‘Guitar Hero Live': An Exclusive Look Into the Most Innovative ‘Guitar Hero’ Game Yet
The official Guitar Hero Live trailer has been released, but there's still a tremendous amount of awesomeness that couldn't fit into 90 seconds. Thankfully, we were invited to hang out with the Guitar Hero team to take a never-before-seen look at the new game and even try it out!
As you can see in the trailer below, the first Guitar Hero game since 2010's Warriors of Rock has seen some tremendous upgrades. Firstly, shredders will no longer be playing with an animated band to an animated crowd. Guitar Hero recruited hundreds of people to film an actual audience, multiplying concertgoers through green screen technology. Players can now jam in front of intimate clubs, packed arenas and festival crowds. And here's a fun fact: The means of multiplying individuals to create a mass of humanity for Guitar Hero Live is actually the same technique used for epic battle scenes in films such as Lord of the Rings.
The concert experiences aim to create a sense of "stage fright" for the player, which we could absolutely feel. Audience members will make eye contact with you, offer rabid cheers for high-scoring performances and unapologetically boo and heckle you in response to sloppy playing. Your bandmates will even get in your face and spew vitriol in your direction during a bad run.
If you've ever played live in a band, you've no doubt experienced many crowd distractions, which can completely throw you off rhythm. Guitar Hero Live replicates that dynamic perfectly, forcing the player to maintain focus on their central highway along with each note coming his or her way.
Speaking of notes, Guitar Hero completely revamped the controller for its 2015 edition. Instead of five different colored buttons, the neck of your axe is controlled by six buttons located on the first three frets. One trio of buttons represent the white notes coming your way, while the three remaining allow for success in nailing the black notes. The Guitar Hero Live guitar is also tailor-made for the configuration of unique chord structures unlike any previous GH edition. You may be hit with a bar chord (represented by a split black-and-white note) or any shape of notes spanning the fretboard's six buttons. This makes for an extremely challenging adaptation, but as we discovered ourselves during a test run, the alien controller wasn't too difficult or frustrating to get the hang of.
Let's talk about the alternative to Guitar Hero's fresh "Live" mode. The game introduces its inaugural TV mode, which is a 24/7 music video channel. Videos from all genres will play non-stop, challenging the player with never-ending surprises. What's truly special about this mode is the sense of nostalgia that comes with it. Remember watching MTV or VH1 for hours and hours as the networks would air huge blocks of music videos? Guitar Hero Live's TV mode has brought it all back! You can even compete online with other Guitar Hero gamers to attain the highest score as each video is served up. Better still, Guitar Hero Live will automatically match you up with other players of your same skill level.
You can also pick and choose your favorite songs to play in TV mode both on and offline, and with Guitar Hero Live's continually updating library, you'll never run out of tracks to test your skills.
No matter how you decide to play, gamers will gain points based on performance quality and groups of specific challenges laid out by Guitar Hero. Earning points will allow shredders to unlock songs permanently, earn new highways and other premium content. Perhaps the most exciting premium content comes from concert footage shot exclusively for Guitar Hero Live, allowing players to jam with their favorite bands. And if you don't feel like playing for points, Guitar Hero Live offers the freedom to purchase unlockable content with your own money.
We haven't even mentioned the track list yet, which includes songs by Green Day, Korn, Rage Against the Machine, Alice In Chains, Halestorm, Pearl Jam, Anthrax, Rise Against, Chevelle, Bring Me the Horizon, Judas Priest and many more. Check out the current track list here.
There are endless opportunities and ways to play Guitar Hero Live, so be sure to grab yourselves a copy of the game once it comes out on Oct. 20. You won't be disappointed. To pre-order the game, click here.
Guitar Hero Live - Official Trailer