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Developer: FreeStyleGames
Publisher: Activision
Release Date: October 20th (NA/AUS), October 23rd (EU)
Platforms: PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Wii U, iOS
RRP: $99.99 USD, £74.99 GBP, 99,00 EUR
Guitar Hero Live is a revival of Activision's Guitar Hero franchise. It features a new guitar peripheral, two new ways to play and a steady supply of new music available to be played online for free. Coming in only a couple of weeks after Harmonix's revival of their own franchise Rock Band, will we be seeing a resurgence in the plastic instrument genre, and will we see one of the most vicious fanbase rivalries continue?
Shying away from the five coloured button layout previously used in Guitar Hero, and still used in Rock Band, Guitar Hero Live's new guitar features a six button layout. It consists of three black buttons on top of three white buttons. This is stated to make the game easier to pick up, but much harder to master. The guitar also retains staples of the previous guitars, including a clicky strum bar, a whammy bar, and a large button to activate Hero Powers. There is also a new button that allows the player to immediately connect to Guitar Hero TV whenever they want.
Although Guitar Hero Live has dropped both bass and drums, vocals are still supported in Live quickplay and GH TV. All you need to do is plug in a USB microphone and the vocal track will appear above the guitar track and plays identically to how vocals usually do. Vocals will also have their own score tracking. However, a guitar will still have to be connected for vocals to appear, so pure vocalists may want to wait on this game until solo vocals are supported.
Guitar Hero Live is the game's on-disc portion, and is something a bit different to what we've seen before. The first notable change is the use of FMVs instead of traditional graphics. The second is that instead looking on at the band, a first-person view from the guitarist is used, letting the player look out to huge crowds whilst on stage. If you rock, the crowd will react accordingly. If you suck, well, they will do the same. The game will also take away the track during moment with no guitar, letting you really get a feel of the crowd.
Live will put you in the position of the guitarist of various bands of varying fame, genre and members. These bands play at one of two festivals, the UK's biggest outdoor festival SoundDial or the US's unique musical event Rock the Block. If you're band is at the top, they take the main stage in front of thousands of fans. If you're band is a little more underground, they'll play on a smaller stage with with smaller crowds. All the bands also have a little bit of story to them, mimicking the trials and tribulations many real bands go through.
Live's campaign will be singleplayer only. Live quickplay IS multiplayer, supporting a second guitar and vocals. Both feature the same songs. The songs featured in the Live portion can be found below.
First off, it's worth mentioning that GH TV is an online-only service. However, it will NOT require PS+/XBL. Songs featured in this portion of the game cannot be downloaded to your console and can only be streamed.
The majority of songs featured in the game are part of GH TV, a music streaming service that will be continuously updated with new music. GH TV consists of various continuously running channels that play different themed shows such as "Metal Icons" or "Rock Classics". These channels will be constantly playing music and the player can jump in and start playing whenever they want, competing against 9 other players that are listening to the same channel. You can also plug in another guitar, a microphone or both to play with friends. Carrying on from Star Power, GH TV lets the player use Hero Powers. Instead of just doubling the multiplier, Hero Powers have a range of abilities, including the traditional multiplier doubler, removing a certain amount of incoming notes, and more. New Hero Powers are unlocked as the player levels up. New music and new channels will be added post-release, and will be available to the player for free, being folded into channels and available on-demand. It is possible that music might get removed from the service in the future, but this has yet to be confirmed. Also, instead of FMVs, GH TV uses music videos or concert footage as the backdrop.
GH TV contains two types of in-game currency. Credits are earned whilst playing one of the channels, and Hero Cash is purchased with real money. Hero Cash's sole functionality is to purchase play tokens, although you can purchase them with credits too. These allow players to play whatever song they want whenever they like, rather than waiting for them to come on one of the channels. The player will receive multiple tokens when they first access GH TV, and will receive some every time they level up. With Credits the player can also buy cosmetic items such as different fretboards and player cards. There is also a party pass, which the player can purchase to get unlimited on-demand access to all songs for 24 hours. This will cost $5.99 USD, £4.79 GBP or 5,99 EUR.
