in the same position as if you were playing any other Guitar Hero title, same characters and instruments present, which was expected comparing GH: M to their Aerosmith predecessor. While playing as Metallica however, up to the hair styles and facial blemishes you play and look like a much younger Metallica band… which I guess makes sense as if you were aging and greying, would you want to be immortalized in your prime or your later years? Lighting effects, virtual pyrotechnics, and all that fun stuff are included and work well with the songs they apply to, much like a planned concert yet again. Stage backgrounds almost all relate to a Metallica album or tour and as such, all these features combined provide the most realistic concert simulator to date.

This sound track is wicked. Not only do players get to enjoy a slew of Metallica songs (almost 30) from All Nightmare Long to Whiplash, but you also get some great tracks from bands that have, in one way or another, interacted with Metallica in the past. These tracks include Bob Seger’s Turn the Page, Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Tuesdays Gone, Slayer’s War Ensemble, and Toxicity by System of a Down to name a few. The only con to this amazing track list of approximately 50 songs is that not everyone might find it amazing. If you’re a fan of hard rock or metal, you will adore this list, if however, you’re a fan of country, pop, or easy listening… well then a) you would hate this track list… and b) why would you pick up Guitar Hero: Metallica in the first place? As well, players can access the Death Magnetic album DLC in GH:M, saving them from swapping the disc out for Guitar Hero: World Tour. It’s true however that Death Magnetic is the only DLC that will work on GH:M, I feel this may again have to do with the scripted stage presence found in this title.

Controlling Metallica has never been easier, players can drum, play the guitar or bass, or sing their favourite tunes as one of the most influential bands in history. The guitars are a-blazing, vocal chords burning, and drums pounding and this was in fact one of the reasons I felt Metallica was somewhat rubbing in the hardships of their jobs with this title. I will admit it must be really hard being Metallica, standing on stage rocking their asses off for hours on end, I don’t necessarily want to experience that pain when playing a leisurely game at home. Some of these songs are lightning fast from start to finish and some of them are extremely long. Players have three options: a) they can pause in the middle of songs for a rock-break to rest their rock-fingers, b) players can suffer and struggle through the rock-pain, or c) they can train day and night for months on end to be able to virtually rock as long and as well as Metallica. The drums have it especially bad, as Lars showboats in the game and virtually (and smugly) laughs at how you can’t do what he does on a plastic toy, it got a little annoying that every song took 5-10 minutes to play through. At certain points I felt the urge to just turn the title off and play something fun… or rest my hands in a bowl of cold water. To add insult to injury, since my Guitar Hero drum set was defective, I was using the Rockband drum set, meaning one less pad to play making the game that much easier… but still painful. Add on the extra hard plus mode for drums (not recommended unless you have the double bass pedal bundled with pre-ordered games) and you have one hell of a time ahead of you. Guitar and bass weren’t any easier, just as fast, just as long, just as painful. It’s not so much that the songs are hard to play, but rather they’re fast, furious, and long.

So what else is there to do beside play the game? Well, I’m glad you asked. Much like Guitar Hero 1 and 2, to progress through the ‘story’ mode, instead of having to beat certain songs, players only had to accumulate a certain number of stars to progress, meaning you could skip all the songs you found boring until a later point. The real fun however comes from all the added bonuses the game provides. Aside from the standards like quick play mode, online play, multiplayer band, and battle mode, there are characters to unlock such as Lemmy (of Motorhead fame) and King Diamond (from Mercyful Fate), instruments and costumes to unlock and other colour variations and videos to ‘purchase’ from the game store. New features in the battle mode include new power ups such as ‘fade to black’, ‘trapped under ice’, and ‘ride the lighting’ (which is essentially the same as amp overload). Another extra bonus is that every song in the game is available in quick play mode from the start, a welcomed tweak to this Guitar Hero fan. Players can also go backstage to practice the more challenging songs, view behind the scene videos and pictures, and read song lyrics. You also have the option of creating your own Rockstar in the aptly named Rockstar Creator mode, leader board, Rock rank, and community stats tracking fill out the extras. Oh, I may have neglected to mention two extra cool additions to the bonus mode, Drum over mode allows players to erase the drum track to any song and, depending on which song, the accompanying drum tracks are available to go wild and sound great doing it with any track in the game. The second bonus, again, I feel is Metallica tooting their own horn, but is still kind of neat. Metallifacts, after you finish a song you unlock the Metallifacts for it in which the song will be shown and played in the background, but throughout the song little fact pop-ups appear, kind of like a DVD-style text based commentary. While the concept is neat, I’m not sure I really care that the sound I’m currently hearing is a trumpet played in reverse. I’m sure it’s something different… but I just don’t care.

