Guitar Hero World Tour

 Xbox 360
User Score
6.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 182 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 74 out of 182
  2. Mixed: 61 out of 182
  3. Negative: 47 out of 182
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  1. StevenH
    Jan 2, 2009
    10
    Very excellent game, Only reason I see low votes is because of people who say it has the same songs as Rock Band 2, but in my opinion, the better songs are on Guitar Hero, then on Rock Band, plus... new intro to play styles for each instrument was nice, gives a variety, the drums are excellent, the songs are not impossibly hard, Unlike Rock Band 2s starting boring songs, Guitar Hero startsVery excellent game, Only reason I see low votes is because of people who say it has the same songs as Rock Band 2, but in my opinion, the better songs are on Guitar Hero, then on Rock Band, plus... new intro to play styles for each instrument was nice, gives a variety, the drums are excellent, the songs are not impossibly hard, Unlike Rock Band 2s starting boring songs, Guitar Hero starts it off with a bang, and ends it with a bang. Character Customization is excellent, compared to RB2, and you can custom your own music instruments! Even make your own song, its very nice. Loved the music, gameplay, even the 4 seconds you get when you pause, to be back on track, they thought of everything you need to surpass RB2. Few more metal songs would of been nice, but still you can always add downloads on xbox market. Love the calibrate thing, keeps people from complaining, I see no flaws, no lagg, just a big competition for RB2. Guitar Hero makers, keep it up, you just need to release your next game before RockBand does! lol...… Expand
  2. DarylStewart
    Nov 25, 2008
    4
    Having been a long time player of the GH franchise; I was disappointed by the forth iteration in the series.
    The set list just doesn't cut it for me, and the difficulty level seems to have dropped considerably, what with there being no real 'ball buster' songs at all. There are some fun songs to play (Beat It, Misery Business, B.Y.O.B, etc...) however the number of    Having been a long time player of the GH franchise; I was disappointed by the forth iteration in the series.
    The set list just doesn't cut it for me, and the difficulty level seems to have dropped considerably, what with there being no real 'ball buster' songs at all. There are some fun songs to play (Beat It, Misery Business, B.Y.O.B, etc...) however the number of enjoyable songs is far from adequate (especially for the price).
    The 'make your own rocker' option proves to be pretty irrelevant as you never actually spend any time watching your created characters dancing around the screen, as you will be too busy concentrating on actually playing.
    *At the time of writing I have yet to experience the new 'create your own song/GH studio' feature, as it was never really something that interested me to begin with*

    The plus however is that the instruments are very very well made; considerably better than that of Rock Band. I know numerous people have reported that their GH drum kits have succumbed to sensitivity issues but I have yet to experience this, and as a whole the GH drum kit and the drum maps in the game are very accurate and fun to play.
    The guitar is a more solid version of the guitar from GH3; although I have yet to find a use for the new slider bar (as I said earlier, the song's are not difficult enough to warrant any 'wanting' for a slider bar) Despite this praise for the new guitar, I have noticed that some of the buttons on my guitar seem to be sticking after only a very short period of time.
    The mic is...a mic, it does the job. I haven't experienced any problems at all with the supplied microphone (except maybe my inability to sing)

    In conclusion, I would not recommend this game to any gamers/consumers who are already accustomed to the series, as I do not feel the song list/'improvements' actually warrant the price tag. However the supplied instruments (in the full band set) are considerably better than that of any of the rivals (i.e. Rock Band)
    If you are new to the series, and indeed ANY 'music games' then maybe you would enjoy this game as an introduction.
    Overall, not a 'bad' game, but certainly not a 'great' game; and especially not one that warrants a price tag of £150 upwards    … Expand
  3. TheLonging
    Mar 20, 2011
    4
    Being a huge fan of the series, it's a shame how broken the game is. The achievements, characters, unlockables, and even the charts themselves seem... wrong. The only reason why the game isn't rated lower is due to the fact that the setlist is, for the most part, good, and at the time it was nice to play drums. Now this seems even much more dated than the first Guitar Hero!
  4. Kluuz
    Aug 24, 2011
    6
    When Guitar Hero World Tour was announced I was stoked to the max, when I heard drums were added to the game also I wanted to cry. I waited anxiously for this game to come out, weeks passed and eventually came to the day of the release. I bought the full game bundle at midnight, came home and loaded up the first song. I was like okay, typical Guitar Hero..let's try the drums. The drumsWhen Guitar Hero World Tour was announced I was stoked to the max, when I heard drums were added to the game also I wanted to cry. I waited anxiously for this game to come out, weeks passed and eventually came to the day of the release. I bought the full game bundle at midnight, came home and loaded up the first song. I was like okay, typical Guitar Hero..let's try the drums. The drums were fun also, the setlist was great too, but not as great as the first 3 games. The engine just didn't feel comfortable, there's just something about this game I don't like, but I can't seem to get my finger on it. I hate the slider notes for one thing, the game is fairly easy on guitar, the drums bass pedal had like velcro on the bottom to keep it from sliding. The drums broke within a week by the way, and I never bought a new set. I went into band mode online, and it is atrocious. I never want to play online on that game ever. People lag out constantly, the game lags, sometimes the score meter screws up..it's just terrible. The game is iffy, I suggest looking into this game more before you buy it.… Expand
  5. TravisS.
    Oct 27, 2008
    5
    Picked up the band bundle and what a mistake that was, right out of the box the drums dont work. from my bass pedal not registering hits to dropped notes on both the cymbals. The game itself could use a whole lot of polish if you ask me, the in game menus are horrible.. cant go up or down in the menus on the drumkit having to use the dpad can be a pain at times. On the positive side and Picked up the band bundle and what a mistake that was, right out of the box the drums dont work. from my bass pedal not registering hits to dropped notes on both the cymbals. The game itself could use a whole lot of polish if you ask me, the in game menus are horrible.. cant go up or down in the menus on the drumkit having to use the dpad can be a pain at times. On the positive side and there isnt many positives i would have to say my guitar is great works like it should unlike the drums. Also some of song selections are lots of fun to play. All in all i wish i could return it for a refund. Next time i wont be so impaitient and wait for reviws from users and whatnot.… Expand
  6. NathanielStarr
    Oct 27, 2008
    1
    A bad attempt at Rock Band. Harmonix just do it better. Namely they better in the way they ramp up their difficulty. It's an even progression that feels natural. Guitar hero is either too easy or too hard, there is no comfortable medium for the average to good player.