Another aspect of GH TV is GH TV Premium. Premium shows can range from brand new music videos to special live footage. To access a premium show, the player must complete basic challenges such as getting three stars on a specific song. They can also access them immediately using Hero Cash. If you do well at Premium Show, you will be rewarded with items such as unique note highways and playercards, boosts to Credit accumulation, discounts to store items and more. These premium shows will run for a certain period of time and then new ones will take their place, each providing new rewards.
The following songs are featured in the Live portion of the game, although some will appear in GH TV.
- "45" - The Gaslight Anthem
- "The Anthem" - Good Charlotte
- "Bangarang" - Skrillex
- "Been Away Too Long" - Soundgarden
- "Berzerk" - Eminem
- "Bones Exposed" - Of Mice & Men
- "California King Bed" - Rihanna
- "Club Foot" - Kasabian
- "Counting Stars" - OneRepublic
- "Demons" - Imagine Dragons
- "Everybody Talks" - Neon Trees
- "Girls" - The 1975
- "Gold On the Ceiling" - The Black Keys
- "Ground for Divorce" - Elbow
- "Here's to Never Growing Up" - Avril Lavigne
- "Ho Hey" - The Lumineers
- "I Will Wait" - Mumford & Sons
- "Keep On Swinging" - Rival Sons
- "The Kill (Bury Me)" - Thirty Seconds to Mars
- "King for a Day" - Pierce the Veil ft. Kellin Quinn
- "Lazaretto" - Jack White
- "Lies" - Deap Vally
- "Little Monster" - Royal Blood
- "Lived a Lie" - You Me At Six
- "Love Bites (So Do I)" - Halestorm
- "Mind Your Manners" - Pearl Jam
- "Mountain Sound" - Of Monsters and Men
- "My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)" - Fall Out Boy
- "Now" - Paramore
- "Nuclear Family" - Green Day
- "Paint It Black" - The Rolling Stones
- "R U Mine?" - Arctic Monkeys
- "The Rock Show" - Blink-182
- "Shadow Moses" - Bring Me the Horizon
- "Sundial" - Wolfmother
- "Tie Your Mother Down" - Queen
- "Tragedy + Time" - Rise Against
- "Victory Over the Sun" - Biffy Clyro
- "Waking Up in Vegas" - Katy Perry
- "Wastelands" - Linkin Park
- "When You Were Young" - The Killers
- "Won't Get Fooled Again" - The Who
These are the songs available at launch for GH TV. These can only be streamed online and will not be available to offline players. There were 200 available songs on launch day.
- "A Heartbreak" - Angus & Julia Stone
- "A-Punk" - Vampire Weekend
- "According to You" - Orianthi
- "Addicted to Pain" - Alter Bridge
- "All the Rage Back Home" - Interpol
- "All the Small Things" - Blink-182
- "Also Am I" - 36 Crazyfists
- "Always with Me, Always with You" - Joe Satriani
- "American Idiot" - Green Day
- "American You" - Yelawolf
- "Another is Waiting" - The Avett Brothers
- "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" - Jet
- "Are You Gonna Go My Way" - Lenny Kravitz
- "Asleep at the Wheel" - Band of Sjulls
- "At Night in Dreams" - White Denim
- "Back in the Game" - Airbourne
- "Before He Cheats" - Carrie Underwood
- "Before I Forget" - Slipknot
- "Best Day of My Life" - American Authors
- "The Best Thing (That Never Happened)" - We Are the In Crowd
- "Better Than it Ever Could Be" - The Preatures
- "Bitter Rivals" - Sleigh Bells
- "Black Me Out" - Against Me!
