AwesomeTown on Tour
Since the arrival of Guitar Hero 2 for the 360 last night, my band, “AwesomeTown,” is back on tour. Unfortunately we’re down a bass player since I’ve only got the one controller, but I expect to do some “recruiting” shortly.
The 360 game basically boils down to a better version of the PS2 version: improved graphics, extra songs (and an improved track-ordering), achievements and – and this is what really sold me – impending downloadable tracks. The new guitar takes a little getting used to and doesn’t hang quite as well as the original, but I’m curious about the potential for an effects pedal peripheral.
With GH2′s release, Harmonix announced their next game “Rock Band“: Guitar Hero + Drums + Vocals. “Rock Band… er bands” have already started to form, but I’m not entirely sold on the idea yet. “Vocals” suggests to me Karaoke Revolution. It’s not a bad game on its own merits, but where one of the biggest draws of Guitar Hero is that it can take someone who doesn’t know a thing about the guitar and make them sound like Jimmy Page, if you suck at singing you still sound like crap when you play Karaoke Revolution. A decent drum peripheral also seems hard to pull off at a reasonable price point, leaving one with guitar and bass, both of which Guitar Hero 2 already covers admirably.
On the other hand, Harmonix has a pretty solid track record as far as music games go, so I’m hoping to be pleasantly surprised.