Overall if you’re a fan of Metallica, you should go out and get this title for whatever system you have, if you don’t have any systems available for this title but love Metallica, you should go get an Xbox or PS3 and rock the heck out! If you can’t stand stuck up, full of themselves rock stars (which by far Metallica is allowed to be) you might want to steer clear of this one. One thing’s for certain with Guitar Hero Metallica however, it will by far increase your finger stamina to a whole new level.

Gameplay: 4.5/5

Graphics: 4.5/5

Sound: 5/5

Replay Value: 4/5

New music available for Guitar Hero in April

Carys Mills — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 18:41:31 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

Songs by five bands will be released for download in April for Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitar Hero World Tour combines advanced wireless controllers, online and offline gameplay modes. The guitar and drum controllers and wired microphones have been redesigned.

On April 2 the Pixies’ music will be available for the first time in a Guitar Hero game. Silversun Pickups’ new music will be available before their release of their second album, Swoon, on April 14.

On April 16th Steely Dan’s music will be available. For download on April 23rd, British hard rock band, Motörhead songs will be available.

Free Guitar Hero Metallica Download

Carys Mills — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 21:36:38 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

A free download of the Guitar Hero Metallica demo will be available today on the Xbox LIVE Marketplace.

The demo allows for players to play Metallica hits like “Sad But True” and “Seek And Destroy.” Songs from Alice In Chains and Queen were picked as guest acts by Metallica. Players can choose from gameplay modes like single-player, band quickplay, head-to-head, face-off, pro face-off and battle.

The game is being developed by Neversoft Entertainment for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Budcat Creations is taking care of versions for Wii and PlayStation 2. The game will be released on March 29.

Game Review: Guitar Hero: Decades

andPOP Staff — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 17:18:44 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

Guitar Hero: Decades is the second release from Activision for the distribution of portable guitar rocking goodness on the Nintendo DS. I wouldn’t really call this a sequel, but rather, an expansion to Guitar Hero: On Tour as some small aspects were improved, but really, it’s the exact same as On Tour with a new set list. The guitar grip that comes with Decades is the same as On Tour, the plectrum stylus is similar (longer touching point on the Decades one but doesn’t fit into grip container as well) and the layout is very similar to On Tour. All these aside, I felt Decades had a much stronger ‘story’ to it than any other past Guitar Hero title (aside from Guitar Hero: Aerosmith). Another extra added to Decades is the ability to play wirelessly with someone that has On Tour, allowing them to try the new songs as well as you to play the old songs.

For those that haven’t had a chance to check out the Guitar Hero: On Tour review on andPOP.com, the game plays the same as Activision’s past title, plug in the custom guitar grip into the GBA slot of your DS (with an expander if you’re using an older DS), strap it to your hand and play the keys using this grip while you strum and fiddle with the whammy bar on the touch screen and yell into the microphone to activate star power. Now, in On Tour, this sounded good on paper, but in practice, it never really worked out. The grip never felt right, the four buttons were too close together and didn’t line up with my fingers, the grip would constantly fall out of the DS (making you restart the entire system) and strumming isn’t always as precise as I would like. All these issues are still present in Decades as it seems they didn’t change their controls and peripherals at all.

The graphics are exactly the same as Guitar Hero: On Tour, decent for a DS, but not worth paying attention to.