- "Black Rain" - Soundgarden
- "The Blue, The Green" - Lonely the Brave
- "Bohemian Like You" - The Dandy Warhols
- "Brainfreeze" - Decade
- "Breaking the Law" - Judas Priest
- "Buddy Holly" - Weezer
- "Bulls on Parade" - Rage Against the Machine
- "Buried Alive" - Avenged Sevenfold
- "California (Cast Iron Soul) - Jamestown Revival
- "Can't Let Go" - Heaven's Basement
- "Chasing the Sun" - Hilary Duff
- "Cherry Pie" - Warrant
- "Chop Suey!" - System of a Down
- "City" - Spring King
- "The Clincher" - Chevelle
- "Cochise" - Audioslave
- "Coconut Dracula" - Islander
- "Cold Shot" - Stevie Ray Vaughn and Double Trouble
- "Come On Over" - Royal Blood
- "Come With Me Now" - Kongos
- "Coming of Age" - Foster the People
- "Cool Kids" - Echosmith
- "Cowboys From Hell" - Pantera
- "Cry of Achilles" - Alter Bridge
- "Cult of Personality" - Living Colour
- "Dark Sunglasses" - Chrissie Hynde
- "Deliver Us" - In Flames
- "Demon Dance" - Surfer Blood
- "Demon to lean On" - Wavves
- "Diamond Eyes" - Deftones
- "Disposable Teens" - Marilyn Manson
- "Don't Let Me Be Lonely" - The Band Perry
- "Don't Be Cruel" - Cheap Trick
- "Don't Give Up" - Kevin Rudolf
- "Don't Owe You a Thang" - Gary Clark Jr.
- "Down With the Sickness" - Disturbed
- "Drive" - Incubus
- "Edge of a Revolution" - Nickelback
- "Elevated" - State Champs
- "Epic" - Faith No More
- "Eye of the Tiger" - Survivor
- "Eyes of a Stranger" - Queensrÿche
- "Fallen Angels" - Black Veil Brides
- "Famous" - Charli XCX
- "Feed the Mantaray" - Slaves
- "Feel So Close" - Calvin Harris
- "Fell in Love with a Girl" - The White Stripes
- "The Final Episode (Let's Change Channel)" - Asking Alexandria
- "Finale" - Funeral Party
- "Float On" - Modest Mouse
- "Forever" - Puppy
- "Freak on a Leash" - Korn
- "Friday Night, Don't Ever Let It End" - Spector
- "Ghost Walking" - Lamb of God
- "Girl's Not Grey" - AFI
- "Girls & Boys" - Good Charlotte
- "Girls/Girls/Boys" - Panic! at the Disco
- "Going to Hell" - The Pretty Reckless
- "Got the Time" - Anthrax
- "Gravedigger" - Architects
- "Guerilla Radio" - Rage Against the Machine
- "Handlebars" - Flobots
- "Handwritten" - The Gaslight Anthem
- "Hanger 18" - Megadeth
- "Hanging On the Telephone" - Blondie
- "Harlem" - New Politics
- "Heaven" - The Psychedelic Furs
- "Hell Yeah" - Rev Theory
- "High Road" - Mastodon
- "Higher Ground" - Red Hot Chili Peppers
- "Hit Me With Your Best Shot (Live)" - Pat Benatar
- "Ho Hey" - The Lumineers
- "Hold Back the River" - James Bay
- "Hunger Strike" - Temple of the Dog
- "I Fought the Law" - The Clash
- "I Gotsta Get Paid" - ZZ Top
- "I Have a Problem" - Beartooth
- "I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked" - Ida Maria
- "I Wanna Dance (But I Don't Know How)" - Skaters
- "I Want it All" - Queen
- "I Want You to Know" - Zedd ft. Selena Gomez
- "In Due Time" - Killswitch Engage
- "In the End" - Black Veil Brides
- "In Too Deep" - Sum 41
- "It Must Really Suck to be Four Year Strong Right Now" - Four Year Strong
- "It's Real" - Real Estate
- "Kathleen" - Catfish and the Bottlemen
- "The Kids Aren't Alright" - The Offspring
- "Lazerray" - TV on the Radio
- "The Lazy Song" - Bruno Mars
- "Leave It Alone" - Broken Bells
- "Left Hand Free" - alt-J
- "Let Her Go" - Passenger
- "Limelight" - Rush
- "Little Games" - The Colourist
- "Little Talks" - Of Monsters and Men
- "Live While We're Young" - One Direction
- "The Looking Glass" - Dream Theater
- "Louder Than Ever" - Cold War Kids
- "Love Don't Die" - The Fray
- "Love Rears Its Ugly Head" - Living Colour
- "Lust for Life" - Iggy Pop
- "Medicine" - Sunset Sons
- "Message in a Bottle" - The Police
- "Metal Zone" - The Vines
- "Misery" - Soul Asylum
- "Miss Teen Massachusetts" - Skaters
- "Moaning Lisa Smile" - Wolf Alice
- "Modern Day Cowboy" - Tesla
- "More Than a Feeling" - Boston
- "Move, Shake, Hide" - Marmozets
- "My Own Worst Enemy" - Lit
- "Na Na Na" - My Chemical Romance
- "Nearly Lost You" - Screaming Trees
- "New Horizons" - Flyleaf
- "Nightmare" - Avenged Sevenfold
- "Nine Lives" - Turbowolf
- "No Shows" - Gerard Way
- "Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt" - We Are Scientists
- "The Ocean" - Tonight Alive
- "Oh Love" - Green Day
- "The One I Love" - R.E.M.
