2008 Woodie Awards
Rock Band vs. Guitar Hero
Battle of the Bands Goes Digital
Ivan Garcia
Issue date: 2/19/08 Section: Entertainment
Do not listen to the pessimists. Rock Band is NOT a Guitar Hero rip-off. Harmonix, the co-creator of the Guitar Hero series, decided to move on from its axe-wailing roots to create an entirely new game that has yet to be matched by any other game of the music/rhythm genre.
Even though Guitar Hero has set the standard in the past as being the "fun-filled Thursday night with friends," a new contender has stepped up to the plate to overthrow the guitar-wailing party series that has pulled the wallet strings of the most penny-pinching gamers. But the question being posed is: Which game deserves your attention and money?
The defining factor that both games share: musical variety. Spanning multiple eras and genres, both games will entice the musically savvy with a plethora of options from Iron Maiden and Metallica's hardcore classics, to modern rock anthems from Fall Out Boy and Weezer.
Both games contain master recordings for half of their songs, so feel free to finally remove the ear plugs if the previous Guitar Hero covers made you cringe with audible discomfort. With Rock Band containing 58+ tracks out of the box and Guitar Hero sporting 71+ tracks, you would think that the latter would be the victor when it comes to variety. But with downloadable songs every week, both games have the potential to be on top when it comes to variety.
With a character creation feature, Rock Band players have a chance to rock out with their very own personalized avatar that excels at one particular role in the band.
Which means, that while Guitar Hero players are limited to wailing on the guitar, Rock Band players have the freedom to choose a responsibility within the band: guitar, bass, drums, and (my personal favorite) vocals.
There is so much substance to both games that make them great. But if there had to be one, I'd recommend Rock Band to anyone that could afford its hefty price tag (about $170 compared to Guitar Hero's $90).
With the variety and varying difficulties of each instrument, Rock Band offers a multitude of possibilities with every new song pack that becomes available. While I respect both series, I would easily recommend Rock Band to anyone with a pseudo-dream of super rock stardom.
Even though Guitar Hero has set the standard in the past as being the "fun-filled Thursday night with friends," a new contender has stepped up to the plate to overthrow the guitar-wailing party series that has pulled the wallet strings of the most penny-pinching gamers. But the question being posed is: Which game deserves your attention and money?
The defining factor that both games share: musical variety. Spanning multiple eras and genres, both games will entice the musically savvy with a plethora of options from Iron Maiden and Metallica's hardcore classics, to modern rock anthems from Fall Out Boy and Weezer.
Both games contain master recordings for half of their songs, so feel free to finally remove the ear plugs if the previous Guitar Hero covers made you cringe with audible discomfort. With Rock Band containing 58+ tracks out of the box and Guitar Hero sporting 71+ tracks, you would think that the latter would be the victor when it comes to variety. But with downloadable songs every week, both games have the potential to be on top when it comes to variety.
With a character creation feature, Rock Band players have a chance to rock out with their very own personalized avatar that excels at one particular role in the band.
Which means, that while Guitar Hero players are limited to wailing on the guitar, Rock Band players have the freedom to choose a responsibility within the band: guitar, bass, drums, and (my personal favorite) vocals.
There is so much substance to both games that make them great. But if there had to be one, I'd recommend Rock Band to anyone that could afford its hefty price tag (about $170 compared to Guitar Hero's $90).
With the variety and varying difficulties of each instrument, Rock Band offers a multitude of possibilities with every new song pack that becomes available. While I respect both series, I would easily recommend Rock Band to anyone with a pseudo-dream of super rock stardom.
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