Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock

Over the past four years we have been inundated with full-fledged parts and spin-offs of Guitar Hero. Where the series started out as a real stage for hard rock and metal music, after a few parts it seemed to have lost its way and went more and more into the mainstream. Fans from the beginning have been complaining for that reason for a while and Activision seems to have heeded that plea, because with Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock they promise to bring back the old rock gods and bring the series back to its roots. . However, will the game deliver on that promise?

Let rock live its days again!

At least it starts off well in the game. In a metal-like style it is made clear to you that the ‘Demigod of Rock’ is locked up by an evil mechanical beast, who is a personification of the commercial pop industry. This evil creature is simply called ‘Beast’. You are then summoned to assemble an entire team of Warriors of Rock in Quest Mode, who must work together to acquire a legendary guitar that will ultimately allow the Demigod of Rock to defeat the beast and revive true rock. However, these Warriors of Rock are a bunch of bums in the beginning, who haven’t seen the true light of rock yet.

In order to lead them on the right path, you will have to complete a number of songs with each rocker, after which they are transformed into true rock warriors. To give each rocker their own style, Harmonix has also given them all special powers, such as a higher multiplier, or that notes are worth much more at the beginning. All these powers are also enhanced when you transform into a rock warrior, after which you will eventually combine them in two big boss fights to give the true music a soul and audience again. And if you take a quick look at the tracklist for Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, it becomes clear that Harmonix also gives us real music.

Finally some real music on a real toy guitar

And not just a little, but even more than 90 songs with real music, without screaming Justin Bieber in between. Hard rock, classic rock, blues rock, metal, alternative, you name it all. The songs therefore cover a wide range of the music genre, which will appeal to one person and another who listens more to hits on the radio, a little less. So at this point, Harmonix has certainly succeeded with its promise to return to the roots of the series and give its early fans a game to rock back to. And that you can finally shred again on the many classics is a good thing, because this sixth, full-fledged movement contains a new guitar.

The sturdy appearance raises the appearance of the plastic guitar to higher heights, but the new guitar is also more functional. The batteries are now nicely tucked away in the neck of the guitar. In addition, the guitar can now also be largely disassembled, so that you can customize the guitar to your own liking. But that’s not all, the somewhat annoying touchpad has also disappeared, as few players found it necessary to place their hands a bit down during gameplay. However, the improvement in the appearance of the guitar and its functionality does bring up a painful flaw, which Activision has made up for itself.

Is there still room for innovation in gameplay?

The fact that Activision has showered us with Guitar Hero games over the past four years has perfected the gameplay so much that many will question why another fifty bucks should be put down for in fact just the addition of new songs. Harmonix has tried to heal this sore wound somewhat, pushing each track to its limits through challenges in the so-called ‘Quickplay+’ mode. I might be a bit cynical about this, but the fact is that it really manages to increase the replay value of the game and especially the numbers.

Where previously you only had the goal to achieve the highest score for a song, you can now also think of challenges in which you have to hit a certain number of chords, or a number of notes of the solo in a song. By achieving stars in a number, which you also obtain by completing challenges, you also unlock all kinds of items. You can think of new guitars or accessories. You can of course also go all out competitively, both online and offline. Nevertheless, it must be known that Quickplay was already included in Guitar Hero 5 and that, although there is an import function of songs from previous parts, the game could not actually be considered a fully-fledged new part.

Conclusion

To take stock of the aforementioned points, it has become clear that although Activision has made a generous gesture to fans with Warriors of Rock, there is still a shadow of fluency and milked cows about this gesture. The stretch is now out of the Guitar Hero fanatics, who don’t want to be thrown to death every year by several parts. However, Activision promises to go on the right path and therefore sees this part as a closing piece of that period. In any case, Activision has fulfilled one promise, Warriors of Rock brings rock back to life and brings the series back to its roots. Maybe Activision can deliver on that other promise…