First, a small announcement: Johnny Cash will be appearing in Guitar Hero 5 as a playable character.
And now for a bigger announcement. Guitar Hero 5 will be the first in the franchise to feature forward compatibility of songs from past games. On PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii, some of the disc-based songs from Guitar Hero World Tour and Smash Hits will be importable, for a fee, to work with Guitar Hero 5 and the upcoming Band Hero. What's more, currently 152 out of 158 Guitar Hero World Tour downloadable tracks will automatically work with Guitar Hero 5. All of the songs you import will be upgraded to work with the new Guitar Hero 5 features, such as band moments and vocal star power.
Tim Riley, head of music licensing at Activision, had this to say about importing songs
"It's something we've wanted to do for a while now. They are separate licenses, so we need to go back and re-license previous content. So, songs from World Tour, songs from the download space, songs from Smash Hits that will technically work in Guitar Hero 5 and Band Hero had to be renegotiated...We didn't want to do it for a couple songs. We wanted to do it for a couple hundred songs. So we have a lot cleared and we're in the process of clearing a lot more."When asked if licenses being negotiated for Guitar Hero 5 and future games would work from here on out, Riley responded, "I wish there was an easy answer, but that's the idea."
Check back with IGN Monday morning for the complete details on how importing songs into Guitar Hero 5 will work.
Of course, these new features are all just the supporting act. The music, and you playing it, is the main attraction. As we've previously written, Neversoft has taken pains to make Guitar Hero 5 much more accessible. Let's be frank. Just trying to hook up the full band kit, log in to your profiles, and start playing was a huge pain in the old behind in World Tour. With the new Party Play mode, which allows anybody to simply pick up a controller and start playing even in the midst of a song, the party at your house won't have to stop while people fiddle with controllers.
It's easy to overlook Party Play as a small addition, but this is something family friendly games like these have been in desperate need of. Simply grab a controller and you're in the game. If everyone quits, the game will just go back to playing through your songs. With your downloadable tracks and other imported tunes from past Guitar Hero games, that will make for one hefty jukebox.
Making everything even more friendly is the option to play with any combination of instruments you want. Getting stuck playing the bass always sucks and it is usually left to the least skilled person. That's hardly the way to get a friend interested in playing with you. Guitar Hero 5 lets you play with four drums or four guitars, or any combination of four you can think of. I took part in a little guitar army and it's just as fun as it sounds. For maximum hilarity, try playing four guitars on Stevie Wonder's "Superstition." That song doesn't actually have a guitar part, so you'll have four people rocking out to some horns on plastic guitars. It's a goofy picture, but fun nonetheless.
If you're one of the more hardcore Guitar Hero players, there are new additions to the game for you too. Song challenges -- specific bonus challenges for each song that can be completed to unlock extras – will keep you coming back for repeat performances. The new multiplayer modes are sure to keep things interesting online for some time.
Up to 8 players can take part in these new competitive modes online. There's Do or Die, a game where you can strike out by missing three notes. Make it through the section without doing so and you'll get a point. Perfectionist awards points to the player who completes a section with the highest percentage of correct notes. Naturally, playing on a lower difficulty will make things a bit easier. Of course, then you have to deal with your friends mocking you. Streakers is a mode where points are awarded for putting together long strings of correct notes.
My favorite new mode is called Momentum. This is a game where the difficulty changes based on how well you're playing. Hit enough notes in a row and you'll move up the difficulty chart. Miss a few and you'll be bumped down.
The base gameplay of Guitar Hero hasn't seen any drastic changes. Think of this sequel as the refinement that the franchise really needed. It's streamlined and easier to get into since the days of Guitar Hero being a guitar-only game. Look for it in stores September 1.