- "The Only Son of the Widow from Nain" - Mudhoney
- "Pedestrian at Best" - Courtney Barnett
- "Red Hands" - Walk Off the Earth
- "Remember" - Sunset Sons
- "The Rifle's Spiral" - The Shins
- "Right Back at it Again" - A Day to Remember
- "Rimbaud Eyes" - Dum Dum Girls
- "Rise Up" - Cypress Hill ft. Tom Morello
- "Rollercoaster" - Bleachers ft. Charli XCX
- "Rollin' and Tumblin'" - The Gaslight Anthem
- "Round and Round" - Ratt
- "San Francisco" - The Mowgli's
- "Satellite" - Rise Against
- "Sex on Fire" - Kings of Leon
- "Shark Attack" - Grouplove
- "Shepherd of Fire" - Avenged Sevenfold
- "Sing" - Ed Sheeran
- "Sirens" - Pearl Jam
- "Somebody to You" - The Vamps ft. Demi Lovato
- "Sometimes" - Blitz Kids
- "Sometimes She Cries" - Warrant
- "Sounds Like Balloons" - Biffy Clyro
- "Spoonman" - Soundgarden
- "Stacy's Mom" - Fountains of Wayne
- "Still Into You" - Paramore
- "Stone" - Alice in Chains
- "Stricken" - Disturbed
- "Strife" - Trivium
- "The Struggle" - Grizfolk
- "Sweet Remain" - Vista Chino
- "Take a Walk" - Passion Pit
- "Temper Temper" - Bullet for My Valentine
- "That Fire" - Black Tide
- "That's My Kind of Night" - Luke Bryan
- "Thunder Kiss '65" - White Zombie
- "Thunder on the Mountain" - Bob Dylan
- "Tighten Up" - The Black Keys
- "Time to Pretend" - MGMT
- "Tribute" - Tenacious D
- "Try" - P!nk
- "Under Cover of Darkness" - The Strokes
- "Under the Pressure" - The War on Drugs
- "Use Me" - Hinder
- "Valentine's Day" - David Bowie
- "Vultures and Sharks" - Oceans Ate Alaska
- "Wake Me Up" - Avicii
- "We Are the Champions" - Queen
- "Weatherman" - Dead Sara
- "What Doesn't Kill You" - Jake Bugg
- "Whirring" - The Joy Formidable
- "Who Needs You" - The Orwells
- "Why Am I the One" - fun.
- "The Wire" - HAIM
- "You Can't Be My Girl" - Darwin Deez
- "You Know I'm No Good" - Amy Winehouse
For a list of songs added post-release, please refer to this Wikipedia page. The Live portion of the game currently features ~330 songs.
Destructoid - 9.5
Guitar Hero Live completely took me be surprise. I love the new controller design, the FMV portions work far better than they should, and Guitar Hero TV hooked me with its channel concept. Going forward, I'm hoping that the model further reinvents itself by introducing the world to new music.
