Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock (Wii, 2010)

Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock for Wii is a great music game that again goes a step further than the last installment in the series. All the familiar gameplay is still around (using instruments to play along with music tracks), and it's as fun as ever. The cast of characters also brings back familiar faces as well as adding in a handful of new characters to play as.
What Warriors of Rock does a little differently this time around is go more in-depth into a fantasy-like rock n' roll story quest for players to engage in. Though the story may seem highly imaginative, the gameplay is what keeps you in, and the song list is quite impressive and really drives the game. The level of difficulty between songs is well balanced and easy for anyone to pick up and play, though later songs in the story mode will have some players frantically mashing the frets on the guitar controller. Of course, free play is still around and still great to play in a group.
Another step that WoR manages to get done well is add a fun mode to play with another player who has a Nintendo DS. Like in the last installment, 4 players can battle it out in teams, 2 players on guitars and 2 players on the Nintendo DS. However, the person with the Nintendo DS can now manage the song set list to apply a song to play next when everyone else is playing free play, full band or not. Also, there's another mode for the Nintendo DS player to tag along with another player on an instrument to complete challenges for individual songs, and that's where fun minigames come to play.
All in all, Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock maintains a high replay value for anyone looking to add new music and ways to experience Guitar Hero to their library.

If you are like me and can beat most songs on expert on your first try, go ahead and try it out. If not, move along. For the single player, there are two modes that will take up your time.
Quest mode was pretty fun. Each character has an interesting setlist. Since you're not required to beat every song, I was able to skip anything that I didn't like. Playing through all twenty minutes of Rush's 2112 is really something that cannot be missed if you love the plastic guitar. Then came the final showdown with three consecutive Megadeth songs, which made me think "AWESOME". Until I realized that beating the songs wasn't enough, I had to get a certain number of stars in each song. It didn't stump me for too long, It was just kind of annoying my first time through.
Then we have Quickplay+, which will definately be where you spend most of your time. You play songs to earn stars, you can play special challenges to earn additional stars, and when you earn enough stars, you rank up unlocking more stuff like outfits, venues, concept art, etc. You can also look at other peoples scores on challenges and try to beat theirs.
As for the multiplayer, competitive modes and other mechanics are lifted straight from Guitar Hero 5. This includes the ability to play with any combination of four instruments that you want, which was a major step forward for the series. Now no one has to wait for their turn on the drums! However if your friends are casual players they might be a little intimidated by the songlist.
Overall, if you're a casual player who wants a good party game, this isn't a bad choice but you'd probably be better off with Guitar Hero 5 or Rock Band 2. If you're a hardcore expert player looking for a solid singleplayer mode, this is definately worth your time.

First off ignore IGN's review of this game they have no idea what they're talking about. For them to think GH5 is better than Warriors of Rock (WoR for short) I will never understand.

WoR's set list is so much better, come on it's got Ozzy and Metallica performing Paranoid, Tesla, Black Sabbath, Poison, Def Leppard, Dragonforce, Megadeth, & Nickelback to name just a few. Plus on top of that you can export just about every Metallica song from GH:M and from previous games including *cough* GH5. Plus ALL DLC from GH:WT up plus every song has challenges. This game is easily one of their best in my book GH: Metallca's my favorite but this is a very close 2nd.

Everything is very well done the stages are extremely detailed the characters move alot more and really look like they're having fun. One thing I liked the most was the opening to Bohemian Rhapsody just like to the music video the bands members stand together and do the intro which was a very nice touch. One thing I'd like to see in a future release is a little more facial movement for the singer as it still looks a little fake. But that is not enough to nock my rating down as I understand what goes into what they do and have a great respect for what they're doing.

Ratings are 1 to 5 with 5 being best.

Quest mode: 5
At first I was skeptical of it and thought it was over the top along with the charatecters Warrior versions. But actually it's a very fun change and enjoyed it far more than GH5's carrier. At first I thought Gene Simmon's narrating was over done but later relished he was just enjoying it. Overall Quest mode is very fun and a nice change from GH5.

GH:Mix: 5
It was the only reason I even put the GH5 disc in my PS3. WoR's is pretty much the same which I still think could use some better metal tones but an happy it the same as GH5, now I don't have to torture my PS3 with that game anymore.

GH:Tunes/Tracks: 2.5
It's directly tied intro GH5 and Band Hero which is nice to a point... It's still like grass that never gets mowed, 97% of it is 10 second single instrument can't beat this or impossible that. I really wish they would add a "Remove It" feature so songs like that would be kicked off, they really have no business being their.

I don't play online so I will not say anything about it, but it's probably very fun and well done.

Customization: 5
Pretty much the same basic's but alot of new and neat stuff alot of potential there. Instruments are the same quite a few new models.

Sound: Off the charts
It's got Ozzy and Metallica performing Paranoid, what does that say about it? :D Hands down it has the 2nd best list of songs. It's even got 3 yes 3 Megadeth songs one of which was made for the game. Some of the songs are over charted but that's really just to satisfy the best of the best and that only applies to Expert, hard is pretty well done not to much but not to little either just right.

Lasting Appeal: Also off the charts
I can easily see myself playing this game every single day, 90% of the songs are enjoyable which is the least I can say about GH5 (had only 3 songs).

If you like Rock, Metal, songs that will actually test your skills, and a change from the same ol' same ol' carrier then this is a must buy or a least rent.

If you like easy to play pop, alternative and everything below then go rent or buy GH5.

Thanks for reading! :)

Good:
1. As a Guitar Hero veteran, I greatly appreciate the brutal insane difficulty GHWOR offers.
2. Unlocking extras via Quickplay+ is a great new addition, and there are many things to unlock, while the number of challenges grows with your library and number of bandmates.
3. You can still import your songs from other Guitar Hero games*.
4. When you earn Star Power when yours is already full, it goes to your bandmates.
Bad:
1. No one online can see your created rockers or instruments. When you play online with others, one player will be a clone of whatever rock you are using, and the rest will be from the rockers in your local band line-up.
2. *The Store does not work. (If you have imported/ downloaded songs to GH5 or downloaded GHWOR songs via the PlayStation Network Store, you can play those songs using the Update Setlist option.
3. Sometimes your difficulty may be automatically changed between songs.
4. Rockers in your band may be randomly replaced between songs.
5. The note highway often drags or freezes repeatedly (offline and online).
6. While in a menu online, the game may display the wrong rank, instrument, and/ or difficulty for you and/ or others you play with.
7. Disconnections often occur online, mid-song.
8. While in Matchmaking, you may hear someone on the mic or see another indication that the game should have taken you to the setlist already, but it has not.
9. Often online or off, upon selecting something that should take you to the setlist, the game will show an animate orange ring in the bottom right corner, which looks like an unusual loading indicator. This is essentially a sign that your game has crashed. (May be related to a slightly unclean disc.)
10. There are other bugs and shortcomings that neglected, forgot, or haven’t found yet.

What's not to love? The Ultimate Band Package presented here provides the ultimate band experience right in your living room! Complete with a wireless guitar, wireless drumset, and microphone as well as the game included. This is a MUST OWN for any guitar hero lover.