BAND HERO - A Red Octane Production

A Red Octane Production, Distributed by Activision!

An Introduction to the HERO series

BAND HERO is the latest pack to be released by Red Octane and follows in the footsteps of #Deep Breathe# Guitar Hero I, II & III, Aerosmith, World Tour, Metallica, 5 and and and and a couple of other versions i.e. GH The 80’s and Van Halen (Released in US only via download) ….. #and breathe again#! .

Key Elements to the Game

Firstly you can create your own character or you can rock out as your Avatar as in GH5, you can customise you own instruments and create your own Band logo etc. I got to admit I love seeing Icey rocking out on stage – it never ceases to amuse my tiny lickle brain!

You can play the usual four elements, Guitar, Bass, Drums and Vocals or you can have Band Play! Band play can consists of 2 to 4 players. Also as in GH5, you can have a band that consists of all four elements (4 guitars etc) which was an excellent addition to the previous game. You simply hit the gems to strum or drum a note, or hit the pitch bar in singing or not as the case may be LOL. The difficulty can be changed to suit the player from Easy to Expert – however the addition of expert + (drumming only) is missing in this game. As in GH5, you have your gigs to play with the addition of bonus challenges for each particular song – you can achieve, Gold, Platinum, or Diamond discs which also give you additional stars. In this game, for the more experienced player, the diamond discs and much easier to achieve than in GH5. The more stars you earn the more gigs you open, ending with HYPERSPHERE – a gig in outer space! Far out maannn!



If you have a set of LIPS microphones, these are compatible with the game.

How the game plays

There is 3 separate elements to the type of game you would like to play

CAREER
QUICKPLAY
COMPETITIVE

But the main emphasis for this is FUN. In previous GH’s you kind of needed to be an expert GH guitarist and a wannabe Rock God to enjoy the game to its full potential. This release is a welcome change to the usual tracks you would expect to appear on such a game – Introducing more pop-like tracks from Spice Girls, K T Tunstall, The Village People, (yes I did actually say THE VILLAGE PEOPLE) amongst other easy listening groups – however this is not the main theme to the game and it still has what I would describe as “soft rock” tracks as opposed to “Trash Metal”. Please note singing Wannabe by the Spice Girls is not as easy as you may think – Zig-a-Zig ahhhhh indeed!

A new element to this game is a Karoke Style way to sing. Anyone can join the game by picking up a mic, shaking it and the words pop up on the bottom of the screen. Great for any party.

The menus are easy to access, easy to understand and follow – great for a new gamer to this genre. and anyone with the attention span of a knat.

Example of one of the tracks ...



Yes Icey has 100% this on Expert *smug mode*


Who is the game marketed for?

As previously mentioned the emphasis of this game is fun and it would be a great game for people who want an introduction into the music games out there currently on the market. The game looks very “glittery” with the usual elements of fireworks and excellent stage settings. I put the game to the test and asked my daughter, an occasional gamer of about 3 months to play and give me her feedback. ……… *Icey enters interviewer mode*....
“Sooooo Spenney after letting you play the game ON MY CONSOLE for all of 10 mins, what is your initial reaction???” ……
I have previously dipped my toes into the Guitar Hero World and as a complete nOOb (apparently that is the correct term!) I found the games fun but too “Big” and I found myself not really knowing what I was doing – However after playing Band Hero briefly I found this is more my type of game, easy to understand and I would actually buy this version – I am a LIPS fan and me and my friends love to party – BAND HERO would be a definite for us – Loving it! (gamertag SPENNEY)
“Thanks for that Spenney, now step away from my guitar and console you may leave …..” hehe Oooo the power of parenthood!

I envisage that hardened GH gamers will find this game all too easy and would question the longevity of the game, thus possibly giving the game some bad press, wrongly in my opinion.

