Activision's latest Wii music game is a technical powerhouse, and a great overall package
User Rating: 9 | Guitar Hero World Tour WII
Guitar Hero World Tour is bound to be an interesting case as players start to play it, compare it with Rock Band on each of the respective systems, and develop their own opinions on the game overall, and you can already see the change in perception across each platform in our own overall scores. On 360 and PS3, Guitar Hero just doesn't hang in there with Rock Band 2 like we thought it would, but when it comes to the Wii battlefield, Activision's offering is not only the strongest music game on the system, but also the biggest technical achievement we've seen on Nintendo's system software-wise since launch. Players can connect and stay connected to online from the game's initial boot, download and pull music directly from SD card with no fridge-cleaning or player legwork needed, and the overall sense of connectivity from player to player, player to the music store, or player to the Guitar Hero community where free community-made DLC is readily available is unprecedented on Wii. Vicarious Visions has taken a package that admittedly has a bit of an identity crisis in its first "full band" year, and turned it into a game where we can overlook any odd issues for this first year in favor of amazing connectivity, and a fully streamlined package. There's more in the Wii version of the game than even the 360/PS3 packages and when you weigh each version against its own system's merits, and the competition found on that specific console, Guitar Hero sits at the top of Wii as a great overall offering. Yes, there are issues, and the game is obviously pushing the Wii as far as it can go but the payoff is a game that includes a mass of content that's well worth a look.
If you own a PS3 or 360 in addition to Wii, you might want to weigh your options when considering Rock Band 2 or World Tour, or a combination of both for hardware/software. If you're a Wii-only gamer though, World Tour owns the system, and we've rated it accordingly. World Tour raises the bar for what Wii games do both in connectivity and in data management. Oh, and there's a pretty kick-ass music game in there too.
Presentation: World Tour's overall design isn't as strong as it could be. The newer "band" elements all feel a bit tacked on, with character creation, band options, and on-screen interface. Needs work 7/10
Graphics: Still PS2-like overall. No major change from Guitar Hero III visually. Some frame issues with four players 7/10
Sound: There's some great music in here but we could use more crowd and bass/drums audio next time around. Over 80 tracks is a huge achievement on Wii. 8/10
Gameplay: The hardware rocks, drum parts are fun, the game is harder than Rock Band overall, tons of modes, online, and intuitive connectivity for Wii users. Music creator could be more intuitive 8.5/10
Lasting Appeal: You've got online, a full music-creation community, an exclusive Mii Freestyle mode, automatic SD card transfer for a true DLC experience, and a massive amount of modes. This is a huge package 9.5/10
Overall: 9/10
My Verdict: Buy It :)
