Guitar Hero Live Reviews

Guitar Hero Live is ranked in the 83rd percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
9 / 10
Oct 14, 2015

Guitar Hero Live is exactly what the franchise needed after its five-year hiatus, and I'd go as far to say it's what the whole genre needed. Although naysayers will lament the lack of more instruments or complain about the non-permanence of extra songs, for many, Live will become the quintessential party game and is already set to be a permanent fixture in my sitting room.

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ACG
Top Critic
Wait for Sale
Oct 20, 2015
Guitar Hero Live Review "Buy, Wait for Sale, Rent, Never Touch?" video thumbnail
90 / 100
Oct 20, 2015

Guitar Hero Live gives us an offline first-person rock-and-roll fantasy, but it's Guitar Hero TV that gives this series new life. The new guitar gives veterans new challenges while breaking down the barrier to entry for new players. While the on-disc tracks are, in my opinon, throwaway, Guitar Hero TV should keep players busy for a long time to come.

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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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8 / 10
Oct 20, 2015

It takes a lot of effort to rebuild a fallen franchise, but Activision and FreeStyleGames have proven to be more than up for the challenge with Guitar Hero Live, taking a classic series and making it its own.

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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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8.4 / 10.0
Oct 20, 2015

Guitar Hero Live is quite fun.

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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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4 / 5.0
Oct 20, 2015

While there's still trepidation due the fact that much of its appeal rests on unproven promises and its currency system is needlessly complicated, the idea of new songs being added on a weekly basis could render Guitar Hero Live into a persistent experience for rhythm and music lovers alike. Time will ultimately tell how Guitar Hero Live shapes up, but it's alluring enough to once again raise your plastic axe to the sky and rejoin the virtual rock god army.

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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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9 / 10.0
Oct 20, 2015

It's hard for me to mask my excitement about Guitar Hero Live, because in my opinion, there's nothing more exciting than a developer who's capable of outsmarting an entire genre's fanbase. Guitar Hero Live isn't just well-executed; it's clever and innovative in ways that no one other than FreeStyleGames ever imagined. My fears that Guitar Hero Live would be wringing blood out of the franchise's stone were unfounded; at some point, FreeStyleGames found itself a newer, better stone altogether.

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9 / 10.0
Oct 20, 2015

A truly fresh, innovative take on a genre crying out for something new. Freestylegames has utterly succeeded in making Guitar Hero relevant again.

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8.5 / 10.0
Oct 20, 2015

As long as they're running and updating Guitar Hero TV, I'll carve out time for this game. It may not be the party machine that Rock Band 4 is, but it offers something no other game, and really, no other TV station, currently does: a powerful combo of play, nostalgia and discovery. I mean, I'd never buy a Darwin Deez record, but I'm glad I've seen that video, you know?

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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 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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Kotaku
Top Critic
Yes
Oct 20, 2015

A Guitar Hero game that finally lives up to the name, plus playable MTV. Amazingly immersive experience, excellent new guitar. Music television reborn and made interactive. Short single-player campaign with no hope for more. Singing requires guitar accompaniment.

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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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8.7 / 10.0
Oct 20, 2015

The Live in Guitar Hero Live means a lot of things. In one mode, you're pretending to actually rock out in front of a packed arena, and in the other you're constantly competing against the rest of the world online. Your band mates overact sometimes, and you don't always get to pick the song you want to play in GHTV, but there's always a ton of music to play. So much is new, from the stage perspective, to the streaming service, to the updated guitar, that it feels like a worthy revival.

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Unscored
Oct 20, 2015

Guitar Hero Live is a wonderful evolution of the music genre. Everything from presentation, to mechanics, to the new controller was an advancement for the better. Whether or not this picks up steam with the gaming crowd is left to be seen, but the effort on both FreeStyle Games and Activision is apparent.

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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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