  7. ThomasB.
    Oct 9, 2008
    10
    I just got a chance to play a demoed version and I am very impressed by the instruments. They are all high quality and made me wish I had never purchased Rock Band. The song selection is excellent. This game is a must buy!!!!
  8. APerson
    Nov 5, 2008
    9
    World Tour is a huge improvement over GH3 and a lot of fun to play. Though nothing fantastic, the visuals have been improved and the physics aren't as robotic and strange as they were in GH3. The difficulty has been knocked down, but there's still a lot of crazy songs for hardcore GH players (Hot For Teacher!). Unfortunately the drums (at least my set) are pretty weak when it World Tour is a huge improvement over GH3 and a lot of fun to play. Though nothing fantastic, the visuals have been improved and the physics aren't as robotic and strange as they were in GH3. The difficulty has been knocked down, but there's still a lot of crazy songs for hardcore GH players (Hot For Teacher!). Unfortunately the drums (at least my set) are pretty weak when it comes to sensitivity and I prefer the RB drums instead. Playing as the vocalist in World Tour is pretty much identical to Rock Band, so there's not much to say there. The biggest addition to GH is the Music Studio and GHTunes. The Music Studio was a brilliant move by the developers and, when used correctly, is a fantastic tool that can make some wonderful music. It can be a little complicated at first, but once you get the hang of it you'll find it may be the best part of the game.… Expand
  9. ShaunE
    Oct 28, 2008
    1
    From the lack of organized menus to the broken drums, GH:WT is the biggest waist of money I've ever spent on a game. Considering since this games announcement they claimed it would be "all about the band and working together", it sure feels like a free for all. With no ability to assist eachother with star power or revive each other if one player struggles. GH:WT is this years From the lack of organized menus to the broken drums, GH:WT is the biggest waist of money I've ever spent on a game. Considering since this games announcement they claimed it would be "all about the band and working together", it sure feels like a free for all. With no ability to assist eachother with star power or revive each other if one player struggles. GH:WT is this years biggest failure.… Expand
  10. EdH
    Oct 29, 2008
    9
    So far so good. Drums are considerably better for me than in Rock Band 2. The elevation of the cymbals above the drums give a better, more realistic feel. I remember that IGN got on the drums case when they would accidentally hit the bottom of a cymbal going up from a drum. That's just silly. Real drums are even harder than this and you are complaining about that? I have had some So far so good. Drums are considerably better for me than in Rock Band 2. The elevation of the cymbals above the drums give a better, more realistic feel. I remember that IGN got on the drums case when they would accidentally hit the bottom of a cymbal going up from a drum. That's just silly. Real drums are even harder than this and you are complaining about that? I have had some sensitivity issues mentioned in some hardware reviews, but I adjusted my playing slightly and it went away. I don't know if I will need to look into it, but I haven't had to yet. Additionally the kick pedal is considerably better than the one in Rock Band 2. I had to force my foot up at an angle, which made it so that I had to sit back from the drum set some distance. The spring provides a greater resistance in GH and I could just rest my foot on the pedal without activating it. Prevented me from cramping up after a minute or two like RB2. Additionally the game senses if you are hitting the drums harder and will give you extra ponits in the song if the song plays that way. (the accent hits in Hotel California come to mind) It all boils down to a more realistic experience playing the drums. Don't get me wrong. RB2 is great fun, I just like this better. The Guitar controller feels pretty good and solid. No real complaints there. The game itself has a pretty good selection of songs, with an emphasis on some old favorites. Being that I am somewhat older the song selection struck me as enjoyable overall. But then again I also like the selections for the most part in RB2. Interface is easier to deal with in RB2, but not to say that I found GHWT to have an interface that I couldn't work with. Presentation wise, I'm staring at the highway most of the time anyway with each song, so do I really care if the look is slightly different??… Expand
