Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock

Rogers (the telecommunications company) recently decided they were getting out of the movie and game rental business. They've put their entire stock at all of their stores up for sale on the cheap. Andrew and I only found out about this about a week after they'd started so there were slim pickings at the stores we went to. I almost bought a copy of Final Fantasy XIII-2 but it was still $40 used and there was a warning saying some of the online content might not work (likely it comes with a code that would have already been used by somebody). I figure by the time I want to play it I'll be able to get a new copy around that price if not cheaper so I passed.

One thing I did get was Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock. I get a lot of these music games mostly because I like to have a wide variety of songs to play. They frequently added new features to these games (I guess to explain why they're putting out so many of them) but I really don't care about most of them. I just want more songs. I don't have a drum kit. Or a microphone. (Or any ability to use a microphone... I have no musical talent at all but I can fudge things with a guitar since it's really just hitting a button when it says to. Actually making the right sounds come out of my mouth? Not going to happen.) All the new games have 'band' features but all I play is the guitar tracks. Even when there are bass options I'll generally only play the guitar unless I _really_ like a song.

Warriors of Rock added a new twist that I'm actually enjoying. Instead of levels being vague locations that exist only to combine a bunch of songs together they're centered around a hero. Each hero has a special ability which modifies how the game is played! The three I've seen so far have been to gain 5% star power for every 10 consecutive notes hit, to gain double star power from completing a star power section, and to start at a full rock meter and earn bonus points if you overload it. None of these things fundamentally change what I'm doing (holding the buttons down that it tells me to) but they change up how points are scored in small but interesting ways. I'm liking it so far.

There's a second change I _really_ like to the interface. There's a meter showing how far into the song I am. So I can tell at a glance if it's almost over and I should blow my star power or not!

One thing I was afraid I wouldn't like was the song choices. In the first level I did I found myself hating every song that came up. I even thought to myself 'Is this what rock music actually is? Do I hate rock music?' The only song from the first set I liked at all was Alive by Flyleaf and I wouldn't have really classified it as rock. Then I went to the second song set and my fears went away. Red Rider, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Tom Petty, The Rolling Stones, Blue Oyster Cult, Edgar Winter, Aerosmith, Dire Straits, Neil Young, and Black Sabbath. Rock out! The third song set kicked off with Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. So I guess it was just that first set with newer songs that bothered me. Most of the good stuff is older than I am, after all!