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Guitar Hero Live | Review Thread

T

T.O.P

Banned
SlantMagazine - 10

Between the GH Live and GHTV components, Guitar Hero Live effectively crafts the illusion of being in and of the moment. This zeitgeist-y medley of angst and ambition is an absolute dream to play, and with over 200 songs already streaming, one that most players will never have to wake up from.
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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.
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Polygon - 9.0

t's hard for me to mask my excitement about Guitar Hero Live, because in my opinion, there's nothing more exciting than a developer who's capable of outsmarting an entire genre's fanbase. Guitar Hero Live isn't just well-executed; it's clever and innovative in ways that no one other than FreeStyleGames ever imagined. My fears that Guitar Hero Live would be wringing blood out of the franchise's stone were unfounded; at some point, FreeStyleGames found itself a newer, better stone altogether.
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The Sixth Axis - 9.0

Guitar Hero Live is exactly what the franchise needed after its five-year hiatus, and I’d go as far to say it’s 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.
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GamingTrend - 9.0

Guitar Hero Live gives us an offline first-person rock-and-roll fantasy, but it’s 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.
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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.
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GodIsAGeek - 9.0

I didn’t expect to fall for Guitar Hero Live the way I did. The new guitar is superb (they’ve 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 – there’s 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.
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PSNation - 9.0

Even if you have a huge library of songs for Rock Band and you’re 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 can’t be overstated. This one’s a game changer.
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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 it’s 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 they’ve 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 we’ve all been waiting for.
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Hobby Consolas - 8.5

*spanish words*
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The Hero Feed - 8.0

Guitar Hero Live is a great game. It’s better than I ever imagined it would be and I’m excited to see this revival of plastic guitar games. However, there were some issues I ran into during my review:

-Occasionally there was slight video stuttering that occurred which threw the track off-sync temporarily.
-You can’t have multiple profiles signed in when two guitars are connected
1 vs. 1 on GHTV isn’t in yet, but will be implemented post-launch. It’s being called Rivals Mode.
-There’s no Bass and I can’t figure out why. It seems like something that could easily be done for some select tracks (you don’t have to chart drums or anything, come on).
-There really should be a practice mode, this game isn’t easy.
-The entry to get into a Premium Show seems flaky, you play a song and get three stars and it doesn’t let you know you accomplished anything, you just get kicked back to the selection screen for premium shows.
-It’s not clear how you select your difficulty in the game, it’s all done through the pause menu but an unseasoned player wouldn’t know to do that.
-I’ve tapped the GHTV button while strumming twice.
-With all the GHTV upgrades (Adding more Hero Power phrases for example) I almost wish there was a classic leaderboard where it just had normal Starpower. Note: You start off with a Bomb that clears all the notes on screen and gives you points from them.
-Hangar 18 is the music video version, and Won’t Get Fooled Again is the single version.
-You can’t own a song, even though there were numerous interviews which said otherwise

Despite these drawbacks Guitar Hero Live in my opinion is one of the best Guitar Hero games of all time.
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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.
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IGN - 7.9

A smartly redesigned controller and addictive song streaming makes Guitar Hero Live a largely enjoyable music game.
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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
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Escapist Magazine - 7.5

I give Guitar Hero: Live a ton of respect for trying so many radically different things, even if I'm not a fan of a many of them. GHTV in particular is an ingenious creation and it will be interesting to see how Activision and FreeStyle Games support it in the coming months. If they can keep on providing a regular stream of new songs and compelling set lists for the premium channels, GH: Live will certainly never be too far from my console.

Gamesradar - 7.5

Guitar Hero Live ensnares the ephemeral rock star dream like no other rhythm action game before it, bottles it, and puts it in one of those hotel fridges that charges loads. It’s a jukebox to continually slot coins into when all you want to do is thump it to life Fonzie-style. It’s epic wish fulfillment for anyone who’s ever danced alone in their room picturing themselves playing Glastonbury, only predominantly more expensive than an air guitar.

