Guitar Hero On Tour: Modern Hits (Nintendo DS)

...the previous two instalments of Guitar Hero on the DS, I did with my earnings from Dooyoo, buy Guitar Hero's (DS) third instalment, this time the songs are all dedicated to modern hits.

==Guitar Hero Franchise ==

Developed by Vicarious Visions and published by RedOctane and Activision the game I believe is now on every console imaginable, don't hold me to this but if they can allow you to play it on a console as small as ...
...for what is called a Guitar Grip, possibly one of the most painful contraptions that you will get with a game, I'll go onto that a bit later. This contraption allows you to pretty much do the same as you would with a guitar on the PS2 version of the game, you have to strum the notes at the same time as it shows on screen.

==Guitar Grip ==

For some of you that have never even heard of Guitar Hero on the DS, then this guitar ... more

Guitar Hero Modern Hits

Even though I wasn't a huge fan of the previous two instalments of Guitar Hero on the DS, I did with my earnings from Dooyoo, buy Guitar Hero's (DS) third instalment, this time the songs are all dedicated to modern hits.

Guitar Hero Franchise

Developed by Vicarious Visions and published by RedOctane and Activision the game I believe is now on every console imaginable, don't hold me to this but if they can allow you to play it on a console as small as the Ninetendo DS then I'm sure the rest of the consoles have the game.

The game can be played on a wide number of consoles, however the basic gameplay stays the same, whether your playing on the PS2, Wii, Xbox360 or even the DS. You have to strum and hit notes with what is happening on the screen. I am trying not to sound like the meercats off the comparethemarket advert, but 'simple really'.

How is the DS game different from the others?

Well the most obvious is you don't have to fork out £70 to buy a plastic guitar, you do however have to fork out for what is called a Guitar Grip, possibly one of the most painful contraptions that you will get with a game, I'll go onto that a bit later. This contraption allows you to pretty much do the same as you would with a guitar on the PS2 version of the game, you have to strum the notes at the same time as it shows on screen.

Guitar Grip

For some of you that have never even heard of Guitar Hero on the DS, then this guitar hero grip may seem foreign to you, especially when I say that it is one of the most painful contraptions that you'll ever get with a video game.

The Guitar Grip is a little device which slots into the DS with ease, you then put your hand through the strap and tighten it to fit your hand, it's aimed to stop the grip from slipping whilst your playing it, however it does not work and you will find yourself having to pause the game to put the grip back on your hand.

I have complained in previous reviews on the previous two guitar hero's the pain you will probably experience with the Guitar Grip, your wrist is bent in the most unkindly way and after a bit you will have to stop because of the pain shooting through your wrist. You do however get used to it and work out what position to hold your hand in to make it just that little bit more comfortable.

It is quite a good design, despite the pain, it looks stylish and it does fit onto the DS quite well, it's just a shame that they haven't really thought about the consumers when creating it, however I can't really see any other way of designing it so it looks like we're stuck with it.

Game Play- Is It Different From the Previous 2?

Yes, I was shocked to find out that I didn't just have to play three/four songs and then go onto the next stage, it is quite different. One of the things I did notice was that on the medium round they have made it a little harder, this might not be good for some people, but for me, I used to find medium to easy but hard way too hard, so it's nice that they have made it a little more challenging.

The main difference of the game play is the fact that you don't have Encore's anymore, they give you three songs to play to begin with, you play those songs, however you are not allowed to go onto the next round just yet, no you have to earn more fans and to earn more fans you have to complete fan requests, this means doing things like guitar duels, playing bass guitar, or playing standard guitar, however you will have to do things like not playing bomb notes or hyperspeed.

They can be quite challenging and I have failed quite a few, but it makes the gameplay a lot more challenging and a lot more interesting. It does all depend on how well you play as well, if you play crap then you won't get many fans, however if you play brilliant you'll get X amount of fans.

The rest of the gameplay is pretty much the same, nothing has really changed, especially the previous problems. I know I have an old guitar grip from the first game, however I have heard that they have just released the same grip out again, and again it's causing the same problems with people's wrists.