  11. JaredC.
    Nov 1, 2008
    0
    This game is trash. The graphics are horrible, all the characters look like uncanny valley puppets. The animations do not match what you are doing in the song. The notes are too big and jammed together looking. Most of the drumkits are failing in one way or another. The singing gives no indication as to how well you are doing until you either fail or finally get through the song. The font This game is trash. The graphics are horrible, all the characters look like uncanny valley puppets. The animations do not match what you are doing in the song. The notes are too big and jammed together looking. Most of the drumkits are failing in one way or another. The singing gives no indication as to how well you are doing until you either fail or finally get through the song. The font of the lyrics is so small you won't be able to read them unless you have a huge TV. The way you unlock songs is annoying because you have to do a long series of 3 song venues and have to use a huge amount of ingame money to play the Tool venue. The music creator is severely limited despite it being more complicated than the average person will ever want to get into. Most of the preset sounds sound like crap. You have to either pick to play rhythm which is all chords or lead which is all leads, you cannot mix them for your own songs. I do not understand why Guitar Hero fans are so loyal to this brand. It's blind loyalty.… Expand
  12. JordanK
    Nov 3, 2008
    2
    Even though graphics in the game do not matter, doing nothing for the gameplay, the setlist kinda sucked, and now guitar hero is just trying to copy rock band. The game has not brought a whole lot of innovation to the world, as most people who can play any song on guitar hero can't even play the simplest cover of smoke on the water, so it's not really helping the world sound Even though graphics in the game do not matter, doing nothing for the gameplay, the setlist kinda sucked, and now guitar hero is just trying to copy rock band. The game has not brought a whole lot of innovation to the world, as most people who can play any song on guitar hero can't even play the simplest cover of smoke on the water, so it's not really helping the world sound better, Just pick up a real instrument. Or play rock band, then realize that you want to pick up an instrument anyways, which is what rock band made me want to do. Guitar is much harder, but when you actually start to get good, you feel like you actually accomplished something. And who really wants to say "I beat every song on Guitar Hero World Tour on expert, and i'm available ladies..." Bottom line...Instruments are way more fun.… Expand
  13. JimboHutch
    Dec 21, 2008
    8
    I've had this since release day and have waited to really give it a good chance before reviewing. Overall, its a pretty solid game. It has a lot of innovations to keep you learning new things on the guitar, such as (realistically) holds that include strums at the same time, and the tap sections to provide a new but optional challenge. Arguably, the drum kit is very good onceI've had this since release day and have waited to really give it a good chance before reviewing. Overall, its a pretty solid game. It has a lot of innovations to keep you learning new things on the guitar, such as (realistically) holds that include strums at the same time, and the tap sections to provide a new but optional challenge. Arguably, the drum kit is very good once you've ordered the USB-MIDI adapter so you can fix the sensitivity (its free). Couple issues with the drums themselves - the legs seem near impossible to take apart and the kick pedal's velcro won't stick to some people's carpet. When it does stick, its great, but on the one in my home it doesn't and it just moves around too much if you play heel-up. Couple gripes: they take each drum literally, so you spend a lot of time on the left-hand side of the drum kit while barely using the right. Even if in real life a drummer may have two snare drums, here its always grouped into the red drum on the kit. Next, the drum audio, while more reactive than Rock Band's (the original at least), still isn't as reactive as I would like, and if you mess up mid-way through a fill, the audio for the drums clearly keep going even though you stopped hitting the drums. Speaking of audio, I dont know why they used a live recording for one of Hendrix's songs, because you can hear the other instruments come through other channels. So when you mess up it just gets quieter but you still hear the audio. I ended up swapping out my original guitar that came with the band kit, which lost its downstrum functionality after a few days, with a new one, only to have the new one have a squeaky strum bar. Fortunately, I was able to resolve that issue easily with WD-40, a q-tip, a paper towel, and 7 minutes. The mic works ok, on normal its fairly easy to get right if you try, on hard you start seeing issues on certain songs. For example, some songs seem to have a small amount of lag for when the comet moves (up to half a second), and also the mic simply cannot detect low sounds. If you use a deeper octave and try to hit the lower notes, it just freezes in place. If you switch to a higher octave, it works fine. The real issue is that several songs have the singer use that lower octave, so it ends up being a frustrating experience. Its not like I'm talking about Isaac Hayes low here either. Likewise, the note scales for singing seems to change from song to song. So the middle note for one song seems to be different on another. This isn't so bad except that the high/low gets set to some position that results in going slightly lower changing the comet to a high, and going higher changing it to low, when the comet isn't even near the edge of the highway. People who have used guitar tuners will sympathize with this frustration. Finally, "talky" parts are basically just a matter of making some sort of noise during their presence, which means you could stick a fan up to it and get full points. The music studio is not worth buying this for it. Its certainly impressive at times, but has too many limitations that seem entirely unnecessary. An example is that hammer-ons and pull-offs are automatic to the harmony guitar, and the harmony guitar can only do chords. The lead guitar can do hammer-ons/pull-offs at whatever interval it wants, but it can't do chords at all. Likewise, the bass instrument sounds nothing like bass. It sounds exactly like the MIDI "slap bass" instrument. Younger children may enjoy making their own songs but I can't imagine that many adults appreciating it until the music sounds realistic. Switching back to songs in general, the sound channels, while a huge improvement over guitar hero 3, still sometimes picks out the very faint guitar to do the notes for when there is another guitar dominating volume-wise. Finally, the difficulty isn't tuned very well on the easier settings. I was doing hard drums after about 2 hours despite having little experience with rock band beforehand. Then I found those too easy and repetitive, so I switched to expert, of which both the note chart and the crowd's tolerance for errors become significantly harder. Mainly the big issue is that on lower difficulties there is too much repetition. One more thing, when doing band-play, you only get songs that the band leader has unlocked. But the thing is, its a real pain to have the profiles switch instruments, and for every profile you have signed in the game has to keep "checking hard disk" for each person. Ok, so as negative as that sounds, this is still a very decent game. The song list is very strong and has a good variety, although it suffers from "right artist wrong song" at times, or how some songs like stranglehold are just too long for their own good. Unlike Rock Band's psychedelic eye-sore, Guitar Hero still has those easy to read note runways. The drum kit is a blast to use and significantly more realistic. There is plenty of challenge and a decent song difficulty gradient. Most songs work just fine on the mic, and the freestyle sections are a lot better than those stupid "tambourine" sections of Rock Band. The framerate is better than Rock Band 2. The drums, after tuning, require less effort than Rock Band 2. The kick pedal wont snap in half for no good reason. The band play is more challenging than Rock Band. Everything else pretty much works like you'd hope/expect it to. Finally, the DLC is lacking, but the classic rock pack and "No Rain" by blind melon aren't bad additions. There's also metallica's latest album and new additions seemingly every week, but alas it seems they constantly pull out songs that never really made it big even if its from popular artists. I have yet to play an online game. When I tried it took too long to find a game, after multiple tries I gave up. Honestly, considering there are leaderboards, I dont see the point anyways.… Expand
  14. MichaelBrooke
    Dec 29, 2008
    9
    In my opinion, this game has been overly criticized for silly, mostly inconsequential reasons. The game has a great soundtrack and is an extremely fun and satisfying rhythm/music game. The instruments are far superior (except the microphone) to RB 2's instruments in my opinion. It is a huge improvement to G.H. 3 and i highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys this sort of game. Plus,In my opinion, this game has been overly criticized for silly, mostly inconsequential reasons. The game has a great soundtrack and is an extremely fun and satisfying rhythm/music game. The instruments are far superior (except the microphone) to RB 2's instruments in my opinion. It is a huge improvement to G.H. 3 and i highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys this sort of game. Plus, it has it's own music creator which is great once you've got used to it. A must buy.… Expand
