Another salvo in the rhythm game war was fired today with more Rock Band tracks being announced today. I was hoping that I could get away with just buying Rock Band and ignoring the third installment of Guitar Hero but after comparing the set lists, GH3 has a strong offering of tracks. Instead of listing out all the confirmed tracks, follow these links to see what they are for each game:
So looking at Rock Band, I am excited about (in no particular order):
- Cherub Rock
- Creep
- (Don't Fear) The Reaper - I really hope that have the microphone taps correspond to the cowbell in certain parts of the song.
- Enter Sandman
- Epic
- Gimme Shelter
- The Hand That Feeds
- Learning To Fly
- Paranoid
- Sabotage
- Should I Stay Or Should I Go
- Tom Sawyer
- Wanted Dead or Alive
- Won't Get Fooled Again
Sadly there is no Guns N' Roses on this set list...yet. If there would be, please please please let it be Paradise City.
Now lets look at what I am excited about for GH3:
- Barracuda - The difficulty of Crazy On You's rhythm was a surprise. I can only imagine how difficult this one will be
- Black Magic Woman
- Cherub Rock
- Cult Of Personality
- Even Flow
- La Grange
- One
- Paint It, Black
- Paranoid
- Rock You Like a Hurricane
- Sabotage
- Slow Ride
- Welcome to the Jungle
That's a mighty set list of things to look forward to. Many of the songs have been on my Guitar Hero wish list and I am excited to finally get to play them. However, this is why Guitar Hero III is on double secret probation. Harmonix is no longer developing the franchise, Neversoft is. Harmonix is/was the breeding ground for MIT and Berklee School of Music grads. Now, I can safely say that a majority of their staff are musicians. What makes the Guitar Hero franchise so great is the fun that you have while playing the song. I attribute this to the excellent level design/gem placement. At a Harmonix party that I attended, they said that this was one aspect that they spent the most time. How do you layout the gems for each level of difficulty without making it too hard and musically make the positioning make some sense. I think Harmonix has done an outstanding job with the first two Guitar Hero titles (I have yet to check out the 80s edition). So now, Neversoft, famously known for their excellent Tony Hawk series, is now tasked with designing GH3. I don't know if they have musicians helping them out with the level design or not, but I think it will show in the final product if they are worthy of the Guitar Hero franchise. If the level design is not up to par (and Welcome to the Jungle is not a blast to play), I will be closing the books on GH. It will be interesting to see how different it will be to play those songs that exist on both titles.
Neversoft, good luck. You have some big shoes to fill.
Comments
Yes, My Name is Jonas should be great, but Rock Band's 'Say It Ain't So' should be borderline epic.
At least for us Cuomosexuals out here.
And as for looking forward to certain songs.. Muse - Knights of Cydonia on GH3
Hah, same here. I bassist so well. Or I try, anyway. Unfortunately, I don't know three people who I could play with. It is an unfortunate thing.
Apparently, Rock Band is going to have career mode for lead guitar, vocalist, and drummer. They are discriminating against the bassists, damn it.