Now onto the sound, the backbone of any music game. This game sounds fantastic, decent through the speakers, and amazing through a nice set of headphones. The set list is broken down into decades (hence the name) starting with the modern music set down to the groovy 70’s each set takes influential tracks (all original, no covers) from those sets of 10 years. My favourite part of this game is that because the game takes songs from different years, it ensures a variety of music types for all music fans.

Decades still has the same career mode feel (although with more of a story and character development than On Tour) and the ever fun duel mode but other than that, the only real addition was the dull rhythm/bass career mode option. Unlockables give players something to strive for, new venues, costumes, and guitars keep completionists busy but in the end this is still just a track pack. If you were a fan of the last Guitar Hero for the DS (which only came out less than half a year ago) go check Decades out, if you couldn’t handle the strain and pain of the first one, this is more of the same. Great set list for the most part as well.

Graphics: 3.5/5
Gameplay: 3.0/5
Sound: 4.0/5
Replay Value: 3.0/5

Game Review: Guitar Hero: On Tour for Nintendo DS

Josh Salem — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 16:54:37 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

First impressions only come once, and while they are always the longest lasting thoughts on something, they can always be altered after a little time. This is true for Guitar Hero: On Tour for the Nintendo DS. Published by Red Octane and developed by Vicarious Visions, this late June released portable title is definitely anything but an impression.

Nintendo has always been the king of peripherals on their systems, from the Power glove, fishing rods, and the Balance board to this next step in unique control, the Guitar Hero: On Tour guitar grip. Perhaps GH:OT could have just been played with the stylus and buttons, but where’s the fun in that? With this $50 DS game, you get the software, a stylus pick, an adapter (in case you still have an older DS unit), some stickers, and the new guitar grip you plug into the GBA slot and strap to your hand. It’s kind of hard to explain but imagine having four of the five guitar hero fret buttons sticking out of the bottom of your DS.

Now, I mentioned earlier about first impressions, when I got GH:OT to review, I popped it into my DS and went to a party without even turning the system on. Conversation turned to gaming and I mentioned I had Guitar Hero in my back pocket. The crowd went silent as I whipped my unit out of my pants and showed them the goods (alright, minds out of the gutter, please). One after another they took turns playing it and for this reason, before I even played the game myself, I had an outsider’s perspective. Five people tried the game and they all came out with the same verdict. Everything was cool, graphics, sound, control, song choice, everyone was having a blast. But at a certain point, almost like clockwork they all succumbed to the same fate; it began with a cramp in their hand, then a bunch of songs they didn’t like, then the guitar grip would begin to pull itself out of the DS, then they pretty much just fall apart and pass it to the next person. Within an hour, five people had grown tired of Guitar Hero: On tour… and these are people that love guitar hero’s past games.

The layout of this pint-sized Guitar Hero offers much more than one would expect in a portable port. To begin with, there are all the options found in an average Guitar Hero game. Players have the option to make a lefty flip turning the entire DS around and playing with your left hand, we also have the option of flipping the colours when in lefty mode if we want it that way. Microphone sensitivity and volume adjustments are also available (you can turn the volume up to 11, that’s 1 higher than 10!). On the upper screen (which, when playing Guitar Hero would be your left screen) you see the band rocking in the background (same singers as Guitar Hero 3 and a hairy chested monster drummer), the guitar neck complete with scrolling fret buttons are prominently placed in the foreground. On the bottom screen (touch screen / right screen when playing this game) we have everything else included in your average Guitar Hero game: the body of the guitar where you strum your pick stylus to make your music, as well, here we find the whammy bar, your score multiplier, star power indicator and your overall score. This seems like a bit much as your eyes will almost always be focused on the top screen, you rarely see your multiplier or score. It actually took me 30 minutes of playing the game before I even noticed they were on the screen the whole time.

