Guitar Hero Live

 PlayStation 4
User Score
6.2

Mixed or average reviews- based on 198 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 100 out of 198
  2. Mixed: 42 out of 198
  3. Negative: 56 out of 198
Buy Now
Buy on

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. prinny
    Oct 21, 2015
    5
    The big thing is the controller change - and I can't really find a way to put it as a pro or a con. It's different, and presents a new challenge; however the way you play now feels disjointed. I'm not sure whether to completely blame the syncronisation issues for this, but I believe the new row of buttons as well as the confusing highway UI have a lot to do with it. I really don't see theThe big thing is the controller change - and I can't really find a way to put it as a pro or a con. It's different, and presents a new challenge; however the way you play now feels disjointed. I'm not sure whether to completely blame the syncronisation issues for this, but I believe the new row of buttons as well as the confusing highway UI have a lot to do with it. I really don't see the point of the new style guitar overall, but glad it was only $109 AUD for the pack.

    Pros: Pretty good setlist. I like the idea of the GH online and so far haven't found it too grindy.
    Cons: Same as its competitor, it doesn't look like you can play head to head against a friend - extremely disappointing. Syncronisation for video and audio isn't separate - so while my audio is synced, the notes are out of sync. Feels more "jaggedy" than the smooth GH games of old, despite being on new hardware. Still requires a usb dongle.    … Expand
  2. Euknowia
    Oct 20, 2015
    5
    In all installments of Guitar Hero, the music set list has always baffled me to some extent, though with Guitar Hero Live I’m undoubtedly feeling mocked (as if a plastic toy guitar wasn’t goofy enough). Skrillexs’ “Bangarang” and Eminem’s “Berzerk?” Relative to all other possible songs, why choose an outlier so dissimilar and distinct from those that offer a more “relevant” Guitar HeroIn all installments of Guitar Hero, the music set list has always baffled me to some extent, though with Guitar Hero Live I’m undoubtedly feeling mocked (as if a plastic toy guitar wasn’t goofy enough). Skrillexs’ “Bangarang” and Eminem’s “Berzerk?” Relative to all other possible songs, why choose an outlier so dissimilar and distinct from those that offer a more “relevant” Guitar Hero experience? Perhaps still unused but classic, guitar focused songs are intentionally left out for micro-transaction purposes, or maybe these were selected based off a misconception of consumer taste (or what I hope is a misconception). I understand that something as subjective as music taste will inevitably raise my brow for some song choices, but does that ambiguity really mean there isn’t some pragmatic line to be drawn, especially given the near unfathomably large(and yet still growing) pool of music that illustrate the guitar much more prominently?

    There are certainly some calibration issues. I eventually became acclimated to the delay, but the system that “automatically corrects” latency and the like created more of a headache than help.

    The “Play” micro-transaction system is, well, concerning to say the least. You no longer permanently unlock DLC songs, you use a type of currency (which you can get more of by grinding or using real $$) to “play” them a select amount of times. Wondering whether a “Play” of a song is worth grind time felt revolting. Some may feel indifferent, but I hated it. Compared to how Rock Band 4 implemented their past DLC and, well, yeah… this method seems much worse. In the past, I often perceived DLC songs to be a bit overpriced, though it always seemed like a vague evaluation—but I certainly don’t have the faintest of ideas as to properly valuing a singular “Play” of a song. Also, pre-order song bonuses is, and will continue to be, disgusting.

    No real practice mode. Not a huge detriment since I usually played by trial and error, but still absent.

    GHTV 24/7 music playlist is neat. Channels play a variety of different music (including several familiar GH tracks) non-stop and allow you to jump in at your discretion. It desperately needs more music and channels, but it’s an interesting idea.

    The whole “Live” background thing was cringe, awkwardly disingenuous, and unnecessary. That said, I thought it was sort of hilarious and I kind of liked it for that reason. I don’t necessarily prefer it, but at least it was refreshingly different.

    New guitar was “Meh.” Not all that bad, but certainly not all that innovative. Re-instilled some difficulty which curtailed some interest, but only briefly. I would have been just as content with the old guitar to be honest. If you played on expert in the previous GH games like I have, I’m inclined to think you will be also be able to start on the highest difficulty and do fine (with some learning of new chords).

    Online multiplayer is score only (real-time and leaderboards). Not so different, but I appreciated the older matchmaking a bit better.

    Overall, GH Live is a presently mediocre game which has the potential to get better (increased GHTV channels and library), but not currently worth its price. Simply “throw away” any ideas of purchasing this game, as Activision Jackson so keenly recognizes as part of our modern societal nature- or at least until the growing pains have finished. Unless you actually like the music set list!! Then go get your ears checked...    … Expand
  3. squodge
    Nov 11, 2015
    6
    One thing the 10/10 ratings don't mention is micro-transactions. That's right - this game has them. You do not have to buy any micro-transactions, but not doing so means you have to grind something like 5-6 songs you might not like in order to play 1 song that you do.