So this or Rock Band 4? The latter's reaction to your ability is more nuanced, the backwards compatibility a big pull, the pricing system more natural and it lets you play drums. Guitar Hero Live has a slightly superior guitar peripheral and on-disc tracklist, and certainly the makings of being the best music game ever made. But that's still Rock Band 4.
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ZTGD - 7.0

I do really enjoy the presentation of GH TV. Music videos and concert footage of the bands play behind the note highway. It is a nice touch. Future songs will also include newly filmed footage for the performances. It is all very ambitious, but again starting over it is hard not to compare the paltry song list to Rock Band’s massive library of DLC.

The guitar itself is really well-designed, much sturdier than the Rock Band equivalent. The strum bar has more of a click to it, so that is worth noting for those that hate the sound. It also has a button below the strum bar for Hero Power, the replacement for Star Power. The big difference with Hero Power is that it can do more than multiply score. Power-ups can be purchased (with in-game currency) for new powers such as removing notes from the song.

A lot of the issues with GHTV is that it is confusing to understand how it works within the game. Players are used to just buying songs a la carte. The new six button setup will also throw players for a loop. Again, I totally respect the new direction, but the familiar tones of its competitor really draw me to prefer that offering. Plus I can play what songs I want, when I want. I will be interested to see how this game evolves over time, and I hope like Harmonix, they intend it just to be a platform. I don’t want to see Guitar Hero Live 2 next year. As it stands though, this is one purchase I am finding a hard time recommending to those that already bought into Rock Band’s ecosystem.
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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.
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T

Torgo

Junior Member
Do the writers at Gamespot know they're going to be reviewing GAMES when they take the job? lmao!
 
B

BiggNife

Member
Torgo said:
Do the writers at Gamespot know they're going to be reviewing GAMES when they take the job? lmao!
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Did you actually read the review or do you just immediately shit on outlier reviews, lmao

I'm glad GHL is trying something different but it's not really surprising to see why some reviews are divisive. GHTV and the FMV presentation are both things some people will really like and others will really hate because they both have pretty clear upsides and downsides.
 
C

Chû Totoro

Member
Only thing I have to say... 99,99€ !

So no thanks... I have all sorts of plastic instruments from the PS3 era and I have the Rocksmith Guitar so I won't buy a new RB or GH till they're not compatible with previous accessories (might never be the case I know... might never buy one then and keep playing RB on my PS3).

But good scores.
 
S

sonto340

Member
Chû Totoro;182310159 said:
Only thing I have to say... 99,99€ !

So no thanks... I have all sorts of plastic instruments from the PS3 era and I have the Rocksmith Guitar so I won't buy a new RB or GH till they're not compatible with previous accessories (might never be the case I know... might never buy one then and keep playing RB on my PS3).

But good scores.
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Never mind that this game uses a brand new control mechanism or that Rockband 4 is compatible with your old instruments then.
 
M

Mattenth

Member
Distribution for this game is interesting, especially seeing some of the larger publications scoring much harsher.

UDgHIYD.png
 
T

TheExhaustedWalrus

Member
Chû Totoro;182310159 said:
Only thing I have to say... 99,99€ !

So no thanks... I have all sorts of plastic instruments from the PS3 era and I have the Rocksmith Guitar so I won't buy a new RB or GH till they're not compatible with previous accessories (might never be the case I know... might never buy one then and keep playing RB on my PS3).

But good scores.
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Pretty much every old instrument is compatible with RB4. Here's a handy chart on what works and what doesn't.
 
S

somotodsyo

Member
Doesn't seem like there are any Wii U reviews yet. I'll wait for those, since I'd prefer not to listen to the PS3 disc reader's noise while playing a music game.
 
D

Devilgunman

Member
It's hard to compare RB4 and GHL. RB4 isn't really a new game, it's more like a platform. It's most likely the last RB you will ever need to buy from now on. A music game is for party and in that perspective RB always has an edge over GH imo.
 
