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| The Entertainment Review |
| Genre: Music Developer: Neversoft Interactive Publisher: Activision |
The growth of the music genre in the gaming world has been amazing. When the first Guitar Hero game made its way to the
PlayStation 2 in 2005, players found the game to be fun and unique, but probably never expected the series to grow as large as it did
and spawn so many other version of the game. However, gaming companies like to make money and since “Guitar Hero” made so
much money, it only made sense to begin creating sequels. Now, four years and a full band later, Activision released “Band Hero.”
Like “Guitar Hero 5,” players are able to play as lead guitar, rhythm/bass, drums or lead singer. There are a total of 65 songs that
players can play by themselves or with friends. When playing with friends, anyone can play any instruments, which means there can be
four drummers if that is how they want to play and they are able to drop in and out of the game at any time. Players can also face off
against players in the same room for players online, there are leader boards, the ability to create tracks, create rock stars and a career
mode. The sane game play that everyone has grown to love is still available as well.
What sets this game apart from other games of this type is its focus. While the Guitar Hero games of the past focused on bands of the
past. “Band Hero” takes some of the tops hits of today and offers them to players. Players are going to get music from Aly & AJ, Fall
Out Boy, Jesse McCartney and more. Players also get to unlock playable characters like Taylor Swift and Adam Levine of Maroon 5.
Just like it processors, “Band Hero” has a lot of cool stuff to offer. Each song has a bonus challenge that is either for a specific
instrument or for the band and will give players extra stars as well as items and characters to use in the game. Players can change the
difficulty and instruments they are using in their career at any time simply by going back to the main menu, there are a number of
different competitive multiplayer modes as well. Players will also be able to play through a career mode, but it is the same version
players saw in “Guitar Hero 5” which was lacking a little bit. Players start with a venue, earn stars by playing the available songs and
then watch as more venues become available.
For many players, the career mode is one of the major downfalls of “Band Hero.” Players want the experience of working small gigs,
earning money and fans on their way to fame and feeling like their band is actually working towards something better. “Band Hero”
offers players the chance to play through one set list after another. The whole experience will only take players a couple of hours to
work through which is a bit of a disappointment. Players who have played the series since it was first released will be left wanting a
much deeper experience and some scenes that show the player’s band, not a group of generic cartoons.
With “Band Hero,” players are getting 65 songs for a price tag of $59.99, which is the same price players paid for “Guitar Hero 5” which
gave players 85 songs. That price is still cheaper than downloading each of the songs from the download store, and players can
import songs from “Guitar Hero: World Tour,” “Guitar Hero: Smash Hits” and eventually “Guitar Hero 5” into “Band Hero” for a price.
This is of course a good thing, but the lack of effort put into the instruments, game play modes and more hurt the game in the long run.
It seems as though the plan was to start a new franchise, but only the part that have already been created were included in the game,
nothing new. With a number of different editions of the game featuring specific bands, players criticized the company for only trying to
make money, and this title doesn’t help to fight that complaint.
It is understandable that “Band Hero” is aimed at a younger audience and families, but some more should have been put into the
game that to simply copy “Guitar Hero 5.” Players get the exact same GHStudio track creation feature. Of course the GH stands for
Guitar Hero, though the game is called Band Hero, so shouldn’t the studio be called BHStudio? Ultimately, there are a lot of things
about the game that just doesn’t seem to make much sense, such as why some songs are included while other, much more tame
songs are bleeped out.
No matter how a player looks at this game, it is a remake of “Guitar Hero 5.” Luckily the game was great, so it was a good game to
copy, but it is disappointing if players were expecting something new and unique from the new franchise. All of the functionality that
would be expected from a game in this series is available. The career is very weak, the songs are very much pop rock that players will
either love or hate and there is a focus on getting in and playing the songs and getting out as quickly as possible.
“Band Hero” is a good game, but it lacks any kind of special spark that makes it unique in a time when the music genre is flooded. In
the end, this is one of the examples people talk about when they say that Activision is reusing its games and changing the name to
make money. Hopefully, players will be able to see something new and unique in the future, so that they can have the feeling they have
2005 when the series was first released.
