A great first attempt at bringing the full band experience to the Guitar Hero series.
Visually, the game is far better looking than Rock Band or Rock Band 2, but that's not saying much. It's a slight upgrade from Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. I never notice any frame-rate drops, glitches or pop-in, but it would be sad if this game had them, as it doesn't come anywhere near close to pushing the system's limits.
The sundwork is a place where this series should shine, and it probably will for most of you. The sound clarity itself is great, with the exception of the music studio which for some reason sounds horrible. All of the tracks in the game are master recordings, a very much appreciated upgrade that truly makes a difference in a game like this. The soundtrack is disappointing for me. First of all, while it is bigger than the one in Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, it pales in comparison to Rock Band's massive track list. Second of all there's some very questionable choices like Michael Jackson. Lastly, I listen almost excusively to metal, where I would have had the most fun by far and this track list is really lacking in that department. Rock Band doesn't have the largest amount of Metal tracks either and I realize it's because it isn't popular but this is just pathetic. The songs I enjoyed playing were "Assassin" by Muse, "Crazy Train" by Ozzy Osbourne, "Everlong" by Foo Fighters, "Hot For Teacher" by Van Halen, "Hotel California" by The Eagles, "Love Me Two Times" by The Doors, "Mr. Crowley" by Ozzy Osbourne, Overkill by Motörhead, "Purple Haze" by Jimi Hendrix, "Trapped Under Ice" by Metallica, and "The Wind Cries Mary" by Jimi Hendrix. I absolutely detested the rest of the songs and avoided them as best I could, but you're forced to play them in career mode.
The instruemnts themselves are far better than Rock Band's. The guitar is awesome, the best fake guitar available for these kinds of games without a doubt. The drums are again, far superior to that of any others ina music/rythm game. They are very sturdy, have cool cymbals, and are somewhat quieter than Rock Band's but not by much. The kareoke part, well that all depends on who's singing.
The gameplay hasn't changed much if you've played Rock Band, just more polished. Take Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, make the guitar parts a fair amount easier, add in drums and kareoke and you've got Guitar Hero: World Tour. The character customization is fantastic, way more detailed than you would ever need it to be. The same goes for the awesome guitar, bass, drums, and michrophone customization. The music studio, which was tied with the drums as my most hyped addition to Guitar Hero: World Tour, was a bitter disappointment. The sound quality is horrible, and the program itself is extremely restrive in terms of what ti will let you do, I got very frustrated with it because it only let me make fairly simple and boring songs. The menus are a bit sloppy and confusing sometimes, but other than that the game works pretty seamlessly and is a lot of fun as long as you're playing with friends on a song you don't hate.
So there you have it, a great multiplayer rythm/music game that is quite a bit of fun if you give it the chance. Some features need polishing but in the end it's a more than solid product. I highly recommned it if you have the cash and enjoy rythm/music games.