Guitar hero world tour infor from IGN

[msmalls74]

Theres a big new preview about this game on IGN now


http://uk.ps3.ign.com/articles/882/882949p1.html

some highlights for those who cant view link

The Guitar
World Tour introduces a new guitar controller that is even more feature-laden than past designs. Before you get in a huff about just buying the Les Paul or X-plorer models from past Guitar Hero games, know that Activision has told us these will still work in World Tour. They just won't have access to all of the new stuff the added features bring to the table. That being said, you're going to want the new axe.

The biggest addition to the new guitar is the touch pad located on the neck. While playing a song, this touch sensitive strip allows you to alter notes during sustains by sliding up and down the strip (giving more freedom and options than what you had before with just a whammy bar). It can also be used for tapping to play notes, particularly awesome if you want to mimic a slap bass. The real power of the touch pad comes in the music creator. We'll get to that soon.

Other changes have been made to the design as well. The back/select button has been made to look like the bridge of the guitar. It's easier to hit for activating star power and gives a more realistic look to the body. The entire body is bigger, as well, approaching something closer to a real guitar. The d-pad has been given a bit of style as well by reshaping it to look more like a knob.

All of the previous great features are still there on this guitar, too. It's wireless and sleek, has an accelerometer for activating star power (and more) and will make use of new custom faceplates. In short, it's the best guitar controller we've seen yet.

The Drums
Three pads, two raised cymbals, and one bass pedal make up the action elements of this new drum peripheral. That equates to the basic setup of a snare, two toms, two cymbals and a bass drum. The two cymbals are raised above the three primary pads and, on the prototype set we got a look at, had hinges and swivels on them so that you could position them how you wanted. To activate star power with the kit you simply hit both cymbals at the same time.

The first thing you'll notice when you see the kit in action is that it's quieter than the Rock Band drums, which is great news for neighbors everywhere. Each drum head is eight inches in diameter, slightly larger than Rock Band's kit, so you'll be less likely to miss when things get heated. Like the guitar, this puppy is wireless. That won't really aid you in your posturing, but it will keep your room less cluttered.

The big news with the pads, though, is that they're now sensitive to the speed you hit them. Slam it and you get a louder note. Tap it and, well, you get the picture. Like the touch pad on the guitar, this feature really comes into its own in the music creator.

The Customizations

Guitar Hero: World Tour brings back all of the Guitar Hero 3 characters, adds in those from Guitar Hero 2 that didn't make the cut last go around and slaps in some real-life rock stars that are being kept a secret for now. But isn't rocking out in videogame form about the illusion of being a rock star yourself, and wouldn't it be much cooler to see a rock star you created on screen? We'll answer those as "yes" for you and move on. World Tour gives you that option.

Things kick off with a character creator that includes all of the depth of games like Tony Hawk or Tiger Woods. The simple things like sex, genre of rock star (goth, rock, punk, etc.) and build are in, of course, but you can get much more technical if you want. Age, shapes and sizes of the jaw, chin, cheek, ear, mouth, eyes, and eyebrows can all be adjusted. You can add makeup, alter the skin color to any you like -- even purple or green if you want to get crazy -- and choose your hair style and color. There are tons of clothing options that you can buy in the game with money earned from touring. There are even choices for the intro, win and loss character animations that your custom avatar will perform on stage.

If you still aren't happy that this character is "yours," you can create a decal using primitives, shapes, and icons pieced together and stacked in roughly 20 layers to apply as a tattoo anywhere on the body.

Then, if you like, you can take these decals and use them to customize your equipment in the new instrument creator. That's right; you can now make your own custom guitar, bass, microphone and drum kit to use on stage.

The guitar and bass creators have the same options: Start with the shape of the body and then add a finish and colors. Slap on one of your decals you've saved and you've got something approaching your own. Then you can get fancy and adjust the fret board inlay, the headstock shape and finish, the pick guard, knob design, pickups, bridge and even the string type. That last one doesn't change the look but it does win points with people who play guitar in real life. Last, but not least, you can pick from a variety of in-game highways (the background behind the notes that scroll down while playing).

The drum and mic creators are simpler. For the drums you can choose from a variety of shapes, shell finishes, skins and sticks. You're also free to slap a decal on the front of the bass drum to let everyone know the name of your band, or whatever else you want to put there. The singer can only choose from a range of microphone and stand types and colors. It's not much, but the front man already gets the glory anyway.

Boss battles are back, though they've been restructured as more of a call and response duel rather than using the battle mode first featured in Guitar Hero 3. Battle mode will still exist as a multiplayer mode, as will all of the others we've seen in the past, but its role in the main game has been minimized.

If things are too difficult for you at every angle, fear not. World Tour features a new beginner difficulty that is even easier than easy. As for the impossible leaps some found between difficulties, Neversoft assures us they took a lot of pains to address that.

The Music Creator


Normally I'd say that the over 85 songs (all of which are master tracks and are promised to be a "step above GH3") on the disc for Guitar Hero: World Tour is impressive. Then I'd follow it up by saying I'm bummed that none of the downloadable content from Guitar Hero 3 will work with World Tour, but that the renewed commitment to DLC with an in-game music store (that may arrive shortly after launch), full album downloads and regular releases makes up for it to some extent. While all of that is true, it pales in comparison to the limitless options the music creator offers.

When I say the tools in World Tour for creating your own music are impressive, you'd do well to believe it. I was only given a brief demo of what this game packs and came away with a longing to try it myself and see what I could pump out. You don't just create songs by laying out a note track. You can simply play and the game will do the rest for you. Or you can get technical and go deep into the editor. The only downside is that you can't record a vocal track. Legal quashed that one and, when you think about what ugly doors vocal recordings could open, it makes sense.

Once you're done creating your song, you can publish it to GH Tunes. When you do you'll be asked to pick which tracks should be played by each instrument, assign your own cover art (which can be custom created using the decal editor), select a genre, and a few other key bits of data to mark the track properly as yours. From there, anybody is free to download it and play it. As soon as they finish their first try at it they'll be asked to rate your masterpiece. That data is then sent back up to the server so that Activision can track which songs are the hottest with rankings for highest rated, fastest chart movers, most played and more.

Get ready to find out how creative the Guitar Hero community can be.
You'll be able to save up to 100 songs of your own creation locally, upload five at a time (you're free to swap your favorites in and out of GH Tunes), and download up to 200 tracks others have created. Activision was quick to point out that the Wii version will have the same features as the PS3 and 360. You can create songs, upload them, download them, and purchase famous downloadable tracks on Wii.

And with all of that, you're probably wondering what the price of this rig is. It's like a miniature studio in a box, for Pete's sake. At this point Activision isn't ready to talk dollars and cents but it did say the pricing for Guitar Hero: World Tour would be "competitive" with what's out there already. Start setting some money aside now.

Mostly sounds good, shame that GH3 songs wont work with it, but it makes sense why they wont, like the customization part and the track maker. I just hope when it comes out they release decent DLC packs at regular intervals. Im kind of glad that i didnt get rock band yet as this seems to be quite a step up, but ill wait and see price and when its coming out to the UK.

 

[Shamikebab]

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