Guitar Hero is all about one thing, the music, and with such small speakers, people were afraid the audio aspect of this game would be hurt much like the cell phone Guitar Hero game. Fortunately though, and I’m not quite sure how they did it, Guitar Hero: On Tour sounds fantastic through those tiny DS speakers, and even better through some nice headphones. The songs are crisp, the vocals and guitar clear and while the whammy bar feels like it doesn’t actually vary between ‘on’ and ‘off’, the guitar effects are still pretty nice for what it is. In terms of song lists, I must admit, Guitar Hero didn’t leave a lot of genres out of the mix. While this rendition of Guitar Hero had my least favourite play list so far in the series, I enjoyed the new songs never played in a GH title before.

Graphically, it IS a portable game, and we can’t really expect much, basically the same models and graphics are used in this as the PS2 version… just DS-atized. This game has a lot of the same vibe and feel, quick movements and fluid motions with minimal detail. Think more along the lines of Nintendo 64 or Playstation graphics, crammed into a smaller set of screens and you get the idea.

Now onto what most of you are probably the most curious about, the controls. Needless to say, this is one of the more bizarre accessories to grace the Nintendo world, but it definitely enhances the overall feel of the game. Holding the system and add-on with your left hand gripping the bottom half of the DS and having your fingers resting on the buttons sticking out the bottom of the system, you use your right hand to strum up and down on the touch screen while pressing buttons as they come across the neck on the top screen. While this may sound confusing, once you try it out, you will understand what I mean and agree when I say this feels like Guitar Hero through and through. To activate star power, you can yell into the microphone, or if you’re in public and feel a little insecure (which you probably wouldn’t if you’re playing this game in public in the first place), you can push any of the face buttons to activate your star power. While this is all good and fun, I had a few issues with the controls. Like most other people, I got the cramps. After about an hour of play either my thumb or my pinky would cramp up and make it harder and more painful to play, usually a ten minute break would take care of this. Secondly, what really annoyed me was that the game requires you to have the Guitar Hero guitar grip add-on plugged in to play, with past Guitar Hero games, you had the option of playing using your controller instead of the guitar (aside from the Wii version). In this one, if the grip is not plugged in, you cannot even access the menu, with Jam Sessions (another guitar based game on the DS) you were able to use the D-pad to play notes while strumming, why can’t you do the same here? As well, with my DS unit, every once in a while the add-on would just pop itself off, especially during the tougher solos in which I may rock out a little too hard.

To keep us busy, Guitar Hero: On Tour offers plenty to do. To begin with we have 25 songs in the game, plus a bonus unlockable song after you beat the guitar dual career mode. This dual career mode, aside from the normal career mode included in this game, is pretty much a single player battle series with new attacks. These attacks use the DS in new ways, if your string is cut, re string your guitar with the stylus, if your guitar’s on fire, blow it out with the microphone, things of that nature. Think Career mode meets multiplayer battle mode… but alone. There are also six characters to choose from including new Memphis Belle and Gunner Jackson. While all these characters play the same, it’s for visual appeal that you might choose one character over another. The characters also have alternative costumes to unlock and purchase in game. Players have the option to unlock new guitars and new skins for those guitars to give a little more customization to the mix. Finally if all these extras aren’t enough to satisfy you, there is also a wireless LAN multiplayer option, giving you the opportunity to have a guitar duel against your friend (or rock enemy) in any song you’ve already unlocked.

Over all there is enough in this title to keep you happy on long road trips or when the power goes out, with a decent sized play list, a variety of genres represented, multiple difficulties, unlockables, and a multiplayer option, you are definitely going to be having a cramped hand for a long time to come. While some songs have appeared in past Guitar Hero games, I forgive them, after all, it’s not like they’re all repeats or that bad anyways. Guitar Hero: On Tour for the Nintendo DS is as close as we are going to get to a true portable representation of Guitar Hero for a long time to come, so enjoy, and who knows, maybe new set lists will be released in the future, with or without the guitar grip.

Graphics: 2.5 / 5.0

Game play: 3.5 / 5.0

Sound: 4.5 / 5.0

Replay value: 3.0 / 5.0