C

CloudWolf

Member
Devilgunman said:
It's hard to compare RB4 and GHL. RB4 isn't really a new game, it's more like a platform. It's most likely the last RB you will ever need to buy from now on. A music game is for party and in that perspective RB always has and edge over GH imo.
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Agreed, there isn't really much of a music game war this time since both games are clearly trying to do completely different things. And both have their own ups and downs.

If anything, there's even more of an incentive this time around to but both since you can save money on RB4 because the old instruments work and you can save money on GHL because of DLC-free approach.
 
5

5amshift

Banned
Looking better than Rock Band 4!
Definitely not surprised after playing it at the past few shows, but I certainly know it was the GAF-undergod in rhythm games.

Hope to see more great scores!
 
L

LewieP

Member
Based on what I've seen on this game so far, I was expecting a bloodbath. I guess reviewers enjoyed it more than I had expected.

Still not really interested, I am over these plastic instrument games, but I hope people who are into them enjoy it.
 
C

Chû Totoro

Member
sonto340 said:
Never mind that this game uses a brand new control mechanism or that Rockband 4 is compatible with your old instruments then.
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TheExhaustedWalrus said:
Pretty much every old instrument is compatible with RB4. Here's a handy chart on what works and what doesn't.
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Oh I'm an ass-hole :O

Thanks guys... stooped following RB after the announcement so I'll look again. Regarding GH even if it's new mechanics and even if it's better I just can't purchase every accessory so I guess there is a valid reason for them to push a new peripheral but I'll go for the game with the biggest compatibility. If RB 4 can use my previous DLC then it's an obvious choice for me (more than 400 songs purchased), if not I may still go for it so I can use my drums and guitar and .... everything even with new music purchase.

And again regarding my uninformed post (yeah it's ok on a forum to do this once in a while) I want to say that both of your answers were like gentleman's posts. *tip of my hat*
 
G

GabeTheGrouch76

Member
Find it rather interesting that both Guitar Hero Live and Rock Band 4 seem to be in the same ballpark in terms of reviews.

The aggregate score on Metacritic are the same for both the PS4 (78) and XB1 (79) versions of both games. User review scores (as reliable/unreliable as they may be) are also on par as well (XB1 versions for both games stand at 6.3; PS4 for GHL is at 6.2 while PS4 for RB4 is at 6.4).

On GameRankings though, GHL (PS4 - 82.85 / XB1 - 82.33) has a slight edge score than RB4 (PS4 - 78.25 / XB1 - 79.05), though I suspect GHL's scores will get lower when more reviews come in.
 
5

5amshift

Banned
Mattenth said:
Distribution for this game is interesting, especially seeing some of the larger publications scoring much harsher.
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That Harmonix friendship with outlets getting put to work.
Not surprising, really..

The game is still scoring really well and I'm just excited to see sales numbers.
 
C

chronic_archaic

Member
Honestly seems pretty sweet... The on disc setlist is pretty lame but the streaming service part looks really good. Can't afford it but hope I can get the 360 version on a deep discount sooner rather than later.
 
C

CloudWolf

Member
5amshift said:
That Harmonix friendship with outlets getting put to work.
Not surprising, really..
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Not really. Maybe the reviewers for the bigger outlets are more classic fans of the Guitar Hero games, which this game is not really aimed at. It's silly to immediately question their objectivity just because they're a bit harsher than other sites.
 
K

KaYotiX

Banned
Sounds like the main draw is the TV part and the in disc stuff is pretty bad.


Wonder if they could of gotten away with just the TV portion and didn't even bother with a campaign at a lower price.....
 
V

vg260

Member
The one thing that bothers me/makes me nervous about the possible success of this game is the GHTV service's use of non-separated tracks and its effect on the music genre. It's more like playing over the music. Essentially you could get the same thing from customs.

I don't want to see the significance of getting master tracks diminished, and it affecting Rock Band negatively as a result, either by labels stopping giving access to them or people passing on RB tracks, thus hurting that series, because they can get these much cheaper(?). The separated master tracks are, to me, what made these games the most interesting and cool. The difference between playing a game with individual instrument tracks from the actual bands that you control versus playing along to song is huge.
 