  15. ConnorC.
    Oct 26, 2008
    5
    Offers no reason to buy over Rock Band, and the only way it will sell is by its name. Terrible song creator and an overall rehash of GHIII, which wasn't great to begin with
  16. LucasD.
    Oct 26, 2008
    4
    I Honestly believe that this is not a finished product. the visuals are awful, the gameplay is nothing to be proud of, the innovations are useless and more annoying than anything. the only redeeming factors are: the setlist is 'above average' and the vocal system 'looks' cool... don't buy this game. download the songs on itunes, and then play audiosurf. win.
  17. JimS.
    Oct 26, 2008
    2
    Everything about this game could use some Ritalin. Hyperactive user interface, garbage note-charts. People playing have no feedback if they're doing badly, then one person fails, and everyone instantly fails as well. Song creator gives you vocal-less songs that sound like a Midi song on an AOL Nirvana fanpage would. Stick with RB2.
  18. Allen
    Oct 26, 2008
    5
    Guitar: Extended Sustains: cool in theory/semifun in actuality. Half the time one of these show up you don't even realize it and you'll end up letting go of the fret too early so you lose a lot of points. Solo Sequences: I didn't have access to a touch pad so I had to play these on a RB1 Strat. You do not have to strum and it seems like the timing window is a lot looser Guitar: Extended Sustains: cool in theory/semifun in actuality. Half the time one of these show up you don't even realize it and you'll end up letting go of the fret too early so you lose a lot of points. Solo Sequences: I didn't have access to a touch pad so I had to play these on a RB1 Strat. You do not have to strum and it seems like the timing window is a lot looser during these sequences. Overall: pretty much the same loose window as GH3 with a tighter HO/PO window. Bass: Open note strums: Again cool in theory/semi fun in acutality. Some of the songs are charted for these pretty well and it adds an extra bit of difficulty to the game for a typically "boring" instrument. One weird thing I've noticed is the fact that you can HO/PO these open note strums. How this makes any sense I have no idea, but it's there. (check out Today on bass). If the note charts are bad these just become a mess. B.Y.O.B. is an example of this. It's just really awkward to read and you'll probably fail out because of it. Drums: (played on rb1 drums) Overall pretty good I guess. The solo sections where you can go freestyle for points are unnecessary and generally sound bad/screw with bandmates. Activating starpower is a pain as you have to hit yellow and blue together for a 33% chance of it activating starpower. You'll probably end up breaking streak trying to get it to work. Drum rolls (looks like a sustain on guitar) are different, but I'd probably rather have them charted than a random game of chance. Vocals: Overall feels like it was tacked on due to necessity. There are no options for adjusting sensitivity or volumes like you have in rockband. Have fun trying to match the vocals because you can't hear them! Sometimes you'll be changing pitches like crazy and the comet will stay dead center breaking your streak. There is no way to judge how well you did on a section other than seeing your combo meter go up afterwards. Xbox Live: Really bad overall, there are no ways to setup a private game. If you want to play with you're friend coop, you'll have to at least make an attempt to invite a pubby first. There is no way to moderate your game, so if that pubby does not want to leave you can't kick them. One huge oversight that they've made is forcing you to select your difficulty before a song is chosen. Even doing so requires you to check a submenu of a menu choice that you'll probably forget to check or overlook the first time you play, forcing you to play on medium. During the song selection you have no idea of what the host/roulette winner is picking. Also expect to play Beat It or Satch Boogie at least once when you play on live. Overall I give the game a 5.5/10. It had some neat ideas, but the entire presentation just falls flat. I might seem like a rockband fanboy but you can't just overlook a bunch of things that other games did correctly. Playing this game feels more like a chore than it is having fun.… Expand
  19. Brandon
    Oct 27, 2008
    4
    The single player guitar experience is great, but band play is wonky and confusing, which is disheartening, considering the game is supposedly built around the band experience.
  20. Jordan
    Oct 27, 2008
    8
    The drums definitely feel more natural in GH than in RockBand. Reallt the games come down to the music tracks, as that's what keeps people buying these games; and GH:WT gets it half right. They throw in 10 or so must have songs crowded with half assed bands not many have heard or/and care about enough to get excited to play. But really this is a good step peripheral wise, now just The drums definitely feel more natural in GH than in RockBand. Reallt the games come down to the music tracks, as that's what keeps people buying these games; and GH:WT gets it half right. They throw in 10 or so must have songs crowded with half assed bands not many have heard or/and care about enough to get excited to play. But really this is a good step peripheral wise, now just fix the soundtrack.… Expand
  21. IanC
    Dec 7, 2008
    10
    I think this has been given a slightly rough time unfairly by a few as it's pushed itself into the same spotlight as Rockband rather than sticking to it's guitar solo roots. I play both, and I play both with guitar only, so that's where I'm coming from. I think GH World Tour is AWESOME, it's just as good as it ever was on the guitar, great setlist (it really is),I think this has been given a slightly rough time unfairly by a few as it's pushed itself into the same spotlight as Rockband rather than sticking to it's guitar solo roots. I play both, and I play both with guitar only, so that's where I'm coming from. I think GH World Tour is AWESOME, it's just as good as it ever was on the guitar, great setlist (it really is), and worth the money alone for the amazing new guitar with the slide/touch pad on the neck for tapping solos and producing slide effects. If you enjoy pretending to play electric guitar with these games, this is probably the best one out right now (better than RB2 IMO). But then that's just MO.… Expand
  22. NatoVanDookie
    Oct 27, 2008
    9
    I can't speak for the peripherals, but Guitar Hero: World Tour is a solid Guitar Hero game. A lot of people would disagree, but I feel that Guitar Hero 3 was better than 2 and a far better guitar experience than Rock band. GH:WT continues the tradition of great Guitar gameplay. I use Rock Band drums, and they work fine, the drum portions of songs play great too, every bit as good as I can't speak for the peripherals, but Guitar Hero: World Tour is a solid Guitar Hero game. A lot of people would disagree, but I feel that Guitar Hero 3 was better than 2 and a far better guitar experience than Rock band. GH:WT continues the tradition of great Guitar gameplay. I use Rock Band drums, and they work fine, the drum portions of songs play great too, every bit as good as Rock Band, maybe even a little better, because you can use star power whenever. On the negative side, band gameplay could take some advice from Rock Band. In GH:WT if one person fails, so fails the band, no saviors can be found here. Also, the band uses a collective star power meter, meaning one person can hog it all if they feel so inclined. Also, this is minor, but worth noting... typing in a character or band name is a clunky painful process that will result in frustration for most. If you are someone looking for the next great solo Guitar game, than this is your game, it just can't be beat. If you want tons of customization and the ability to make songs, then this is your game. But if solid band gameplay that caters to the casual is your style than stick with Rock Band 2. As some one who enjoys both styles, GH:WT is more my style, but it was always my first love.… Expand