If you have played the previous games on the DS, don't worry you'll be able to pick up this one and carry on playing it like you would on the previous two games.

Difficulty Settings

Like in the previous games you have four difficulty settings, I have just started to try hard on the previous 2 games however I would not be able to do that on this game, some of the songs are quite tricky on just medium setting so I can't imagine what they are like on hard.

If you are a newby to the game, then I would recommend trying out Easy, however once you get used to the game you do find easy a little bit to... easy. I would recommend just playing around to begin with on the training section of the game, get used to the feel of the game and then go for the medium section, it's complicated but challenging. It's a lot more fun.

Cash/Fans

On the previous games you could earn cash to buy new things in the Guitar Hero Shop and this time is no different. I don't see any point to buying anything, so don't bother with this, but you can earn quite a bit of cash if you play a song well. The main difference and probably the reason why the game play on this one is a lot better than the previous 2 is the fact that you can earn fans, by playing the game well you earn more fans, and the more fans you have, you get to open new venues.

Single Player

This is probably the main game that you will play, the career section of the game is probably the most enjoyable and probably the only one a lot of people are going to be able to play. Like with the previous games you have to make your 'band', to do this you have to name your band and then choose the lead guitarist, there is a good choice of guitarist but really, you're playing a name, it's not like you get more talent if you choose Memphis Rose over Gunner Jackson. You also at this point chose the guitar you want to play on, again whichever one you choose will not make you more talented, it's just preference.

The Live Show is the 'fun' bit of the game. With the previous game you'd have a list of different venues and then when you completed one, the one below would become available to you. The principle of this game is the same, however you actually get pictures of the venues and you may from time to time have to go back to the same venue to play a different set list.

Fan Requests is the 'new' section of this game, when you have completed a song then it will open up three fan requests, you will get a chance to play a normal version of the song, but with a little difference, like bomb notes or hyperspeed, then you'll get to play the bass version of the song with little things included and then the guitar duel version of the song. If you complete these you'll earn fans and the more fans you earn the better you do in the game.

Guitar Duels are brilliant, as you go through the game they do get even more difficult as the fans can request you to use up to 11 battle sequences, on the most difficult of songs this is quiet a challenge.

Set List

The set list on this game is most definetly the weakest out of all of the guitar hero games I have played. They have focused too much on getting a good range of songs, however when getting the ‘range’ they completely forgot that it was a ‘guitar’ game and a lot of the songs that they have given us to play, were not even very good riff songs which is always important.

Here is the set list:

Decent Songs

Evanescence- Sweet Sacrifice
Fall Out Boy- This Ain't A Scene...
Foo Fighters- All My Life
Kaiser Cheifs- Ruby
Tenacious D- The Metal
The Offspring- Half Truism
Yellowcard- Lights and Sound

Other Songs

12 Stones- Adrenaline
AFI- Miss Murder
Angels and Airwaves- Call To Arms
Atreyu- Falling Down
Black Tide- Shockwave
Coldplay- Violet Hill
Endeverafter- I Wanna Be Your Man
Finger Eleven- Paralyser
Franz Ferdinand- The Fallen
Modest Mouse- Dashboard
AFI- Phantom Planet- Do The Panic
Sum 41- Still Waiting
Kiss- The Bravery- Unconditional
The Donnas- What Do I Have To Do
The Duke Spirit- Lassoo
The Fratellis- Chelsea Dagger

I think the best song on the set list has to be Fall Out Boy's, This Ain't a Scene and that's saying something. They have chosen to use bands like Foo Fighters, Tenacious D, Yellocard and Evanescence, by they have not used the 'good' songs. Why wasn't The Pretender used for the Foo Fighters or Beezleboss for Tenacious D? Both of these are hard guitar songs and I'm sure they would have been a challenge, it's such a shame, because the set list on this game is the weakest out of all of the Guitar Hero's I have ever played, the songs are week, and there are barely any that I look forward to playing at all. It really was a great shame as the gameplay has got a lot better however the music they have chosen is pretty poor to say the least.

