If you went to a house party between 2007 and 2010 there’s almost a 100% chance that at some point you either played a plastic instrument or watched someone else play a plastic instrument. And then all of the sudden you probably didn’t anymore. For me personally it was a fatigue issue, the same reason I now groan when someone plops Cards Against Humanity on a table. Now five years later everyone’s had a nice breather and the powers that be have decided that it’s time once more for plastic instruments to enter your home.
We still don’t know everything about Rock Band 4 but its announcement indicates that Harmonix is scaling it back a bit (say goodbye to the keyboard and pro guitar) but not really changing much of the core premise. Activision, it would appear, is planning to take a quite different approach with its longstanding Guitar Hero series as demonstrated in their announcement today for Guitar Hero Live.
The first thing you’ll notice when you see the actual gameplay (aside from the fact that there’s no longer a drum or bass to play) is that the guitar layout looks completely different. That’s because you’ll be playing with the completely new guitar pictured below.
The new guitar features six buttons split into two rows of three and Activision promises that it will be easier to pick up and play out of the gate while also being much harder to master on tougher difficulties. It’s certainly a risky design choice considering how attuned most people are to the standard 5 button layout of game’s past.
Guitar Hero Live will split its gameplay into two modes. First is GH Live which gives you a first person shot of a live crowd who watches you play and reacts appropriately depending on how awesome or terrible you are. The press release promises that venues will range from massive outdoor festivals to more intimate settings like small clubs and bars.
The second mode of play is GHTV which is described as the “world’s first playable music video network”. From what you can see it’s essentially just standard Guitar Hero play layered over the song’s official music video. There’s no specific information on pricing or DLC but the implication in the press release is that GHTV will keep an ever rotating collection of music videos that players can explore without spending extra money.
Activision has also revealed a small portion of the artist lineup which includes the following:
- Carrie Underwood
- The Black Keys
- The Blitz Kids
- Ed Sheeran
- Fall Out Boy
- Gary Clark, Jr.
- Green Day
- The Killers
- The Lumineers
- My Chemical Romance
- Pierce the Veil
- The Rolling Stones
- Skrillex
- The War on Drugs
Like Rock Band 4, Guitar Hero Live is slated to land later this year when we’ll get to see whether or not lightning can strike twice.