  23. CalebH.
    Oct 27, 2008
    7
    Albeit, behind Rock Band and obviously influenced by it, GHWT gives players a good time while offering a few new experiences. Even with all the extra goodies and the new peripherals, GHWT has to work the kinks out to even compete with Rock Band's solid fanbase. To put it in an extremely weird way, GHWT came late to the party, and brought his famous Macaroni & Cheese, but Rock Band Albeit, behind Rock Band and obviously influenced by it, GHWT gives players a good time while offering a few new experiences. Even with all the extra goodies and the new peripherals, GHWT has to work the kinks out to even compete with Rock Band's solid fanbase. To put it in an extremely weird way, GHWT came late to the party, and brought his famous Macaroni & Cheese, but Rock Band had arrived on time and everyone had already eaten. Make sense? I thought so.… Expand
  24. BrianB.
    Oct 27, 2008
    5
    If Rock Band 2 didn't exist, this game would be awesome. In comparison to Rock Band 2, this game fails spectacularly. All of the reviews except for IGN's are probably payed reviews. There is no way that anyone who has played rock band 2 could possible think this game is as good or better. Do not buy this, you will regret it.
  25. zacks.
    Oct 27, 2008
    5
    Its just not as fun as rock band.. I used to be a guitar hero fan. I played 1 and i beat the hell out of 2. But Ever since rock band came out guitar hero has kind of fallen from stardom. World tour is basically a rip off of rock band. but then again anything would be if they added drums. Also the track list is really bad for world tour. There are a few good ones but they just dont fit. I Its just not as fun as rock band.. I used to be a guitar hero fan. I played 1 and i beat the hell out of 2. But Ever since rock band came out guitar hero has kind of fallen from stardom. World tour is basically a rip off of rock band. but then again anything would be if they added drums. Also the track list is really bad for world tour. There are a few good ones but they just dont fit. I was really looking forword to this game... and now i have lost 6 hours of my life that i could of used to play rock band...… Expand
  26. MartinS.
    Oct 28, 2008
    6
    I don't know what happened to this game . I mean pick up Guitar Hero 3 play it through and notice the polish on it . The difficulty of GH3 got better then GH2 and it was a natural progression where you would be challenged more and evolving. Now rip open Guitar Hero World Tour , okay the drums and band stuff was to be expected , i mean they needed to stay competitive in rhythm based I don't know what happened to this game . I mean pick up Guitar Hero 3 play it through and notice the polish on it . The difficulty of GH3 got better then GH2 and it was a natural progression where you would be challenged more and evolving. Now rip open Guitar Hero World Tour , okay the drums and band stuff was to be expected , i mean they needed to stay competitive in rhythm based games and it makes sense. If you go back to soley playing guitar you notice a few things . The Hard Setting is slower then it used to be . I don't know what happened to the design of everything in the game from interfaces to gameplay it seems like im playing a mobile version of the game. It just down right looks horrible. It plays as one user mentioned , either to hard or too easy. Going back to the visuals its like they took major steps back , the in game interface is so dull and bland and just plays like utter crap compared to the previous installments its actually scary to think where they were mentally while they were rushing this out to contend with Rock Band. Rock band to me is a different game in a lot of ways , the guitar play to me was always kinda weak . Guitar Hero always had it nailed but now i don't know what to think. All that and the track list often feels like its exactly like Rock Band 2 ???!! what gives ? Anyways , i had a copy in my hand ready to purchase , instead i played it at a friends house and THANK GOD i did that or i would be trying to sell a used copy of Guitar Hero World Tour on Ebay or Craigslist and the thought of that is dreadfull enough. I think when Neversoft put their hands on this they blew it big time ... They shouldn't have played with a working formula , i think in the end this starts to shed light that rhythm games might be dying off sooner then you think. Even Rock Band 2 to me seems like it cut some corners and again ive never like the speed of the game , i wonder why Guitar Hero would go that route with GH3 being such a success.… Expand
  27. EvanP.
    Oct 30, 2008
    8
    Overall this game is a little underrated. The game should be based on how fun it is to play. The graphics in this game have improved from the last, staying true to the overly dramatized cartoonish characters. This should not be an issue anyways due to the fact that you are watching the scrolling notes the whole time. The music creation system is a brilliant addition that should make this Overall this game is a little underrated. The game should be based on how fun it is to play. The graphics in this game have improved from the last, staying true to the overly dramatized cartoonish characters. This should not be an issue anyways due to the fact that you are watching the scrolling notes the whole time. The music creation system is a brilliant addition that should make this the obvious game of choice. I have but two complaints. One: The drum set is less sensitive than the set from RB2. I would still prefer this set due to the realism with the raised symbols. Two: The set list is a little weak compared to the one from RB2. It still has some strong tracks, but you will go through them pretty fast. Overall, lots of fun.… Expand
  28. KevinG
    Nov 10, 2008
    8
    Despite it's flaws this is still a fun game with a pretty good soundtrack . Worth getting the game disc alone if you already have a good set of Rock Band / Guitar Hero instruments. This won't dethrone Rock Band as king of the music games but it's a worthy and close 2nd - if you can afford it get them both !!
