Guitar Hero Live Reviews

Guitar Hero Live is ranked in the 83rd percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
9.5 / 10.0
Oct 20, 2015

Guitar Hero Live completely took me be surprise. I love the new controller design, the FMV portions work far better than they should, and Guitar Hero TV hooked me with its channel concept. Going forward, I'm hoping that the model further reinvents itself by introducing the world to new music.

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7 / 10.0
Oct 20, 2015

Rhythm franchise reboot completely reimagines the music game concept, including a tricky new guitar controller

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8.5 / 10.0
Oct 20, 2015

You just need to buy the game and the streaming library is at your fingertips. But they've also added the offline Live mode, and gone above and beyond in creating an extremely unique way to live out your rockstar fantasies. Add in the brilliant new game mechanics that come from the reconfigured guitar controller, and combining our old love of rhythm games with the modern way we consume music, and Guitar Hero Live is the worthwhile reunion of an old favorite that we've all been waiting for. 

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Oct 20, 2015

Guitar Hero Live is a bold step in a new direction for Rhythm games. While everyone might not take kindly to the restrictions put on players in Guitar Hero TV, there's a seemingly endless number of playlists and challenges to complete, with room to grow going forward.

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Oct 23, 2015

[T]his reboot captures the score-chasing and self-improvement of the early Guitar Hero games and puts them into a thoroughly modern spin. The commitment to its ideas makes Live a confident, bold and stylish game. History will tell if the decisions it has made are the right ones, but for now, Freestyle has started down an exciting new path for the genre.

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Ken McKown
Top Critic
7 / 10.0
Oct 20, 2015

A lot of the issues with GHTV is that it is confusing to understand how it works within the game. Players are used to just buying songs a la carte. The new six button setup will also throw players for a loop. Again, I totally respect the new direction, but the familiar tones of its competitor really draw me to prefer that offering. Plus I can play what songs I want, when I want. I will be interested to see how this game evolves over time, and I hope like Harmonix, they intend it just to be a platform. I don't want to see Guitar Hero Live 2 next year. As it stands though, this is one purchase I am finding a hard time recommending to those that already bought into Rock Band's ecosystem.

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Oct 20, 2015

From the moment you pick up that new guitar and play your first chord, Guitar Hero Live is exciting and innovative, and feels like a natural evolution of a genre we've been missing for all these years.

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8.5 / 10.0
Oct 20, 2015

Guitar Hero Live brings a welcome challenge, fun, and excitement with its new guitar controller and a new interesting system to experience new songs via GHTV.

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88 / 100
Oct 20, 2015

Guitar Hero Live stands as a gigantic leap forward in terms of immersion and realism, giving us a glimpse of some amazing things ahead for the franchise.

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7 / 10
Oct 26, 2015

Guitar Hero Live surpasses Rock Band 4 in terms of track list and replayability, but sadly lacks the party appeal that Harmonix's latest provides. Though Guitar Hero TV is an excellent addition to the series that really makes the game, the microtransactions ruin it for us. There's no kidding that Guitar Hero Live is a very fun game, it just feels like it cares more about the money than it does about the fans.

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8.5 / 10.0
Nov 11, 2015

Yes, things feel a bit different this time around but do yourself a favor and give it a chance. Once you find the groove in Guitar Hero Live, which is the new GHTV mode, you won't look back or think about the way things used to be again. This is the future of guitar-themed video games.

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4 / 5.0
Jan 19, 2016

After years of incremental to non-existent progress that led to the scuttling of the franchise, Guitar Hero Live resurrects the series with new controls and a new look to boot. Yes, you'll want to slap your cheesy bandmates sometimes — perhaps even a lot. Folks used to the old controls might also find the new button layout maddening while content gating can be a bummer. The added interaction combined with some new fun modes, however, make this a promising reboot for the franchise.

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8 / 10
Nov 15, 2015

The return of Guitar Hero is a very welcome renovation of the series. Guitar Hero Live and its new television-like mode are a great help to the feeling of immersion and the design of the new guitar are great additions to a formula which was getting saturated. While the multiplayer mode could be more ambitious, Guitar Hero Live is a very recommended title for fans of music games.

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Will Greenwald
Top Critic
Nov 23, 2015

Guitar Hero Live adds some new ideas to the plastic instrument-driven music game genre, but it makes too many mistakes to overlook.

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Oct 20, 2015

Gil Scott-Heron had it wrong, at least when it came to music: The revolution most certainly will be televised.

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7 / 10.0
Oct 20, 2015

Guitar Hero Live takes some chances and is a better game for it. The campaign and local multiplayer offerings are pretty weak, but GHTV's rotating channels are addictive. It's a shame the game's extra songs aren't available as DLC.

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8.8 / 10.0
Oct 22, 2015

Overall, Guitar Hero Live is a huge jump forward for the music game genre while at the same time abandoning some of the things we loved about music games. If you can get past some of the things that are gone and embrace the new ideas, you'll have a great time playing fantasy rock star.

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8.3 / 10.0
Oct 20, 2015

Guitar Hero Live provides a whole new experience to veterans, yet manages to be accessible enough for those who are only just starting their digital rock careers. It's a solid title,though the streaming service GHTV could use some tweaking to make the game an absolute must-have.

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Oct 20, 2015

Guitar Hero Live has a few issues, and the buying plays thing doesn't feel on the level, but that doesn't really hold it back from the end goal of a great time, and it's just that. A great and extremely (as well as surprising) variety in the tracks available to play, two distinct and unique modes that mix up gameplay in a significant way, and the rush of memories it provides while defining itself as one of the best rhythm games yet prove that we're ready for a bit of a comeback, just not the overload of the mid-2000's.

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Oct 30, 2015

If skill challenge is your motivation, Guitar Hero Live will demand much more of you by default. If you're looking for a party game consider the regulars on your guest list and their level of frustration tolerance.

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