    Also, the so-called live audience/crowd that's mentioned in the 10/10 ratings - the crowd is only there on Guitar Hero    One thing the 10/10 ratings don't mention is micro-transactions. That's right - this game has them. You do not have to buy any micro-transactions, but not doing so means you have to grind something like 5-6 songs you might not like in order to play 1 song that you do.

    Also, the so-called live audience/crowd that's mentioned in the 10/10 ratings - the crowd is only there on Guitar Hero Live mode (as opposed to Guitar Hero TV mode, or "GHTV"), which is the short campaign. You definitely will not be playing these songs all that often, as most of the songs available are in GHTV and will feature the original music video instead. For pre-HDTV songs, we're subjected to VHS-quality music videos.

    All in all, this game is solid. It's fun if you consider playing a music rhythm game by yourself as fun. If you prefer to play a music rhythm game with your mates, Rock Band 4 is a better option or any of the previous Rock Band and Guitar Hero games.

    No actual online playing, as in multiplayer (either co-op or competitive). There's a live score chart, but that's hardly the same as playing online.

    You can't buy any of the songs. You have to use play tokens, which you can either grind (about half an hour's grind per play token) or pay real money for. Or you can buy a 24-hour pass for £4, which is a rip-off. Basically, if you don't want to grind and you don't want to pay real money, you have the game's 42 built-in songs plus whatever songs GHTV decides to churn out for you.

    What bugs me more about this game is the inclusion of way too much pop music. Rihanna, One Direction, Ed Sheeran - these artists would never have graced previous Guitar Hero games. They might have made it on Band Hero... but this is Guitar Hero Live we're talking about. The game deserves more respect than these artists. Nothing against their music - they are just not what I would deem "Guitar Hero" type of artists. One does not think of guitars when Rihanna is mentioned.

    Overall, I rate the game 6/10 because I think it has a lot of promise. The distributor/developers need to change the format somewhat. It's a slap in the face to have to buy micro-transactions for a game that's already a premium price. I expect micro-transactions in a F2P game like Candy Crush, not this.    … Expand
  4. L4DLegend91
    Dec 2, 2015
    6
    Guitar Hero Live is weird, in more ways than one. On first impression, the guitar is confusing, with 6 buttons total, 3 buttons stacked over 3 more buttons, essentially using your index, middle and ring fingers and moving them from top to bottom. It is a challenge, and I'm fine with that, but I think the fun factor is taken out. I mastered the 5 button layout, but was always challengedGuitar Hero Live is weird, in more ways than one. On first impression, the guitar is confusing, with 6 buttons total, 3 buttons stacked over 3 more buttons, essentially using your index, middle and ring fingers and moving them from top to bottom. It is a challenge, and I'm fine with that, but I think the fun factor is taken out. I mastered the 5 button layout, but was always challenged with certain songs, and challenged by trying to get 100% on each song. So the challenge is there, but I feel like no matter how much practice I put into this, I may never get to the expert level of it.

    2nd point, the soundtrack isn't all that deep. A lot of the songs are from the last 10 years, and seem to cater to a more modern audience, which is OK and understandable. But, for a game called Guitar Hero, some better songs featuring heavier guitar would be nice, and something that spans a few decades would be nice.

    The hardware for the guitar is mostly nice. It's light, and easy to use, but the strum bar is loud when playing, almost to the point of annoyance. I think this has been a recurring theme for Guitar Hero guitars over Rock Band guitars, and it seems to be continuing.

    The 2 things I really like are the presentation of the songs, in music video form or in live crowd form, and the GHTV feature are really nice. The presentation gives a different feel that no GH or Rock Band game has given before, while the GHTV, in the same right, gives a feature that hasn't been done before either.

    All in all, it's hard to discredit Activision and all involved with GH Live for trying to make this different and unique, because they succeed in that respect. But, in doing so, the fun isn't there as it once was and because of it, I think Rock Band 4 may be the better game,    … Expand
  5. Dal_ReviewedDat
    Jan 6, 2016
    7
    Finally Guitar Hero has reached the new Gen, and has it leapt on from the previous version, yes, yes it has.

    I've played guitar hero for years, and loved the PS3 version, so after seeing mixed reviews I was cautious with this purchase. Alot of complaining about the new layout - this is madness. Whilst it does create a learning curve for veteran players, as someone that has played    Finally Guitar Hero has reached the new Gen, and has it leapt on from the previous version, yes, yes it has.