  29. Mark
    Nov 15, 2008
    0
    If you have never played Rock Band 1 or 2 before, and you only want to play guitar by yourself, you might like this game. The game ends up being lower than the quality of even Rock Band 1, the menus are difficult to navigate, playing multiplayer is very diffucult since any band member can accidentally screw up your game. The crowd is very quiet, so you dont get a "rock star" feeling at If you have never played Rock Band 1 or 2 before, and you only want to play guitar by yourself, you might like this game. The game ends up being lower than the quality of even Rock Band 1, the menus are difficult to navigate, playing multiplayer is very diffucult since any band member can accidentally screw up your game. The crowd is very quiet, so you dont get a "rock star" feeling at all. As a whole package, the game is technically ok, but alot of small problems combine into make the game loose it's fun factor. The equipment: The drums have huge sensitivity issues, supposedly wires are breaking in the drumset because the manifacturer made them too tight. My drums broke within the first 5 hours on the orange and red pad. I actually play real drums, so I can tell you that the drumset is far less accurate than the RB2 set. It has major sensitivity issues. The guitar is fantastic. If you can put up with the lousy gameplay and want to play by yourself, you might have fun. The mike is ok. The ingame lag for the mike is not. If you have the money you could buy the GHWT guitar and use it in RB2, but I wouldn't recommend buying the game.… Expand
  30. Nathan
    Nov 2, 2008
    6
    while a fun game to play sadly it's just not rock band it has some amazing character customization features but it's just not as enjoyable to play. if it had come out a year ago Harmonix would of had a run for their money but with rock band 2 out this game feels like it's just fallen short of the mark the drums are much less responcive then they need to be and it feels like while a fun game to play sadly it's just not rock band it has some amazing character customization features but it's just not as enjoyable to play. if it had come out a year ago Harmonix would of had a run for their money but with rock band 2 out this game feels like it's just fallen short of the mark the drums are much less responcive then they need to be and it feels like red octane is throwing extra notes in just to make it harder.… Expand
  31. AnonymousFTW
    Nov 4, 2008
    6
    Good not great. As a first effort, it doesn't even compare to the first Rock Band, let alone the refined second iteration. Easier than GH3 overall, which I think is better for the group in general, but the whole HUD is confusing/counter-intuitive. Maybe that's just me, though. I'll stick to my already 200+ track RB2 library, thanks.
  32. AnonymousFTW
    Nov 4, 2008
    7
    On Guitar Hero: World Tour:
    - John Mccain could have picked a better tracklist. And he's 200 years old.
    - Barack Obama could have picked a better tracklist. And he'd CHANGE some of the gameplay flaws. - Michael J. Fox could have picked a better tracklist. Even though he'd accidentally add in the wrong songs b/c of Parkinson's, they'd still be better than    On Guitar Hero: World Tour:
    - John Mccain could have picked a better tracklist. And he's 200 years old.
    - Barack Obama could have picked a better tracklist. And he'd CHANGE some of the gameplay flaws.
    - Michael J. Fox could have picked a better tracklist. Even though he'd accidentally add in the wrong songs b/c of Parkinson's, they'd still be better than Activision's picks.
    - My dog Fluffy could have picked a better tracklist. Though I don't agree with his choice of "Who Let the Dogs Out," it would still be better than Activision's.
    - Jon Stewart could have picked a better tracklist. And spent the next 29 minutes making bad jokes. Colbert FTW!
    - Sarah Palin could have picked a better tracklist. And she can see Russia from her house!
    - Chuck Norris could have picked a better tracklist. And roundhouse-kicked Activision in the face.
    - Microsoft could have picked a better tracklist. Though "How Could This Happen to Me?" was obviously inspired by the Vista release.
    - Google could have picked a better tracklist. And streamlined the menus.
    - Ron Paul could have picked a better tracklist. But CRAZY train he'd keep. (I <3 Ron Paul)
    - Vegeta could have picked a better tracklist. And it would be OVER 9000 times better.
    - Xzibit could have picked a better tracklist. SUP DAWG. WE HEARD YOU LIKE BAD TRACK LISTS SO WE PUT GH:WT IN YO CAR SO YOU CAN BREAK YO DRUMS WHILE YOU DRIVE.
    - Harmonix could have picked a better tracklist. AND THEY DID    … Expand
  33. DariusGreen
    Dec 13, 2008
    5
    Too many similar songs as Rock Band 2, the guitar peripheral strum bar sticks and is basically unusable (what happened to quality, my first GH guitar on the PS2 still works flawlessly?), and the drum kit was hot glued together, rather than soldered. Mine, like so many others, died on me after a few hours of game play. Getting an RMA processed through Activision is enough to make you wantToo many similar songs as Rock Band 2, the guitar peripheral strum bar sticks and is basically unusable (what happened to quality, my first GH guitar on the PS2 still works flawlessly?), and the drum kit was hot glued together, rather than soldered. Mine, like so many others, died on me after a few hours of game play. Getting an RMA processed through Activision is enough to make you want to kill someone. While there are some nice features, such as the way it tracks singing and the drumming imo is much better than Rock Band (and insanely fun until the pad breaks and you have to go through the hassle of replacing it), the overall feel of the game, track list, lack of importing prior GH games, contrived character customization, and poor quality of instruments are disappointing. For $189 you could get Left 4 Dead, Gears of War 2, Dead Spce and a 1600 point card for Bionic Commando and something else.… Expand
