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Band Hero is a spinoff video game as part of the Guitar Hero series of music rhythm games, released by Activision on November 3, 2009, for the Wii and Nintendo DS consoles. The game is structurally similar to Guitar Hero 5, and supports full band play (lead and bass guitar, drums, and vocals) including the drop-in/drop-out and in-song instrument and difficulty change menus, and additional multiplayer modes as Guitar Hero 5. The console versions use instrument-shaped game controllers, while the DS version uses either the "Guitar Grip" introduced with the Guitar Hero: On Tour series or a new Drum Skin that comes with the game. Like previous games, virtual avatars of Taylor Swift, Adam Levine, and the band No Doubt are presented in the game.
Gameplay[]
The game is functionally similar to the features of Guitar Hero 5, including bands composed of any combination of four instruments, drop-in/drop-out play, in-song menus to change difficulty and instrument, and additional multiplayer modes compared to Guitar Hero 5's "Rockfest". Band Hero also retains the Band Moment and the Band Revival feature from Guitar Hero 5. Taylor Swift, Adam Levine (of Maroon 5), and the band No Doubt are playable avatars in the game. Artists performed motion capture for their in-game avatars.
Band Hero also introduced an updated revision of the drum kit that shipped with Guitar Hero World Tour. Many changes were made to address weight and size concerns that made assembly difficult, and the stand's crossbar was moved to the bottom to improve leg room and allow the bass pedal to be supported by it. The cymbals were changed to a circular shape from the previous triangular design, and the sensitivity of the drums themselves were adjusted. An in-game sensitivity adjustment feature is also supported. In the United States, the new controller was, for a limited time, exclusive to the game and instrument bundles of Band Hero on Wii.
Reception[]
Band Hero has received mixed to positive reviews from gaming critics. Most recognized the game as having the same feature sets as Guitar Hero 5, including any benefits or flaws that may come from that. Reviewers praised the reuse of the Guitar Hero 5 features such as the Party Play mode that allows for players to jump in and out, the improved Career mode, and the improved GHTunes. Some identified that the target market of the game appears to be towards teenage girls, such as the featuring of Taylor Swift, the color schemes used in the game, and other parts of the song selection. Reviewers noted that setlist would be the strongest measure of whether players should purchase the game. The reviewers also commented on the smaller setlist, which contains only 65 songs compared to Guitar Hero 5's 85.
Development[]
A television advertisement, featuring Taylor Swift, Pete Wentz (Fall Out Boy), Travis Barker (Blink-182), and Rivers Cuomo (Weezer), was created for the game by director Brett Ratner in the same manner as previous ads for other recent Guitar Hero games, initially paying tribute to the scene in Risky Business with Tom Cruise dancing in his underwear to the song "Old Time Rock and Roll". Though it appears as if all four performed together, Wentz stated that Swift performed her parts separately using a green screen to impose her into the footage of the other musicians.
External links[]
| Guitar Hero series | |
|---|---|
| Main series | III: Legends of Rock • Aerosmith • World Tour • Metallica • Smash Hits • Guitar Hero 5 • Warriors of Rock • Van Halen • Live |
| Spin-offs | Band Hero • Guitar Hero: On Tour • On Tour: Decades • On Tour: Modern Hits • DJ Hero • DJ Hero 2 |
| Related | Harmonix • Activision • Rock Band |
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