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Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock (initially referred to as Guitar Hero 6 or Guitar Hero VI) is a 2010 music rhythm video game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It is the sixth main installment in the Guitar Hero series. The game was released in September 2010 for Wii. Similar to previous entries in the franchise, it is geared towards playing in a four-person band experience, including lead and bass guitar, drums, and vocals. The game is available as a standalone title, allowing players to use existing compatible instrument controllers, and as a bundle that provides these controllers.
Gameplay[]
As with previous games in the series, Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock is a rhythm game, allowing up to four people play in a band on vocals, lead and bass/rhythm guitar, and drums, to use special instrument controllers to simulate the playing of rock music. In general, the goal for each player is to match scrolling note gems that correspond to that instrument's part in the given song to score points; the guitar and bass player must hold down the appropriate colored buttons on the controller and then use the strum bar as the notes pass over a marked zone; the drummer must strike the matching drum pads on the controller when the notes pass, and the vocalist must match the relative pitch of the song's lyrics as guided by phrase markers. Successfully striking notes earns points and boosts the player's performance meter; missing notes will cause this meter to drop. When playing by one's self, if the performance meter should empty, the song will end and require the player to restart it; when playing in a band, the remaining band members must play well enough for a limited time to "revive" a player that has fallen out due to an empty performance meter, or else the whole band will fail the song. Prior to the start of a song, each player can select one of five difficulty levels: Beginner, Easy, Medium, Hard, and Expert, with a sixth difficulty of Expert+ available to some songs on the drums which introduces a double bass pedal. Harder difficulties have characters with high note densities and more difficult playing techniques; each player can select their own difficulty to play.
Soundtrack[]
There are 93 songs on disc for Warriors of Rock. According to Bright, all the songs were selected to fit within a narrow set of music genres, "punk, alternative rock, and classic rock", to avoid dilution of the game's focus. Bright noted that "there's still range and still a lot of variety in this game" to avoid alienating long-time fans of the series in general. The developers also looked at various song structures and considered if they would be fun to play; Bright said that a good song for the game "would have a memorable riff but not feel repetitive" and "would be a good amount of chord changes and, ideally, a fun guitar solo to add to the challenge".
Reception[]
Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock received mixed to positive reviews from gaming critics. Most critics acknowledged that Warriors of Rock was an attempt to distance itself from its competitor, the Rock Band series, and a return to the Guitar Hero series' roots. However, in the attempt to redefine the series, some critics thought Warriors of Rock failed to recapture the experience of playing the earlier Guitar Hero games. Arthur Gies of IGN felt the game was "aimless", leaving him to question "why Warriors of Rock is here". Tyler Cocke of 1UP.com commented that Warriors of Rock "seems to have forgotten that music games are supposed to be all about having a good time". Ben Kurchera of Ars Technica considered that Warriors of Rock keeps the series "treading water" and lacks "any real upward movement", and may have been a step back with how relaxed the game's timing windows have become compared to early Guitar Hero games. Others note that the game can be enjoyable, but only to those that are fans of the series, and is not well-suited to new or casual players. G4's Abbie Heppe found the game "does an exceptional job of catering to the hardcore audience" but warns the casual fan that may not enjoy the setlist to simply "move along". Matt Helgeson of Game Informer postulated Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock may have jumped the shark with "often stupid and frequently silly" gameplay and visuals, but was still entertained in playing through the game.
Development[]
After weak sales in 2009 of several titles in the Guitar Hero series, Activision proceeded to make several changes with their internal development teams. The company dissolved RedOctane, bringing in some of the staff directly into Activision. Activision further shuttered Neversoft's Guitar Hero division, pending the completion of Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, with further development in the series to be created by some former Neversoft members and Vicarious Visions. Brian Bright, former Neversoft member and current project lead, noted that part of the poor sales of Guitar Hero in 2009 was a result of a loss of focus with Guitar Hero 5, stating that "we were trying to please everyone out there and I think in the end you end up not pleasing any one person a lot".
External links[]
- Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock at GameFAQs
| 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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