PlayStation 2 in 2005, players found the game to be fun and unique, but probably never expected the series to grow as large as it did
and spawn so many other version of the game. However, gaming companies like to make money and since “Guitar Hero” made so
much money, it only made sense to begin creating sequels. Now, four years and a full band later, Activision released “Band Hero.”
Like “Guitar Hero 5,” players are able to play as lead guitar, rhythm/bass, drums or lead singer. There are a total of 65 songs that
players can play by themselves or with friends. When playing with friends, anyone can play any instruments, which means there can be
four drummers if that is how they want to play and they are able to drop in and out of the game at any time. Players can also face off
against players in the same room for players online, there are leader boards, the ability to create tracks, create rock stars and a career
mode. The sane game play that everyone has grown to love is still available as well.
What sets this game apart from other games of this type is its focus. While the Guitar Hero games of the past focused on bands of the
past. “Band Hero” takes some of the tops hits of today and offers them to players. Players are going to get music from Aly & AJ, Fall
Out Boy, Jesse McCartney and more. Players also get to unlock playable characters like Taylor Swift and Adam Levine of Maroon 5.
Just like it processors, “Band Hero” has a lot of cool stuff to offer. Each song has a bonus challenge that is either for a specific
instrument or for the band and will give players extra stars as well as items and characters to use in the game. Players can change the
difficulty and instruments they are using in their career at any time simply by going back to the main menu, there are a number of
different competitive multiplayer modes as well. Players will also be able to play through a career mode, but it is the same version
players saw in “Guitar Hero 5” which was lacking a little bit. Players start with a venue, earn stars by playing the available songs and
then watch as more venues become available.
For many players, the career mode is one of the major downfalls of “Band Hero.” Players want the experience of working small gigs,
earning money and fans on their way to fame and feeling like their band is actually working towards something better. “Band Hero”
offers players the chance to play through one set list after another. The whole experience will only take players a couple of hours to
work through which is a bit of a disappointment. Players who have played the series since it was first released will be left wanting a
much deeper experience and some scenes that show the player’s band, not a group of generic cartoons.
With “Band Hero,” players are getting 65 songs for a price tag of $59.99, which is the same price players paid for “Guitar Hero 5” which
gave players 85 songs. That price is still cheaper than downloading each of the songs from the download store, and players can
import songs from “Guitar Hero: World Tour,” “Guitar Hero: Smash Hits” and eventually “Guitar Hero 5” into “Band Hero” for a price.
This is of course a good thing, but the lack of effort put into the instruments, game play modes and more hurt the game in the long run.
It seems as though the plan was to start a new franchise, but only the part that have already been created were included in the game,
nothing new. With a number of different editions of the game featuring specific bands, players criticized the company for only trying to
make money, and this title doesn’t help to fight that complaint.
It is understandable that “Band Hero” is aimed at a younger audience and families, but some more should have been put into the
game that to simply copy “Guitar Hero 5.” Players get the exact same GHStudio track creation feature. Of course the GH stands for
Guitar Hero, though the game is called Band Hero, so shouldn’t the studio be called BHStudio? Ultimately, there are a lot of things
about the game that just doesn’t seem to make much sense, such as why some songs are included while other, much more tame
songs are bleeped out.
No matter how a player looks at this game, it is a remake of “Guitar Hero 5.” Luckily the game was great, so it was a good game to
copy, but it is disappointing if players were expecting something new and unique from the new franchise. All of the functionality that
would be expected from a game in this series is available. The career is very weak, the songs are very much pop rock that players will
either love or hate and there is a focus on getting in and playing the songs and getting out as quickly as possible.
“Band Hero” is a good game, but it lacks any kind of special spark that makes it unique in a time when the music genre is flooded. In
the end, this is one of the examples people talk about when they say that Activision is reusing its games and changing the name to
make money. Hopefully, players will be able to see something new and unique in the future, so that they can have the feeling they have
2005 when the series was first released.
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