N

NYCmetsfan

Banned
It really seems to be that the game is great but there is a divide between the hardcore fans who want to perfect songs and own dlc and those who are more casual. Ghtv seems great to me. I hate playing the same song millions of times and never was a score fiend and always had paralysis of choice. With this I have to spend no money unless I'm really feeling a song. And have hundreds of free songs that's constantly changing. That and the music videos are a great touch.


I just wish there was bass. Glad to see the preorder was a good choice. I just hope ghtv is a hit and they constantly update it
 
Z

Z3M0G

Member
Interesting how they adopted F2P microtransaction mechanics into this... like Publishers aim to do with every game these days. (Buying tokens with real money to play any of the GHTV songs that you desire, instead of waiting for them in the rotation.)
 
8

80s Bad Guy

Banned
I'm actually really curious about this. My one issue is that watching the trailer when the camera spins around in first-person it feels like I'm going to get dizzy. Has anyone complained about that or is that just something I'm overthinking?
 
F

fernoca

Member
Rasko said:
I watched 2 reviews, yes and almost quoting gametrailers: "microtranscations all over the place" or something similar, cannot check right now.
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You earn in-game currency to buy things or you spend real money to get that in-game currency. That's it. :p
 
Z

Z3M0G

Member
I must admit... if I wan't trying to cut back on spending, I'd be all over this... it looks pretty great. I never imagined that I'd want to play something like this again, but the GHTV system and new button layout are very captivating.
 
T

T.O.P

Banned
Rasko said:
I watched 2 reviews, yes and almost quoting gametrailers: "microtranscations all over the place" or something similar, cannot check right now.
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You have your on disc tracks + Live Stuff (40+ songs) + the Premium Live (like the Avenged Sevenfold one)

Then you have GHTV wich has different channels per hour that will keep on changing as time goes (extra 200 songs)
Wich means a never ending stream of new songs, no extra cash needed

Then you have a chance to play a song of your choice from the GHTV (if you don't want to wait for the rotation to show up) using the in game tokens, wich you earn by playing the game and leveling up


If that's a Microtransiction party for you, then ok
 
C

cakely

Member
2n2 said:
The one thing that bothers me/makes me nervous about the possible success of this game is the GHTV service's use of non-separated tracks and its effect on the music genre. It's more like playing over the music. Essentially you could get the same thing from customs.

I don't want to see the significance of getting master tracks diminished, and it affecting Rock Band negatively as a result, either by labels stopping giving access to them or people passing on RB tracks, thus hurting that series, because they can get these much cheaper(?). The separated master tracks are, to me, what made these games the most interesting and cool. The difference between playing a game with individual instrument tracks from the actual bands that you control versus playing along to song is huge.
Click to expand...

GHTV doesn't have separated tracks? So if you if you mess up / stop playing the guitar part just keeps playing in the background?
 
B

Baron von Loathsome

Member
5amshift said:
But the outlets scored a lot higher and there are less reviews out now than when Rock Band 4 embargo'd. By tomorrow or Thursday they should all be out.
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Rock Band 4 is better tailored for me. There's a lot about Guitar Hero Live that's off-putting to me, so I don't plan to pick it up before Black Friday.
 
K

killroy87

Member
5amshift said:
But the outlets scored a lot higher and there are less reviews out now than when Rock Band 4 embargo'd. By tomorrow or Thursday they should all be out.
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It also doesn't matter which scores higher. These are as different as two music games utilizing guitar could be, just get whichever one you know you'd enjoy more (if you even want either them.)

Now they we have a few reviews to tell us that GHL is at least a competent product, whichever one scores 75 and which scores a 78 on metacritic is 100% meaningless.

Of course, people don't think that way...
 
N

NoMoChokeSJ

Banned
So I'm a little confused in the GHTV aspect of this game. Are the videos all online only? Do they download to your console to prevent latency issues or are they streamed?
 
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