  34. JaredB.
    Oct 26, 2008
    7
    This is a good game, but unfortunately you can't review this type of game in a bubble anymore. Rock Band 2 is the more polished and all around better game. For consumers who can only afford one band game this fall/winter, you should go with Rock Band 2. If you can afford both, this is still worth picking up. I'm having a lot of fun with it, but ultimately I have a small laundry This is a good game, but unfortunately you can't review this type of game in a bubble anymore. Rock Band 2 is the more polished and all around better game. For consumers who can only afford one band game this fall/winter, you should go with Rock Band 2. If you can afford both, this is still worth picking up. I'm having a lot of fun with it, but ultimately I have a small laundry list of nitpicks (interface problems etc.) that knock this down from a 9 or an 8.… Expand
  35. KeithW.
    Oct 26, 2008
    3
    This game is an utter disappointment. I think it has a better set list going for it than Rock Band 2 however I find the game dragged down by its presentation and gameplay. It tries to add too much to a proven formula. Myself and four of my friends bought this game at midnight from Gamestop and returned it the next morning at eleven when the store opened.
  36. GeriH.
    Oct 26, 2008
    3
    Broken drums, left-unfriendly guitar, and software completely inferior to our two previous band games. This may be good for hardcore fans of Van Halen or Tool, but our entire group was incredibly disappointed. I had to also know off a few points because of their ridiculous process for getting your hardware fixed.
  37. GarrettA.
    Oct 26, 2008
    10
    This is the best band simulation game on the market. The things that make a rhythm game good boil down to two different things. Set list and Peripherals. The songs in this game are worlds better than on Rock Band 2 and the Guitar Hero series really knows how to make peripherals. The new guitar is the best on the market. Very sturdy build, responsive buttons, very accurate and crisp strum This is the best band simulation game on the market. The things that make a rhythm game good boil down to two different things. Set list and Peripherals. The songs in this game are worlds better than on Rock Band 2 and the Guitar Hero series really knows how to make peripherals. The new guitar is the best on the market. Very sturdy build, responsive buttons, very accurate and crisp strum bar, and an amazing touch sensitive bar. Also, there is no stupid band world tour mode where you have to play the same song over and over. The story mode can be played individually or as a group, it allows you to play sets of 2 - 4 songs and skip venues that you dont want to play right now. The graphics are nice, and I cant wait to see what people will come up with when they actually start to use the music creation features.… Expand
  38. Ben
    Oct 27, 2008
    5
    The hardware is great, the setlist is great, it should be a no brainer purchase right? Wrong. The presentation is embarrassingly amateur and tries way too hard. Playlists seem to be grouped neither by style nor difficulty. Vocals seem to be added as an afterthought -- there's no noise cancellation, and singing hard 's' and 'p' sounds can cause the game to register The hardware is great, the setlist is great, it should be a no brainer purchase right? Wrong. The presentation is embarrassingly amateur and tries way too hard. Playlists seem to be grouped neither by style nor difficulty. Vocals seem to be added as an afterthought -- there's no noise cancellation, and singing hard 's' and 'p' sounds can cause the game to register you as being offkey. Many of the notecharts are boring and not fun to play, and towards the end of the game, overcharted. Like GH3, the game is sloppy in its note detection -- strum notes can be played way too early but non-strum notes can't. It's not nearly as bad as "Rock Revolution", but its definitely no Rock Band 2 either.… Expand
  39. KatL
    Oct 28, 2008
    3
    I was really hoping this was going to be a good game, since I have loved the GH franchise beginning with GH1. Unfortunately, things just have changed and not for the better. The songs seem way too easy this time around and GH is notorious for higher difficulty that other music games but not now. I was really bummed by the setlist too because have of those songs I've already played in I was really hoping this was going to be a good game, since I have loved the GH franchise beginning with GH1. Unfortunately, things just have changed and not for the better. The songs seem way too easy this time around and GH is notorious for higher difficulty that other music games but not now. I was really bummed by the setlist too because have of those songs I've already played in Rock Band 2. This is the biggest disappointment for me because I was looking for new songs to shred to. The only good thing about this game is the song editor and being able to try out other people's creations. I'm so glad I only rented this one.… Expand
  40. SamP.
    Oct 29, 2008
    3
    I figured Neversoft would at least try to make an improvement from the gigantic train wreck of a game called Guitar Hero 3. Looks like it was too much to hope for. The graphics are still just as laughably bad, the drum set that boasted being so much better than rock band's is only as good or worse, the setlist has a few jewels but overall is just as disappointing as GH3's. Put I figured Neversoft would at least try to make an improvement from the gigantic train wreck of a game called Guitar Hero 3. Looks like it was too much to hope for. The graphics are still just as laughably bad, the drum set that boasted being so much better than rock band's is only as good or worse, the setlist has a few jewels but overall is just as disappointing as GH3's. Put in this game and you'll want to go back to Guitar Hero 2 to remember why these games were even fun. Bottom line, Neversoft totally destroyed the guitar hero franchise, everything in this game is just a sad shadow of the things found in Rock Band 2, don't waste your time or money.… Expand
  41. IanH
    Feb 22, 2009
    8
    This is actually a return to form for music rhythm games. The Rock Band series should have been ideal given the hybrid of Harmonix, who orignally developed the Guitar Hero serious and EA, who have enough money in the bank to secure some decent tracks. Unfortunately, I found the gameplay and peripherals fundamentally flawed which rendered the game disappointing. Which brings me to GH:WT.This is actually a return to form for music rhythm games. The Rock Band series should have been ideal given the hybrid of Harmonix, who orignally developed the Guitar Hero serious and EA, who have enough money in the bank to secure some decent tracks. Unfortunately, I found the gameplay and peripherals fundamentally flawed which rendered the game disappointing. Which brings me to GH:WT. The basics are all in place. The drum kit is the best yet. Despite people's comments on the manufacturing of it I've had no problems. The addition of cymbals make it physically more believable than that of the RB drums. Also, in relation to Mark's earlier review (scoring the game 0), I have played drums for over 7 years and own a Roland TD-series electronic kit, so I feel right in saying that the Guitar Hero kit does a good job of emulating a real kit given the price of the package. The actual notation for the drum parts seems pretty good compared with their real life counterpart.
