"Guitar Hero World Tour" VS. "Rock Band"

Rockband v Guitar Hero World Tour- A Comparison

By Steve Heller

So here we are. Rockband has FINALLY hit our shores, just in time for the next iteration of the Guitar Hero franchise, which is also sporting a drumkit and microphone. I know many of you are asking the question, “which one do I choose?”, and while most will simply go with the Guitar Hero option because of the name, I’m hoping this comparison piece will help you make the right decision.

Show Me The Money!!!

First hit is the price of the kits. Rockband is selling on average for a cost of $232 and includes One Guitar, One Microphone, One Drum Kit, USB Hub and the Game itself. Guitar Hero World Tour is selling on average for $278 and includes One Guitar, One Microphone, One Drum Kit and the Game itself. For those who are on a budget Rockband is the cheaper alternative, I would also like to point out that all the Rockband gear works fine on GHWT and vice versa.

It’s All About The Gear

This is where people start to fight. “No way man Guitar Hero is better, Rockband drums don’t even have cymbals” or “Rockband is better, the drums for World Tour don’t even register properly” Well here I hope to put some arguments to rest, as both games have high quality gear. I play in a real band, I play real guitar and real drums and I'm going to say which offers a more “authentic” experience.

GUITARS: RB guitar is a little bigger than GHWT. The buttons are a little bigger also which I find make it easier to play those power chords as I can let my fingers stretch a little just like on a real guitar. The whammy is nice and there is a tone switch which makes your solos sound different with a variety effects such as "wah wah", "flange", "echo" etc. Further down the neck is another set of keys which are meant to be “solo” keys, but they can be used whenever you like. The strum bar is silent, so we can finally say goodbye to the click-click from our GH days, but I don’t think it is as responsive as the GH controller, which can be frustrating on the harder difficulties. Also activating “star power” is near impossible by lifting the guitar as it doesn’t seem to register very easily. A real downside is the guitar is not wireless.

GHWT guitar is wireless and feels exactly the same as the previous, which isn’t a bad thing. Further down the neck is a touch sensitive slide bar which is used in a number of songs, mainly for crazy insane solos. It’s good fun and much more useful than RB’s solo keys.

For authenticity I would chose RBs guitar. While it’s not as responsive as GHWTs controller, it feels like playing a real Fender strat. GHWT still feels like playing a mini guitar, but it is far more responsive, and it’s wireless

MICROPHONES: Microphones work exactly the same. Both are responsive and it wouldn’t matter which game’s microphone you were bashing out the lyrics on

DRUMS: RB drums have four coloured pads and bass pedal. Setup take approx 5-10 minutes and is easy to put together. It’s a rather solid kit, has some weight and doesn’t feel like it’s going anywhere. The bass pedal is hooked onto a bar at the bottom of the kit so it doesn’t slide across the floor, which is handy when playing on floorboards or a similar surface. Hitting the pad is solid but is rather noisy. Parents or girlfriends will likely get annoyed when hearing those pads from the next room being tapped at late hours in the evening or early hours of the morning.

GHWT drums feature three pads and two cymbals to be bashing along too. Set-up is rather similar, but this kit is wireless unlike RBs. The bass pedal feels a little more solid, but I’m not worried about breaking the RB one either. Sensitivity issues are certainly there, especially on the cymbals. The pads and cymbals are a soft rubber and barely make any noise at all when being hit, but I feel the kit isn’t as sturdy as the RB one.

For authenticity I would choose the GHWT set. While playing on the RB set is great, and in some songs it even feels more like the real thing, having the cymbals there creates more of a feeling of a real kit. IF RB released a cymbal expansion though, it would be a different story, regardless of the noisy pads. Both have shortcomings, and I personally don’t think one experience is better than another in the games

Playtime’s Over!

So it all comes down to the gameplay. Rockband features 67 tracks on the disc from a majority of genres and decades. Rockband goes for a realistic approach when watching the band perform, and with some great angles and awesome camera effects even if you are just watching your mates play, you will still be entertained. Noteboards are clean and make it easy to see what is coming up.

GHWT boasts 86 tracks on the disc from a majority of bands and genres. While RB tends to have some obscure indie rock acts, GHWT plays it safe by sticking mainly to the mainstream. GHWT keeps it’s wacky cartoonish graphics and characters. Noteboards are stylized with drawings and the likes, and could cause some confusion for inexperienced players. Presentation wise it looks a bit better than RB, but GHWT is littered with BLATANT advertising for KFC and AT&T which to be quite frank is really annoying.

Both feature DLC but with Rockband already being out for a whole year and having a giant library of songs. You won’t be running out of songs any time soon with either song.

In Conclusion

It all comes down to what sort of experience you want. Rockband offers more a fun experience that concentrates on the music, the equipment is great and personally I prefer the drums, they are solid and I’m not scared I’m going to break them if I go into a drum roll a little bit heavy.

Guitar Hero World Tour offers more of the same and is more about competitive play. If you can get past the blatant advertising for non gaming products, and you are all for hardcore difficulty then I’d say World Tour is the safe option for you