Although this review comes a little late due technical difficulties (our 360 munched on the game disc and started making some weird CRAAAAAKKK sounds, much like the previous system which attempted to eat Guitar Hero III, so we had to get another…), it’s one that I’ve been patiently waiting to write. I mean, The Village People? YMCA? That’s only my favorite song for drunk karaoke!
Band Hero takes all that is good from the changes seen in Guitar Hero 5, and turns it all into a very welcoming and diverse band experience. Ok, and single-player too, since you don’t have to quit and restart a song to apply any changes made to the gameplay.
The main difference between this game and any Guitar Hero is definitely the range of the soundtrack. The songs aren’t exactly what I expected, but that doesn’t mean playing them isn’t fun. From recent hits by Taylor Swift (Love Story, You Belong With Me, Picture to Burn), passing through a couple of the most popular No Doubt songs (Don’t Speak, Just a Girl) and going back to oldies such as Do You Really Want to Hurt Me (which, if you have seen The Wedding Singer, you can’t begin singing without saying “take it away George!”) by Culture Club, Duran Duran’s Rio, Roy Orbison’s Pretty Woman, and Don McLean’s American Pie which accompanies the career ending credits.
Personally, I had a blast with the aforementioned YMCA (sober, at that!), David Bowie’s Let’s Dance, Evanescence’s Bring Me to Life, and Finger Eleven’s Paralyzer. And ok, I admit it, the Spice Girls’ Wannabe too…
As usual, progressing through the Career mode will earn you all those stars and then some, if you manage to complete the Challenges for each song. Challenges can apply to a particular instrument or the whole band, so sometimes it will ask you to score as much as possible, maintain a 4x multiplier for as long as possible or strum up and down alternatively throughout an entire song. Tons of replay value once again guaranteed.
Once again, Party Play assures even the worst player can have some fun. It’s the equivalent to Rock Band’s “no fail”, so there’s no need to worry about missed notes. You can even just let the song play and completely abandon the controller.
If you are wondering about the E10+ rating – and I sure was, considering all Guitar Hero games have been rated T before – some words in a few songs have been censored. You will hear some muffled out music and a blank where those words should be, and to be blunt, my first reaction was a big, loud “WTF?!”. Two of the words I noticed “strategically missing” were “shit” and “whiskey”, which don’t seem all that offensive to me. Personally, I’d rather the game had kept the Teen rating and the original lyrics. Parents will certainly appreciate the feature, but everyone else who has been playing Guitar Hero and/or Rock Band won’t be so happy about it.
What I really had an issue with was the vocals. It’s still cool to dance around with the microphone, but now you have to carry the controller around as well if you expect to activate star power anytime during the song. Because you must press the A button. Pfft. So much for looking cool! “Wake me up inside… wake me up inside… oh shit, where’s the controller? Quick, someone press the button! Argh! Bid my blood to run…”
Hey devs, how about adding some buttons to the microphone next time? You can credit me on that idea too! You’re welcome!
Other than that, I can’t really complain. The format is the same as in Guitar Hero 5, which I really enjoyed, the soundtrack sure is different but not any less enjoyable, and everything is much more user-friendly, especially concerning the multiplayer games. Band Hero is one more music game that I am proud to display in my collection!