We were recently thrilled to hear that Activision would be giving the Guitar Hero franchise an encore and a fresh new look with the brand new title of Guitar Hero Live – and now the reunion tour has a start date of October 20th.
A starter kit will offer the Guitar Hero Live game itself and the newly redesigned guitar controller which resets the buttons in a more natural layout which is easier to get to grips with and is designed to be more in tune with what playing an actual guitar should feel like (no more finger strain, we hope). Earlier versions of the Guitar Hero controller will not be compatible with the new game.
As the name hints Guitar Hero Live focuses on the live performance aspect as well as the shredding skills, and the previous cartoony-ness has been replaced by a more serious tone, with realistic and interactive band and crowd footage. The audience will let you know for real if your performance blows and if your showmanship sucks they’ll really let you have it and your band can turn against you too.
And let’s not forget the superb cross-generational / cross-genre soundtrack which is shaping up to be the best line-up in Guitar Hero history, with rock, metal and grunge artists including The Rolling Stones, Judas Priest, Alice in Chains, Rage Against the Machine, Green Day, Foo Fighters, A Day to Remember and even Skrillex and Ed Sheeran thrown into the mix.
If that’s not enough, Activision will also be launching GHTV Premium which will allow wannabe rock-stars to choose from a vast library of playable music videos. A Guitar Hero Live companion mobile app is also expected to arrive sometime around the game’s release.
Guitar Hero Live will be released in October and should prove much safer than playing on an actual stage (get well soon Dave Grohl!)