We recently went hands, feet and … voice-on with the latest Guitar Hero installment, and while we didn’t come away with our world totally rocked by innovation, we can confirm that there’s more to Guitar Hero 5 than just a new song list. It’s a game that does more to challenge hardcore series veterans than Guitar Hero World Tour did, but its variety of new mechanics and modes make it clear that Neversoft (and Vicarious Visions on Wii) haven’t forgotten those who just want to party.

Continue reading Hands-on: Guitar Hero 5

Hands-on: Guitar Hero 5 originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 10 Aug 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The biggest surprise of Activision’s Guitar Hero 5 pre-launch event in San Francisco wasn’t the addition of a hot band to the song list or something to do with DLC; it was a game mode exclusive to the Wii version called “Roadie Battle,” which wound up being the most refreshing and fun addition to the series since … ever.

In this guitar-only duel, two players can assist the pair battling on the big screen using Nintendo DS. Using DS Download Play, the Wii transfers the Roadie Battle “app” to both DS units (two human “roadies” aren’t required; the CPU can fill in for the friend-deprived) and the (frantic) fun begins.

Continue reading Hands-on: Guitar Hero 5 ‘Roadie Battle’ mode (Wii/DS)

Hands-on: Guitar Hero 5 ‘Roadie Battle’ mode (Wii/DS) originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 10 Aug 2009 13:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yes, Guitar Hero 5 is getting all modern-like and letting those who buy it — and own other GH games — access all those songs they already bought (on disc or in DLC form) without firing up another title. GH5 and the upcoming Band Hero will work with songs from the Guitar Hero World Tour and Guitar Hero Smash Hits game discs, along with GHWT DLC — even on Wii.

PS3 and Xbox 360 owners who own GHWT will be able to download a free update from within GH5 that enables DLC backwards-compatibility (for 152 of 158 available tracks) and adds new GH5-specific features to their existing DLC. In order to rip the tracks from GHWT and SH discs will need to purchase what Activision says will be a “nominal re-licensing fee” and have the unique 20-digit code on the back of the games’ manuals. As with Rock Band 2, all songs from the discs will be ripped to the systems’ hard disks, but unwanted tracks can be individually deleted.

The process will be similar on Wii, with a couple noteworthy differences. First, DLC must be re-downloaded (to add new GH5 features, plus they’ll sound better) either en mass or track-by-track to the Wii’s internal memory or (thankfully) SD card. There’ll also be an individual song copy option for importing disc-based songs from GHWT. Now to find out what those six DLC tracks that aren’t supported are …

More on Guitar Hero 5 song import, DLC support (Band Hero will do it, too) originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 10 Aug 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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70 of the 85 tracks that’ll come on the Guitar Hero 5 retail disc have been officially announced, and it’s looking like our original complete track listing — though still technically unofficial — is so totally the real deal. Activision notes in this update that AFI’s “Medicate,” from its forthcoming album Crash Love, is exclusive to GH5, as is a new recording of Public Enemy’s “Bring The Noise” in collaboration with guitarist and known Ozzy Osborne associate Zakk Wylde.

Oh yeah, about that video above. It ostensibly contains footage of more new features in GH5, specifically “star power overflow,” “band moments” and the ability to resurrect band mates who’ve failed out. With everything that’s happening on-screen, though, spotting these features in action is kind of a game in and of itself. Good luck with that. We can assure you that finding the newly confirmed tracks after the break is much easier.

Continue reading Another 24 songs confirmed for Guitar Hero 5, more features demo’d

Another 24 songs confirmed for Guitar Hero 5, more features demo’d originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 22 Jul 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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