Graphics

The graphics really haven't changed much from the previous two instalments, I still think the picture quality that you get is just fantastic especially considering that it's on such a small screen, everything looks cartoonish but at the same time quite realistic. The attention to detail is just amazing, when you strum and push the fret down at the same time the string actually vibrates.

The graphics in my opinion are just fantastic, the people are very cartoonish but that's the way they are supposed to be, all you really care about is the fret board at the end of the day, and everything else around it disappears.

Sound

The sound as always is very good, there's not much to say about this, you control the sound on the side of the DS, it is a lot easier to play just using the speakers that are coming from the DS however you are able to use headphones but I do find they get in the way quite a bit which is quite an annoyance.

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Price

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It is an expensive game, there is no doubt about that. There are great deals for the previous instalments on EBay at the moment, but the cheapest that I have found the modern hits so far is on Amazon at £24.99, this is only the solus game and it doesn't include the grip. You will be paying an extra tener if you want the grip, but like I said earlier, check out EBay just to buy the grip, it'll save you a lot of money.

Overall

I have to say even thought there is a pretty crap set list, you really do get what you pay for with this game. Unlike the previous two which I can complete easily in two hours, this game takes a bit longer, it really is a lot more challenging than the previous two which is always good.

Like the other games, the set list doesn't really ruin the game, you don't really care about the music you're playing, however it is nice when you have a song you know and you find yourself singing along to it, but I was surprised that me, someone who adores music, has not heard of half of the songs on this set list.

I think the graphics on this game are truly brilliant, you do find yourself only looking at the fret board when the game is playing, but just before the game begins the set is just fantastic and I love the way that they have set things out. The music is the weakest point of the game, other than the dreaded guitar grip and it was such a shame that they have put together quite a crap setlist.

I think the worst part of the game is that blummin guitar grip, it is one of the most painful peripherals that I've ever used in my life, it is the most uncomfortable thing, however you do get used to it. After a few games you ignore the pain and actually find yourself getting used to it. I still can't for the life of me press the Red & Blue button down at the same time, it requires you using your middle and pinky finger and it just makes the pain in your wrist even more.

The guitar grip wasn't really thought out in my opinion, I can't see any way for them to do it but I'm not a designer, but I'm sure they could have designed something that doesn't hurt as much as the grip does.

With the previous games you could easily finish the game within one/two hours, however this one will take you a bit longer. It is a lot more enjoyable as there is a lot more to do on it than on the previous games.

Do you need the previous 2 to play this one?

No, however you will need to purchase the guitar grip if you have not already got one, unlike the PS2, you can't just use another controller, you have to use the guitar grip to play. You are looking at paying over £10 for the 'bundle' of the game, however you can get pretty good prices on the net for just the grip so I would recommend looking for one on there. If you are just looking to buy the single game, then you are looking at the moment to pay £24.99 on Amazon.

Ratings

Guitar Hero Grip- 4/10
Packaging/Look- 9/10
Instructions- 6/10
Songs- 6/10
Graphics- 9/10
Sound- 8/10
Price- 7/10

Should You Buy The Game?

If you've never played Guitar Hero on the DS before then I would recommend buying this one first, it's is a lot more challenging and you are getting a lot more for your money, even though the music is pretty terrible. Then I would try and get the previous 2, you can get them pretty cheap on EBay at the moment so that is quite good.

The game is very good, and I did find it a lot more enjoyable and challenging compared to the previous 2 games. It was worth my money this time, which I couldn't say with the other two games. I think if the setlist was improved then it would be worth 4 stars, I couldn't give it 5 due to that annoyance of a guitar grip.

I hope this review helps. It's a bit more condensed than my other guitar hero reviews, but I didn't want to ramble as much as I did in those. Hope it's good enough. Please rate and comment if you have the time. Thank you.

Kirsty (C)
 

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