Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock

Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, previously referred to as Guitar Hero 6, is an upcoming rhythm music video game and the sixth main entry in the Guitar Hero series. The game is expected to be released September 28, 2010 for the PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360 consoles. Due to significant issues with poor sales of rhythm games in 2009, Activision, Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock's publisher, has since dissolved RedOctane and Neversoft's Guitar Hero division; however, Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock represents the last game in the series to be developed by Neversoft prior to the dissolution. Vicarious Visions developed the Wii port of the game which utilizes additional Nintendo DS functionality, though at present there is no stand-alone DS version of the game.

Gameplay

 * See also: Common gameplay elements in the Guitar Hero series

As with previous games in the series, Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock will let up to four people play in a band on vocals, lead and bass/rhythm guitar, and drums, to successfully match notes as they scroll down the screen as appropriate for their instrument (or matching relative pitch, in the case of vocals), in order to perform well and complete each song. Official Xbox Magazine (UK) noted that the only change to the core gameplay appears to be the addition of a sustained open-string bass note that was lacking in previous games.

The major game mode in Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock is called "Quest Mode", which will be narrated to the players by Gene Simmons. Quest Mode is a career mode where the players attempt to complete songs and challenges to advance the story and game. It is based on a story where the players of the band are attempting to release the "demigod of rock" and his guitar from his imprisonment by "the Beast", gaining strength through bringing new members aboard the band. Gaming journalists have noted thematic similarities between the story details of Warriors of Rock and Brütal Legend, an action video game with a world based on heavy metal, developed by Tim Schafer and Double Fine which Activision, at one point, would have published but later dropped the rights. Project lead Brian Bright commented that their inspiration for the game's story was the covers of metal albums, the same material that led to the world of Brütal Legend.

Due to ongoing legal issues with the likenesses of musician celebrities in Guitar Hero 5 and Band Hero, Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock will feature only fictional characters, those previously included in the series. As part of Quest Mode, players unlock these characters by completing specific songs for the characters, which can also unlock alter-egos for each character that have further influence on the game. One example is the character of Lars Umlaut, who can become "Warrior Lars" on completing his challenges, allowing for a maximum 6x scoring multipliers instead of a 4x one. The game will include a perk system comparable to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, in which the player can select two of any of the unlocked play bonuses for future songs. With the combination of these bonuses, it will now be possible to score up to 40 stars per song, instead of the usual 5 stars. In addition, all venues will be fictional except for the now-defunct CBGB Club in New York City. Some venues will be based on Rush's "2112" song, including the caves where the player finds the Demigod's guitar, and a venue based on the "Starman" emblem used first on the 2112 album.

"Party Play", where the game will automatically play songs and allow for players to jump in at any time, remains in the game. The game also includes an improved "Quickplay+" mode to play any of the songs in the game or from previous downloadable content directly; the Quickplay+ mode will include some of the features from Guitar Hero 5's Career mode, such as song challenges, that will otherwise not be incorporated into the Quest mode. Each song, both on-disc and from previous downloaded content, will have thirteen different challenges to be completed. Players will have the opportunity to use the unlocked Warrior form of the game's characters within Quickplay+ mode in order to take advantage of their gameplay benefits as necessary to complete some of these challenges. The competitive modes introduced in Guitar Hero 5 will also carry over into Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock. The Wii version will improve the "Roadie" game version introduced in Guitar Hero 5. In this mode, up to four additional players with their own Nintendo DS wirelessly connected to the Wii (the "Roadies") can assist the other players using instrument controllers. The Roadies can create setlists from the DS, or engage in gameplay through "spells" that improve the performance of the player they are assigned to. Alternatively, in Roadie Battle mode, the Roadies can attempt to distract another player while at the same time removing the distractions placed on their player by another Roadie.

Development
After weak sales in 2009 of several titles in the Guitar Hero series, Activision proceeded to make several changes with their internal development teams. The company dissolved RedOctane, bringing in some of the staff directly into Activision. Activision further shuttered Neversoft's Guitar Hero division, pending the completion of Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, with further development in the series to be created by some former Neversoft members and Vicarious Visions. Brian Bright, former Neversoft and current project lead, noted that part of the poor sales of Guitar Hero in 2009 was a result of a loss of focus with Guitar Hero 5, stating that "we were trying to please everyone out there and I think in the end you end up not pleasing any one person a lot". With Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, Bright wanted to bring the game back to please the fans of the earlier Guitar Hero games, specifically the highly-successful Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. To that end, the team developed a soundtrack "more focused on rock 'n' roll" than the variety of genres within Guitar Hero 5. The songs are more guitar-centric, as proven to be the most popular instrument choice based on Guitar Hero 5. Bright noted they used player statistics from previous games to shape Warriors of Rock; for example, according to Bright, within a month of release, 40% of the players of Guitar Hero 5 were playing on Expert mode, and felt this was the audience they needed to cater to. Bright also stated that the aim of Warriors of Rock was to create a game with "its own identity" from both previous Guitar Hero titles and other rhythm games; "Rather than go head-to-head with our own games and our competitors, we decided we wanted to make something different."

A new guitar controller is being developed for the game to help with "shredding" and an art style to match the changes made in the game's visuals. The guitar hardware has been significantly redesigned to locate most of the base electronics and wireless controls into the main fretboard of the unit, containing the colored fret buttons, strum and whammy bar, and other controls for interacting with the game console. As such, this allows the body of the guitar to be swappable with custom designs, allowing players to personalize the control to their wishes; one design will be exclusive to those that pre-order the game through GameStop. The new guitar controller remains backwards compatible with previous games.

The game may include features using camera technology, such as Kinect, into the future game, according to the development team

Main Setlist
The game's setlist features more than 90 songs. A final song in the game's story mode has been co-authored by Megadeth's Dave Mustaine, with Mustaine stating they were "the most difficult parts" he has written in his life.

All previous downloadable content that was playable in Guitar Hero 5 or Band Hero will be compatible with Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, allowing for more than 300 tracks to be available to players at launch.undefinedAnberlin's "Feel Good Drag" has been confirmed to be included in the game, although it is unclear whether it will be featured on-disc or as downloadable content.

Downloadable Content
All previous downloadable content that worked with Guitar Hero 5, including previous content from Guitar Hero World Tour, Guitar Hero: Smash Hits, and Band Hero, will work in Warriors of Rock. More than 300 tracks will be available to players at launch.

Initial shipments of the game in the United States will also be bundled with Soundgarden's latest album, Telephantasm: A Retrospective, which includes the new track "Black Rain" and other previous Soundgarden songs; "Black Rain" will be available on the Warriors of Rock disc to play, while the remaining eleven tracks on the album, songs from previous Soundgarden albums, will be available as downloadable content alongside release of the game.