    I've played guitar hero for years, and loved the PS3 version, so after seeing mixed reviews I was cautious with this purchase.
    Alot of complaining about the new layout - this is madness. Whilst it does create a learning curve for veteran players, as someone that has played guitar for over 20 years, the new layout is really a lot more realistic than the 5 colour PS3 style guitars. I found as a guitar player that the 'chord' structures a lot more familiar, it's like playing open chords a bit now. For my girlfriend, who also enjoyed it on PS3, this hasn't caused to much confusion converting to the new layout either. Ultimately, this is a guitar-simulation, and it feels that little more real with the new layout.

    The game itself is split between a gig mode and an ' MTV' mode. There's not a great deal of content on the gigs, a healthy song list where each gig will be a set of 3 - 6 songs. The leap from PS3 to PS4 is really apparent here in that the cartoon graphics are gone, and a mock tongue-in-cheek real life bands take the stage alongside you, giving you cheesy thumbs up and nods when you make good progress, and look like you've killed their first born when it goes to pot. I love this mode, but after completeing the songs on harder levels, I felt a bit over it in a short amount of time. Player vs player is less competitive, or directly fighting as such.

    This lack of re-playability on this mode would be a major flaw, but Guitar-Hero TVs 'TV mode' is therefore it's saviour. Endlessly streaming music videos to play along to doesn't sound breathtaking, but actually its the fun way to play. New music is added to the catalogue with updates (for free) and you can sit down without noticing the hours passing playing track after track. You're rewarded XP and coins to use to select the tracks if you wish to play a particular song.

    The only real downside to the game is that there's no '18' age band... it's family orientated, which is fair enough, but for me, when I play Rage Against the Machine, having the "F you I won't do what you tell me" entire verse removed is a downer :(

    This game is NOT pay to play - but - you CAN pay £4.99 for a 24 party pass to unlock all the songs to play . This seems pointless to me, but I appreciate if I had all the lads over and made a night of it, it would be useful. As said, if you grind the TV mode, you can earn endless amounts of 'free plays', I've about 30 something stocked up already. So - you CAN pick what you want, but why bother, I don't want to play the same song over and over till I 100% it, I'm happy to jam along to anything

    A good game, it has enough to call itself New Gen, and it's a great party piece. Well worth your time for GH fans    … Expand
  6. rkerwin
    Jan 3, 2016
    7
    The 6 button guitar does add more of a challenge. The concept of playing LIVE and TV (videos) is fun. The inability to see your personal high scores without waiting for each song to connect to the server and show you where you stand in the world is a pain.
  7. skynet89
    Dec 17, 2015
    6
    You’ll need to spend one play counter for each on-demand song you play, but even though I’ve played for many hours now, I’ve still got 20 play counters left. You get one at the start of your GHTV journey for free, and another 10 when you’ve completed the tutorial, but you’ll also pick up more as you level up. And this is simply done by playing more and more songs.
    my car: ford ranger    You’ll need to spend one play counter for each on-demand song you play, but even though I’ve played for many hours now, I’ve still got 20 play counters left. You get one at the start of your GHTV journey for free, and another 10 when you’ve completed the tutorial, but you’ll also pick up more as you level up. And this is simply done by playing more and more songs.
    my car: ford ranger wildtrak 3.2    … Expand
  8. GreenMachineG
    Dec 9, 2015
    5
    Guitar Hero Live is a good re-boot to a series I missed a lot. The new live concert feel this game added with the actual crowd is a very cool mechanic added, and with them changing based on your performance is great. I also found myself enjoying the new button lay-out. I found the lack of depth in songs was very poor however, and the purchasing of songs is something I am not at all a fanGuitar Hero Live is a good re-boot to a series I missed a lot. The new live concert feel this game added with the actual crowd is a very cool mechanic added, and with them changing based on your performance is great. I also found myself enjoying the new button lay-out. I found the lack of depth in songs was very poor however, and the purchasing of songs is something I am not at all a fan of.

    The new button layout is a good thing. I found it much easier to play once I got the feel for it as you could just need to move your fingers from the top to the bottom keys, rather than having to slide them up and down the guitar. This however is just my feelings for it as I like that it feels more attainable to get to higher difficulties with this layout, and I could definitely see how some may dislike it as it definitely took more skill with the old layout.

    I hate having to pay to play more songs. I think this game may come with less songs than any Guitar Hero game so far, and that's wrong. A game with this few options of differing gameplay should have a robust library, and this game fails to do that. I also was very upset that the game came with so few older titles. Many of the songs are very Top 40-ish and recently made, and I liked playing Guitar Hero for the old school titles.

