Why one-upping "Rock Band" is probably enough for "Guitar Hero: World Tour"

When Activision officially announced "Guitar Hero: World Tour" last week, I'll admit I had nothing to say. As regular Cut Scene readers know, I previously confirmed that the game would have a full suite of instruments just like "Rock Band." Weighing in on the exact details of the controllers of the release date and what not didn't seem too relevant.

But after reading the "world exclusive" (not "galaxy exclusive?") Game Informer story and the blog coverage and press releases and everything, I'm struck by what a great position Neversoft is in. They've basically gotten to analyze what was lacking in "Guitar Hero 3" and "Rock Band," fix all those problems, and copy everything else. With the notable exception of the song creator, it seems that's what "Guitar Hero World Tour" basically is.

(Tangent: Is "Guitar Hero" officially off of using numbers now? Or will this be like "GTA: San Andreas" and "Vice City" and we'll see a "Guitar Hero IV" in a few years?)

I mean, think about it. We've got the same basic setup as "Rock Band," but with a cooler drum kit and guitars. We've got the exact same interface as "Rock Band," because hell, that worked well. We've got band vs. band, which is something many of us felt was lacking in "Rock Band." In Game Informer, the Neversoft interviewee (I don't have the article in front of me right now) promises you won't have to play the same song over and over to beat band world tour, which was obviously a fault of "Rock Band's." You've got Activision promising to finally really have a big selection of downloadable songs, a category where it trailed behind MTV. You've got much more detailed and realistic visuals (such as the one at left) like those in "Rock Band," which were far superior to the cartoonish caricatures in "Guitar Hero III."

They even appear, based on the GameStop listings, to be selling separate instrument kits, something else "Rock Band" was lacking at launch. Of course this won't do much for those of us with "Rock Band," since I highly doubt those controllers will interoperate, but at least those who own an older "Guitar Hero" guitar and aren't ready to dish out the dough to upgrade will have an option.

Obviously Neversoft has to execute on all these fronts. But if it does, it'll basically be the best of "Guitar Hero" combined with the best of "Rock Band," plus fixes for the problems both games had. Plus one true innovation in the form of the song creator.

That's not exactly a big step forward. But on the other hand, if there isn't a new version of "Rock Band" that raises the stakes, I don't see how why anyone interested in a music game wouldn't buy "World Tour." Even if a lot of it is ripped off of "Rock Band," it'll be superior (probably) and that's what matters, right? I guess the question is when and whether MTV is going to step up with "Rock Band 2." It's getting pretty late to come up with something for the holiday season. If it doesn't (which would be understandable given how rushed the first "Rock Band" was), then Christmas 2008 is really going to belong to Activision.