Reviews

Band Hero. Guitar Hero without the rock.

Posted by mikestrife on November 6, 2009
Game review based on: Xbox 360
Game available for: PS2 PS3 Wii Xbox 360

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Band Hero

I didn’t expect anything from Band Hero, but I reserved judgment as Guitar Hero 5 had redeemed the series for me, and DJ Hero itself was a pretty good game. Unfortunately my original impression was right Band Hero is just Guitar Hero 5, sell out edition.

The premise for Band Hero is that it’s a game like Guitar Hero; only the play list is made up from pop songs instead of rock songs.

This is the biggest problem for me. Sure it comes down to taste, but the song choice is pretty baffling, there is a lot of crap on here. I can get behind a lot of pop music, but comparatively I would have to say this is the worst song line up in any of the main Guitar Hero games. There are a lot of tracks, I just didn’t even want to play, and the songs I did play we’re musically and lyrically much more repetitive than Guitar Hero tracks. Even the instruments didn’t match, I found myself playing guitar through keyboard or trumpet sections on a lot of songs because they didn’t really feature guitar. Also on some song that require multiple singers, you’re required to sing all the parts, which can be annoying and kill your voice because of how the line almost overlap and were never intended to be sung by the same person.

The game itself feature nearly the exact same gameplay and structure from Guitar Hero 5. Even most of the characters from GH5 are available for use, though they are all cleaned up so they look like they belong in a pop band.

The game features quickplay, career and online mode. All of which can be played solo or as a band.

Like previous Guitar Hero titles, instruments from other GH or Rock Band games can be used to play. The bundle set for Band Hero comes with instruments that are nearly identical to the GH: World Tour set, but some minor adjustments have been made because of some common problems with the previous instruments.

The big stars featured in this game are Taylor Swift, Maroon 5, and No Doubt. That right there should say if this game is right for you.

It’s tough to say who this game is for. It’s a mix of oldie pop songs and newer stuff which segregates the audience right there. It would seem it’s going for a family vibe, and catering to both parents and tweens, but the song list doesn’t really suit either of those groups.

The game is really designed for the casual audience that hasn’t bought into the music games yet. If you’ve been interested in an instrument based rhythm game, but were intimidated by the “rock” aspect, then you might want to check out Band Hero.