This is not an easy review for me to write as I was sent a copy with just the guitar and so can’t comment on the other instruments and since EA didn’t send me Rock Band 2 I can’t compare this to its main rival. What I can do is compare this game to its predecessor, Guitar Hero III, and to a lesser extent the original Rock Band. Since it’s expensive to purchase the full set of instruments I have a feeling many will only have the guitar anyway.

The main new feature in Guitar Hero: World Tour, other than the Rock Band inspired drum-kit and microphone, is the inclusion of a “Music Studio”. Here you can try your hand at overdubbing using the programmable sounds and then play through the resulting masterpieces using the available instruments or upload them to “GHTunes” for others to play. This is a good idea in theory but in order to create a half-decent tune you really need to spend a bit of time making sure the collection of notes work well together. I have a problem with this as I’d much rather spend my time playing the ready-made songs on offer than spend a while creating something which quite simply won’t match up.

The guitar is a little larger than previous Guitar Hero controllers and now has a longer whammy bar with the “star power” button placed near the strum bar for easy access although I still prefer tilting the controller. I had major connection problems with the Les Paul controller for Guitar Hero III and, while this new guitar has the same detachable neck design, I haven’t had the same game-breaking issues with this new controller. I can’t really tell any difference but apparently the strum bar is now quieter although as far as I’m concerned it won’t be quiet enough until they completely remove the distracting clicking sound.

The biggest addition to the GH guitar is the touch pad which sits alongside, and can be used instead of, the regular fret buttons on the neck. Alternatively you can continue to use the fret buttons and tap the touch pad to replace the strum bar which is a technique I quite like. The touch pad can also be used to alter the pitch on sustained notes and you have a choice of using the fret buttons without strum bar or sliding up and down the touch pad for the new “slider gems”. The touch pad is the obvious choice when dealing with the slider gems but I don’t feel the pad is responsive enough and can lead to problems. I find that the new slider gems, especially if you aren’t familiar with a particular song, can throw you off a rhythm and make it near impossible to get that 100% you’re after.

Since I have yet to play around with Rock Band 2 I can’t really mention the quality of the songs available for that game but I did prefer the Rock Band songs when compared with the selection on Guitar Hero III. The quality of the tracks available for World Tour comes down to personal preference but as with Guitar Hero III before it I do like the majority of songs included on Guitar Hero: World Tour.  The graphics here are nice but this is a game with a focus on gameplay and music so don’t expect to be blown away.

The bottom line is, leaving aside the fact that some people will prefer playing Rock Band 2, this game will provide many hours of entertainment and unlike so many other titles you’re likely to return to this in future. If you love the Guitar Hero games and you’ve already played GHIII to death then you really ought to add this title to your collection and the backwards plus cross compatibility of instruments should certainly appeal to both sets of fans.

8/10

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