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The good, the bad and the ugly

Anyone who read my initial post concerning Band Hero will know that my personal expectations of this game were, well shall we say, just ever so slightly, just a little weenie bit low. Being a complete worshipper of the original Guitar Hero series, when Band Hero was announced I had to shed a tear at the thought of my beloved rockathons being corrupted by mainstream pop. The mere fact that It was called ‘Band Hero’ quite frankly gave me shivers, and when asked to play the online demo I will admit I took on the task limited enthusiasm. However it is my duty to report on such matters, and as many people seem to believe that where there is darkness there is inevitably light, I feel I must give this game a fair hearing. Therefore to keep it simple I present to you Band Hero, The good, the bad and the ugly.

The Good

Firstly some good points about this game. As a descendant of the Guitar Hero series this game is very well animated, easy to pick up, has enjoyable gameplay and is very pretty. Though it was not rock themed (shame) It had good venus and atmosphere, with a much more colorful pop orientated feeling than the GH series. The party play feature was also excellent allowing players to swap modes and instruments at any point, which proves very useful when the drinks need refilling. The graphics were similar to that of DJ Hero in the sense that everything was very neon and slightly trippy, which I felt was quite fitting for a pop based game. I also noticed that a lot of effort had been put into the animation of the characters, especially the movements of the lead singer which I must say brought a small smile to my face. On that note my main good point of this game is that the set-list is much more accommodating to female singers, and about time too. Often I have found that my more girly friends would prefer to sing than play guitar, and so I am guessing this will be right up their street. I have often struggled through various singing careers either pushing the notes to extreme highs to survive or imitating a male voice, both of which sound quite frankly stupid. I suppose in an odd way Band Hero solves this problem for girls everywhere, but I am no raging feminist and so the review continues…

The Bad

Now for the bad stuff. Its too easy! I may be being a GH snob here, but I was able to play through this demo whilst taking happily about dinner at the same time. I had it on expert mode for all 3 songs, but it simply didn’t require that much concentration. I suppose this game is aimed at the younger, less experienced market (Aww bless their cotton socks) however this makes it a step down rather than a step up for experienced GH ‘musicians’. I suppose it’s to be expected, but its a bit of a shame. Also, since when could a guitar make a sound like a saxophone? Look I know with the right effects pedals it can be done, but there are points in this game where you are constantly switching from being a keyboard, to a trumpet to a guitar. I know GH5 did this a little too, but this game does it to the extent where it becomes completely ridiculous. At this point I find myself asking the question, Why make a game which is an offshoot of Guitar Hero and then include songs where there is simply not enough guitar to make the game playable? Its simple really. Its called ‘Guitar Hero’ because It includes songs with strong guitar riffs. Pop songs do not often have such strong guitar riffs, therefore why include them in a game where the whole concept is based around a guitar shaped controller. Think through your concept more thoroughly next time people!

The ugly

Now for the ugly part of this game. And my is it ugly… For me this game seems to be completely lacking in theme and identity. Though it boasts a diverse set-list I found the mixing of the genres in the demo made the game feel disjointed and very strange to play . For example the demo moved from happy clappy pop, to modern country style pop, to soft rock, with the same band members and gig set up. Now I know previous titles also did this, but not to this extent. To be honest I found it a little unnerving to see a massive heavy metal rocker happily singing along to ‘Walking on Sunshine’ By Catrina and the waves, especially seeing as this was a standard part of the demo not someone’s personal joke. In fact the completely random mix of band members chosen for the demo put me off a little too. When I played, my band consisted of 2 mature characters, (a sexy punk lead singer and a heavy metal lead guitarist) and two very young looking young teens (an Avril Lavigne style drummer and an alternative base player). This random combination of band members to me looked very odd. More worryingly still, with the differences in age and genre leading me to question weather if this band truly existed, it would actually be legal for them to go to the bar after gigs for drinks, let alone ever want to play together. Though the characters were probably meant to be diverse to show the diversity of the character creation feature, the lack of consistency in characters was to me direct proof of this games lack of direction. After reviewing the set-list more carefully I have come to the conclusion that it would have given the game more of an identity if older, more famous pop acts had been used. If the set-list had been more cheesy with more famous pop acts they may just have got away with the pop theme, however the mismatch of pop and rock chosen lead me to think that it might have been more appropriate to just bring out another true guitar hero with some pop songs on it, call it ‘Guitar Hero Pop hits’ and do away with the ambiguity. I imagine that if this would done it would feel a little like Guitar Hero Rocks the 80’s, which in my opinion worked a lot better than this confused little title. I hate to say it but in comparison DJ Hero has much better theming. I don’t want to be a DJ but at least the Characters, sets and music all fit together and create a real atmosphere.

Though I did to some extent enjoy playing this demo, I feel that it is very obviously aimed at the younger teen market, and not the true GH worshippers. The combination of younger band members,colorful settings, easier gameplay and tame pop set-list make an experience associated much more with the young teen scene than the heavy metal and grunge fantasy lands we are used to. Though this is not for me, I suppose not all games can be everyones cup of tea. Therefore if you are a 13 year old girl with a Taylour Swift poster on your wall you will love this game, and more power to you for buying it. As for everyone else, try it yourselves and see what you think. Oh but be sure to get the drinks in first, your really going to need them…

Until next time

GuitarGirl24

P.S. On an Un-related note, I have finally completed Gh5 (Work has been keeping me VERY busy!!) Its not as difficult as I expected, though I did have to re-play 3 of the songs in the end set-list through twice. The highlights for me were definitely “Sultans of Swing” Dire straits, “No one to depend on” Santana, “Do you feel like we do” Peter Frampton and “American Girl” Tom Petty & The heartbreakers. Not the hardest songs but definitely the ones I enjoyed plying the most. Shame its not as difficult as expected, but still as good play and definitely one to add to your christmas list if your not into DJ/Band hero and haven’t splashed out already.