Once bitten, twice shy...so if you've been bitten twice, are you three or four times shy?

[loopychew]

You know--is the pattern +1, or x2? Either way, it's kind of crazy.

The GH franchise is basically like that friend you've had since forever that kind of had an "episode" a while back and hasn't been the same since. (In this case, obviously, acquisition by NVS.) GH3 was fun enough, and I had a good amount of fun with it. I enjoyed the spots of GH: Aerosmith I played, although I could never be bothered to pay full price for it (maybe when someone sells it for $20). Anyone who hasn't read my impressions of GH:World Tour should be prepared for screens of text. I haven't played it since, and I don't feel any remorse for not doing so, despite "No Rain" on my hard drive begging to be played over and over again.

The point I'm trying to make here is, ever since Neversoft took over, the GH console iterations have actually gone progressively downhill in my eyes. I've been bitten pretty hard, particularly by World Tour, and I was about to leave them.

Then I saw this trailer.

Honestly, I'm not a huge Metallica fan, and I wonder if this is the coked-out buddy on his knees at my doorstep at 4AM begging me to let him in, he can change, here look at this thing he did that proves it just give him one more chance pleeeeeeease! But the thing is, with a simple gesture--the life bars on the side of the note charts--GH is making me look at it again.

I'm not going into the track list, because 1) the track list organization is still the same as before (not so bad in a track list of under 60) and 2) I'm not a metal guy. However, the game looks that much more playable now. There are still a few interface questions I have (is that a band multiplier now?), and it's now significantly more obvious that they're ripping cues off of Rock Band (what with the five-star counter and progress meter and--again--is that a band multiplier?), but if that's what it takes to make the Guitar Hero franchise competitive again, I'm all for it. And if they manage to properly pack enough bonus material on there to justify a separate game as they're promising, it could be totally worth it.

I really, REALLY want to believe. I love HMX and Rock Band, and I'm a firm believer that Guitar Hero is a shadow of its former self as it is right now. But if they've managed to adjust the attitude and start being friendlier to the player, then I'm willing to forgive it.

Comments

[lurkerdrome.livejournal.com]

Having only just now read your GHWT post, I have to say that I disagree heavily with your opinions on the game. I do see how some of the things you touch upon could be seen as annoying, even deal-breaking, but personally I'm far more appreciative of GHWT. I don't find the interface nearly as obnoxious as you do, and while I agree that some of the animations are a little overused, this is more than mitigated, in my eyes, with some of the better animations--the ones that are TOO good, the ones that nearly make you miss notes because you're just staring at the background. (In particular, Hendrix's performances, and Zakk Wylde performing Stillborn.)

Did you ever bother going far enough in the game to get to the Times Square venue? It's VERY well-done, IMHO, as is the bonus Asgard venue. My Final Fantasy-themed guitarist fit in VERY nicely on that venue.

My major problems with GHWT lie in the setlist. There's far too much emo shit in the game, quite frankly, and a couple of songs just made me go WTF at their inclusion. Also, there are some songs which are just WAY TOO GODDAMN LONG (Stranglehold, Spiderwebs). Also, some songs are insultingly easy, while other songs are obnoxiously hard (Hot For Teacher). Also, the game suffers from overproduction, IMHO. I went to GHWT straight from GH1, and I appreciated GH1's down-and-dirty, straightforward presentation. GHWT has too many bells and whistles in the interface, and does away with some of the things I enjoyed most (like the score results screen--I loved GH1's "newspaper review" results screen).

But anyway, that's just my take on it. I personally love GHWT, despite its flaws. There isn't a game in the world that doesn't have its flaws, after all.

Incidentally, I've seen GH:Aerosmith at Amazon for $20.

[loopychew.livejournal.com]

I did see the Times Square venue during quickplay, but the one thing I noticed was that the band banner was, again, that strange sans serif font that felt kind of appalling to me.

I paid good money for GHWT, so I'll probably put it back in again sometime and continue working my way through the tour.

Again, though, GH:M looks to resolve many of the deal-breakers in my eyes, so I'm actually kind of looking forward to it.

I kind of find it amusing that the things I liked about GHWT are the things you didn't, and vice-versa. :-P

You're playing on the Wii, right? I suppose that means I won't be able to jam with you anytime soon. :-(

[lurkerdrome.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've got the Wii version, since it's the only current-gen console I own. :) A lot of people rip on the Wii version mercilessly, but I like it (though I could do without the "need a Wiimote for EVERY INSTRUMENT" thing--I only have the one guitar, but if I pick up a USB mic at any point, it means I can't do double duty on guitar and vocals, because I only own one Wiimote. -_-#)

I'm not a huge Metallica fan, but I may check out GH:M at some point (when it goes bargain-bin, for example). The very NOTION of Expert+ is enough to send me screaming in terror. @_@;;