    In closing, the game is fun. I had a good time playing this game for a few hours, but unless you are willing to pay the $99.99 for just a few hours of fun I would skip this game. I would only recommend it for true lovers of the series who are willing to dump some money into buying songs as well as the initial purchase price. I was lucky enough to grab the game on sale, which made it feel less like a cash grab game, but the game definitely needed to come with more to be worth it.

    5.9/10    … Expand
  9. Quitikz
    May 25, 2017
    6
    This game is a decent revival of the Guitar Hero franchise. The game play is fun as always, the guitar feels great to use and the song choices are great! However, I found the notes harder to read at full speed, I much prefer the old style of notes. The HUD looks really bland and boring to look at as well. I stopped playing this game after a month because of the hard to read notes. I alsoThis game is a decent revival of the Guitar Hero franchise. The game play is fun as always, the guitar feels great to use and the song choices are great! However, I found the notes harder to read at full speed, I much prefer the old style of notes. The HUD looks really bland and boring to look at as well. I stopped playing this game after a month because of the hard to read notes. I also despise the plays mechanic, this is a full-priced game with freemium mobile game mechanics.… Expand
  10. MonkiReviews
    May 10, 2017
    7
    The songs are ok but not great. The guitar is surprisingly well made. The gamemodes are good depending on what you play in it. I enjoyed it a lot but it is weak at some points.
  11. 20Gigabytes
    May 2, 2018
    7
    I had a lot of fun playing this but honestly the tracklist is questionable...
  12. BradE17
    Jul 16, 2018
    6
    This game is a very strong idea and a very weak example of execution. The new controller is fantastic. The new button system is fresh and challenging. At first glance, I was very excited about this game.

    That being said, the game is pretty bad. The calibration isn’t as bad as Rock Band 4, but it’s pretty impossible to get it dialed in perfectly if you play on expert. The set list is    This game is a very strong idea and a very weak example of execution. The new controller is fantastic. The new button system is fresh and challenging. At first glance, I was very excited about this game.

    That being said, the game is pretty bad. The calibration isn’t as bad as Rock Band 4, but it’s pretty impossible to get it dialed in perfectly if you play on expert. The set list is hilariously bad. For multiple 20 minute sets, you’re forced to play awful pop songs that barely have a guitar in them. Some of the songs don’t even have a guitar in them. Their idea of metal is the Hot Topic style “metal.”

    The biggest problem in the game, though, is the difficulty gap between hard and expert. Hard is annoyingly simple while Expert is frustratingly difficult. The only way to get better is to just suck it up and play on guitar hero TV while listening to the annoying error sounds that you can’t mute. Also, there’s no practice mode when this is the game it would be most useful on.

    I wish they would try again with the same idea and listen to the complaints, because guitar hero could still be fun, but this game barely deserves a 6/10.    … Expand
  13. DARU3108
    Jul 9, 2020
    5
    the game was not bad overall, but the way they managed the online was terrible and it really disappointed me.
  14. hector_bcn98
    Nov 15, 2022
    7
    Partiendo de la base que nunca se debería haber abandonado la saga principal con el mástil de cinco botones, me parece una interesante propuesta el de tres con dos alturas, resultando en seis botones que simulan más acordemente (jeje) la realización de un acorde real. Pero claro, si medio setlist offline es mediocre y todo lo bueno está online, en el que tienes que jugar aleatoriamentePartiendo de la base que nunca se debería haber abandonado la saga principal con el mástil de cinco botones, me parece una interesante propuesta el de tres con dos alturas, resultando en seis botones que simulan más acordemente (jeje) la realización de un acorde real. Pero claro, si medio setlist offline es mediocre y todo lo bueno está online, en el que tienes que jugar aleatoriamente para conseguir acceder a la canción que quieras de forma limitada... Resulta en un videojuego en el cuál la mitad del tiempo estás tocando canciones que no quieres tocar para acceder a la que sí quieres.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

62
#62 Best PS4 Game of 2015
60
#60 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2015
40
#40 Most Shared PS4 Game of 2015

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 69 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 54 out of 69
  2. Mixed: 15 out of 69
  3. Negative: 0 out of 69
  1. CD-Action
    Jan 12, 2016
    75
    GHL is a great game if you’re playing it alone. I appreciate all the new ideas but I’m really disappointed that it is no longer a party game. [13/2015, p.62]
  2. Games Master UK
    Jan 3, 2016
    82
    GH Live brings plenty of fresh ideas, but a few annoyances stop it short of achieving true greatness. [Christmas 2015, p.]
  3. Playstation Official Magazine UK
    Dec 16, 2015
    90
    One of 2015's biggest surprises. [Christmas 2015, p.74]
See all critic reviews »