The Sixth Axis - 9.0
Guitar Hero Live is exactly what the franchise needed after its five-year hiatus, and Id go as far to say its what the whole genre needed. Although naysayers will lament the lack of more instruments or complain about the non-permanence of extra songs, for many, Live will become the quintessential party game and is already set to be a permanent fixture in my sitting room.
GamingTrend - 9.0
Guitar Hero Live gives us an offline first-person rock-and-roll fantasy, but its Guitar Hero TV that gives this series new life. The new guitar gives veterans new challenges while breaking down the barrier to entry for new players. While the on-disc tracks are, in my opinon, throwaway, Guitar Hero TV should keep players busy for a long time to come.
HighDef-Digest - 9.0
In 2015, it's takes a real statement game to justify excitement in the rhythm game genre. 'Guitar Hero Live' is that statement game. With a New guitar, new gameplay, two distinct modes and a new content delivery method that should see players awash in free, marquee songs, 'Guitar Hero Live' is packed. FreeStyle Games has gone back to the drawing board and returned with both a rock star vision and a streaming music/video gameplay model that ought to attract fans old and new. Alongside the normal AAA titles to look forward this holiday, 'Guitar Hero Live' should be of special interest to home theater enthusiasts on account of the sound quality and the enjoyable novelty and passion to be found in the gameplay and visuals.
GodIsAGeek - 9.0
I didnt expect to fall for Guitar Hero Live the way I did. The new guitar is superb (theyve retained that clacky sound on the strum bar, by the way) and makes everything feel brand new. GHTV, however, is truly innovative, and means you can just sit there and play for as long as you fancy. If you want to drop out, or suddenly stop, then do so theres no penalty, even the second player can drop out without interrupting play. The FMV of the career mode somehow works and is genuinely exciting, too. Ultimately, Live is a phenomenal return for Guitar Hero, and one that everyone involved should be proud of. To fans of the genre, this is something new and enthralling. Absolutely brilliant.
PSNation - 9.0
Even if you have a huge library of songs for Rock Band and youre picking that up, you owe it to yourself to give Guitar Hero Live a whirl. The new guitar is a revelation and the impact of the free content updates cant be overstated. This ones a game changer.
Gametrailers - 8.7
PlayStation LifeStyle - 8.5
Guitar Hero Live could get away with only being the GHTV side of things. The catalog of songs is huge. The promise of future updates is tantalizing, and its far too easy to get sucked in to playing a show and find yourself playing for hours. And all of this comes without a subscription fee of any kind. You just need to buy the game and the streaming library is at your fingertips. But theyve also added the offline Live mode, and gone above and beyond in creating an extremely unique way to live out your rockstar fantasies. Add in the brilliant new game mechanics that come from the reconfigured guitar controller, and combining our old love of rhythm games with the modern way we consume music, and Guitar Hero Live is the worthwhile reunion of an old favorite that weve all been waiting for.
The Hero Feed - 8.0
Guitar Hero Live is a great game. Its better than I ever imagined it would be and Im excited to see this revival of plastic guitar games.
ShackNews - 8.0
Forget what you know about old Guitar Hero games. Those are in the past. FreeStyleGames has taken only the most fundamental pieces of what Harmonix and Neversoft introduced and instead put their own unique stamp on Guitar Hero Live. In many ways, it's for the better, especially in GHTV. In fact, GHTV might even have some players wondering why that wasn't the whole game. It certainly makes the live action concert element feel superfluous.
IGN - 7.9
A smartly redesigned controller and addictive song streaming makes Guitar Hero Live a largely enjoyable music game.
Game Informer - 7.5
An exciting new take on the genre hamstrung by a frustrating interaction model for getting and playing the songs you want
ZTGD - 7.0
Gamespot - 6.0
Guitar Hero Live's reinvented mechanics makes music-driven gameplay fresh and fun again, and while that's a truly massive and meaningful change for the genre as a whole, the campaign's off-putting presentation and GHTV's unpleasant microtransactions all sour the experience built up around that gameplay. Still, this successful innovation alone might be reason enough to grab a new axe and rock out regardless.
Special thanks to Fantasy Final for making it incredibly easy to live up to the last Guitar Hero OT. Hopefully my first OT is up to snuff.