Online gaming (Competitive Mode)

Modes to be played are:-

Pro-Face Off
Rockfest
Team Pro-Face Off
Team Rockfest
8 Player band (4 –v- 4)

This is my only negative feedback for this game. The actually actions of getting online are really simple and works – however finding someone waiting to play in the lobbies is very sketchy and frustrating, and to get an 8-player band –v- band seems impossible. This could possibly be for two reasons:

1. The game take-up has not been great as the usually hardcore GH fans would not possibly not buy this game or,
2. The theme of the game is more about the fun and possible aimed at new gamers, who maybe wont use the Online competitive mode.

I have been successful in finding a couple of players to “Pro-Face Off” but I have tried and better tried to get into matches in other competitive modes …… but all I got was …….. tumbleweed moment, falls asleep and wakes up an hour later and the damn game is still searching ……….. =( However, a good side to the game is that any of your previous DLC on GH automatically transfers over without having to input any codes and re-download tracks.

Achievements

Easy pickings for cheevy chasers or good players of the GH genre, including one achievement for a massive 490gs for finding all the secret notes on 19 of the songs. SMUG MODE I already have this one =P – I could tell you what they are but I wont put any spoilers in the review …. No I wont, and you cant make me ….but for a small price I may be persuaded LOL . !!!!


Ratings

Graphics 10 (I’m a sucker for all things bright colourful and Ooooooo)
Sound 9 (Playing the game through my Turtle Beaches – NICE!)
Gameplay 9 (Fluent, and attention grabbing)
Longevity 7 (Eh? Am I finished it already?)
Fun 10 (Ooodles of family fun & individual gamer satisfaction)

Overall = 9 /10

Thank you for reading my review – your comments would be welcome …

Excellent review Icey. In fact I think the interview part deserves a big thumbs up. Something i haven't ever seen in a review before. The fact it also akes me want to look at this game now is another big thing. I have been considering Beatles RB for the xmas parties but this may just suit the other half of the group that aren't fussed on the Beatles or heavier RB tracks.

I also want to get Lips now as well. Curse you making me want to spend money.

great review Icey. i love these music games

Well done Icey excellent review, I really like the way you've laid it out and spent so much time on the presentation.

I agree with Bob regarding the interview aswell, it gives us all food for thought with regards to improving our reviews for the general betterment of the forum.

Thank you for your feedback guys - much appreciated, and thanks to Simon and Kent for their support. I dont think it was a bad go for my first attempt

What can I say I'm a sucker for anything that comes with a plastic guitar LOL

Plus ....... sorry Bob - get yr money out and give it a whirl - Band Hero > RB Beatles anyday

Cheers again

Great review Icey...

Might pick it up eventually if i see it going cheap, i've bought too many games recently as it is.

And i'm off to get MW2 and RB2 tomorrow.

Nice review Icey, I'm still leaning towards GH5 for my musical needs though.

Good review Icey!!!! Two Thumbs fresh

A great review!
I am so glad you have joined the review team for some female input and cool presentation skills.

When I saw this advertised, I turns to the Mrs and I says: "World Tour Lite. Look at the box, it's for families and Childrens, that." and it would appear that I am, once again, spot on.

As an interesting aside, I was going to go to TOWN on this little gem:

"I am a LIPS fan and me and my friends love to party"

...but I decided no, that would be massively inappropriate. Well done me.

monders wrote:When I saw this advertised, I turns to the Mrs and I says: "World Tour Lite. Look at the box, it's for families and Childrens, that." and it would appear that I am, once again, spot on.

As an interesting aside, I was going to go to TOWN on this little gem:

"I am a LIPS fan and me and my friends love to party"

...but I decided no, that would be massively inappropriate. Well done me.

Dont go there Monders LOL they would eat you alive

*mummmph gnnnghr hag fbllld*

(my lips are sealed)

Monders keeps up his 100% record of only writing something negative or moaning

Great review. Am actually enjoying this more than I thought. It does help that I have harvested more G from it than all the other Guitar Hero games I have played put together