Guitar Hero Live Reviews
Guitar Hero Live was a decent attempt at rebooting the franchise, at first I was impressed with how everything was going. I was impressed early with how the guitar was and how the gameplay felt with the new guitar, but sadly as the game went on I started to notice things that dragged the game down. No practise mode being a huge miss for a game with a totally new control scheme, a freemium mode that is 50% of the game, and a pretty lazy career mode. They are on to something with the new ideas, but overall the game is just lacking in what it needs to make it a perfect reboot for this franchise.
Guitar Hero Live's microtransactions aren't necessarily as bad as certain sections of the gaming community would have you believe and the new controller presents a fresh new challenge that Guitar Hero veterans will be hungry to take on. The offline GH Live mode is very cool, albeit short-lived, even if the on-disc track selection is lacklustre, but the real meat in the pie is GHTV. It isn't as fully-featured as we'd have expected it to be off the bat, but being able to jump in and spin through a selection from the 200+ tracks (with lots more to come, we're told) for an hour while earning rewards and upgrades is pure addiction.
In 2015, it's takes a real statement game to justify excitement in the rhythm game genre. 'Guitar Hero Live' is that statement game. With a New guitar, new gameplay, two distinct modes and a new content delivery method that should see players awash in free, marquee songs, 'Guitar Hero Live' is packed. FreeStyle Games has gone back to the drawing board and returned with both a rock star vision and a streaming music/video gameplay model that ought to attract fans old and new. Alongside the normal AAA titles to look forward this holiday, 'Guitar Hero Live' should be of special interest to home theater enthusiasts on account of the sound quality and the enjoyable novelty and passion to be found in the gameplay and visuals.
This is definitely a game you need to own if you enjoyed the previous Guitar Hero games, the new layout is really player friendly and easier to get used to than you'd think. Guitar Hero Live is cheesy but a good offline experience whereas GHTV is super addictive and you'll find yourself just playing through songs thinking to yourself "Oh yeah I've totally heard this one before" unless you already know the song and are already singing along to it."
Even with the disappointing Live mode, Guitar Hero Live is a refreshing take on controller-based rhythm games. The streaming focus in GHTV works extremely well despite some technical hiccups, and as long Activision keeps rolling out new songs to the library, this is the kind of game I'll be regularly playing for a long time. This is a fantastic start to a new era of Guitar Hero games.
Guitar Hero Live doesn't want to be your disposable videogame anymore, and it's fine with being in the background. Because like any good song, it knows how to get your attention– even if you thought you weren't listening.
Guitar Hero Live is basically a return to its guitar-only roots, which is what made the original games great. The current song catalog is a pretty good mix, but it is their presentation within the channel-based TV mode that makes the game truly different. Rock Band still holds the crown as the musical party game, but while that series is in a rut, Guitar Hero Live is a fresh take on the genre that future games would do well to follow.
GHTV is a game-changer, pure and simple. With an already sizeable library that's set to grow further, it's a title that pretty much demands repeated play. All it needs now is 'Freebird' adding to the set list and it will be perfect… Rock on!
A brave and successful reinvention. Guitar Hero lives!
The most impressive thing to me about Guitar Hero Live is the way the developers have breathed new life into a series that became notorious for doing the same thing over and over again. Guitar Hero Live manages to recapture that essence of playing a beloved instrument, crafting a familiar experience. However, by taking a handful of chances, the series feels different enough to want to invest in it again.
It sounds hyperbolic, but the amount of personality that has been stripped out of Live combined with the loss of developed multiplayer becomes increasingly depressing with each set. The crowds get bigger but the initial novelty fades and what remains is a stage full of people you don’t know. The crowd cheers and boos in time with your missed notes, oscillating back and forth as your vision blurs like some sort of rockstar purgatory where everyone comes prepared with “you suck” signs, just in case.
Guitar Hero Live tries to rekindle and re-imagine itself on next gen consoles, but early issues with GHTV failing to save data and the stale approach to background environments results in a once unique charm being usurped by chasing a realistic experience.
The better rhythm-guitar game is Guitar Hero Live not only because it is the better value, but also because Guitar Hero Live is advancing the genre of the guitar controlled rhythm game that went stale last generation.
Guitar Hero Live introduces some really interesting ideas to the stagnant plastic-guitar genre, but the completely baffling refusal to offer piecemeal track/album/pack purchases and a reliance on a free-to-play model with, at best, rentals of songs brings it all to a screeching halt. Rock Band 4 might be more of the same, but it's the same functional, music-filled game we fell in love with. The gutted Guitar Hero Live, on the other hand, is considerably less of the same.
If you were looking for some sort of evolution to the music game genre, surprisingly Activision hit the nail square on the head. Not only is Guitar Hero Live a fun product to play, but it is also an enjoyable game to watch with its live performances and music videos. Rock Band 4 was hesitant to change, while I can't wait to see the future of Guitar Hero now!
Guitar Hero: Live takes the plastic instrument genre of music rhythm games and modernizes it in a way that feels appropriate of next generation consoles.
If you're a fan of rhythm games, then Guitar Hero: Live is a must buy.
Guitar Hero Live's new guitar helps bring something fresh to the genre, and offers a new challenge for both beginners and veterans alike. GH Live is fun, though a little cheesy, but it's in GHTV where the game's most interesting aspect is found. If this continues to be built out as Activision has promised, it should deliver long-term appeal - and a great way to discover new music.
Guitar Hero Live überzeugt mit der neuen Hardware und doch großteils mit einer sehr guten Tracklist. Die längst notwendigen Innovationen für die Serie, verblassen leider wegen teilweise schlecht gewählten Tracks und dem Free-to-play Ansätzen im Online Modus. Auch im Live Modus konnte die Crowd und die fiktive Band wenig begeistern und lässt uns eher auf einen Nachfolger mit deutlichen Verbesserungen hoffen.
Review in German | Read full review