    The guitar feels pretty similar to other GH guitars. The fret buttons are a good size and distance apart, making playing crazy solos great fun. Again, I didn't like the Rock Band guitar because the fret buttons, although looking aesthetically pleasing, just weren't practical given how thick they were.
    The song selection isn't going to please everyone but Activision/Neversoft have had a good go at mixing genres so most gamers should find at least a few songs they like.
    Throw into the mix the GH Studio - a recording app which allows people to record their own tunes using the instruments, fine tune them on a mixer and them upload them to Xbox Live for other players to download - and you've got one great music package.    … Expand
  42. ChazD.
    Nov 16, 2008
    4
    Game itself lacked a lot of what makes Rock Band 2 a better game, having no prior "full band" titles Guitar Hero WT is entering a Rock Band owned market now, with hardly any DLC, no previous games to import into the new track listing and things missing like such as "no fail" mode which Rock Band 2 has and is great for get togethers Myself I returned the whole kit because of problems with Game itself lacked a lot of what makes Rock Band 2 a better game, having no prior "full band" titles Guitar Hero WT is entering a Rock Band owned market now, with hardly any DLC, no previous games to import into the new track listing and things missing like such as "no fail" mode which Rock Band 2 has and is great for get togethers Myself I returned the whole kit because of problems with my drums AND guitar, both were hitting notes when I didn't even touch them and the drums would also add notes after I hit the red and yellow pads, IMO this is in-excusable for a $200 purchase and already owning Rock Band 2 and its hardware there was really no reason to keep the Guitar Hero bundle, very disappointed to say the least.… Expand
  43. davidcraig
    Aug 12, 2010
    1
    Guitar Hero: World Tour was my first Guitar Hero game. At first i liked it, but in a few weeks the novelty went and i realised that all i was doing was a pressing a few buttons on a taccy plastic peripheral. And seeming as i already play the REAL guitar, it got very boring, very quickly. If you play ANY musical instrument than this probably isn't for you. A bit of a laugh with friends orGuitar Hero: World Tour was my first Guitar Hero game. At first i liked it, but in a few weeks the novelty went and i realised that all i was doing was a pressing a few buttons on a taccy plastic peripheral. And seeming as i already play the REAL guitar, it got very boring, very quickly. If you play ANY musical instrument than this probably isn't for you. A bit of a laugh with friends or at a party but in Single Player VERY DULL!!!!!! I'd give it a miss if i were you .… Expand
  44. Jobadkins
    Jul 1, 2012
    10
    Amazing in every sense.I know it's hard not to compare this to rockband 2 but come on quit complaining and trying to figure out which is better.There both very awesome and brilliant in there own ways.You have to get both games and enjoy.This game will suck hours upon hours out of your life.The replay value is off the charts and something you can pop in your 360 10 years from now just toAmazing in every sense.I know it's hard not to compare this to rockband 2 but come on quit complaining and trying to figure out which is better.There both very awesome and brilliant in there own ways.You have to get both games and enjoy.This game will suck hours upon hours out of your life.The replay value is off the charts and something you can pop in your 360 10 years from now just to try to beat your last score or get a higher rank on the leader boards.Think of this though,What does EA always do?They cut you off and remove online support to force you to buy there next game like they always do,so if your looking for longetivity then go with the Guitar hero franchise to guarantee that you can play 5-10 years online.This game is so freakin' awesome that It's 7-1-2012 and I still play this game here and there.So do you get my point.If there is just one comparison then I would say that the guitar hero games are 100% better if you play alone and The Rock band games are better when you play with friends,but that's it.I give this game a 9.9 because in my opinion GH 5 is perfection.… Expand
  45. conorbobonor
    Oct 7, 2010
    7
    Generally speaking the game is very fun to play. There is a reasonable amount of variaty in song choice and the boundle set is fun to use with friends and even if you feel like trying all the instruments. The career is very average as it gets quite boring if you have to do a gig that include songs you arnt really intrested in. If you want my advice I say play quickplay and online with yourGenerally speaking the game is very fun to play. There is a reasonable amount of variaty in song choice and the boundle set is fun to use with friends and even if you feel like trying all the instruments. The career is very average as it gets quite boring if you have to do a gig that include songs you arnt really intrested in. If you want my advice I say play quickplay and online with your friends to get the best experiance.… Expand
  46. fuyuyuki
    Sep 7, 2020
    7
    not bad, but you're not missing much if you miss out on this entry in the franchise

Awards & Rankings

18
#18 Best Xbox 360 Game of 2008
34
#34 Most Discussed Xbox 360 Game of 2008

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
85

Generally favorable reviews - based on 67 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 63 out of 67
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 67
  3. Negative: 0 out of 67
  1. IGN
    79
    A fun title, to be sure, but it's also a disappointment in a lot of respects. A number of things it tries to accomplish were already done better in Rock Band, which you might figure would have provided a simple blueprint to be followed and expanded up, but that's not the case.
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  2. 1UP
    91
    Guitar Hero delivers exactly the things I want out of a rhythm game: great peripherals and fun-to-play music. It's not perfect, but I have a great time whenever I turn it on -- and that's what's most important.
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  3. VideoGamer
    90
    Okay, so the main bulk of it is yet another rendition of a game we all know by now, but it's easily the best rendition of that game that we've seen so far. When you factor in the Music Studio and all the creative doors that it opens, it's clear that this is by far and away the best rhythm game available on the market today.
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