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This thread has been linked to the game 'Band Hero'.
If you've had a look at the clearance section of your local gaming store recently then there's a good chance you'll have seen a copy of Band Hero sitting there, woefully unpurchased. Before today, the lowest I'd seen it being sold for was £4.99 - however, I found that HMV was selling it of for the princely sum of £3.00 and so picked up a copy. Had a I found a real bargain? Well, put it this way - I want my three quid back.
Band Hero is a spin-off game put out by Activision, who are also responsible for publishing the Guitar Hero series. As is the case with Guitar Hero World Tour, you use a plastic guitar, a drum kit or a microphone to follow a series of on-screen prompts allowing you to 'play' one of sixty-five pop songs. I've used quotation marks because you're not really playing the songs in the same way you would be if you used a real guitar. But in the case of the Guitar Hero games, strumming/bashing/singing along is still fun since the game creates the illusion that you're actually playing. Not so with Band Hero - in fact, now I think about it, I probably should have put quotation marks around bargain too.
You can choose to play as one of several pre-created characters, or you can make your own custom character to play as. Either way, the cartoony graphics give you something else to look at while you're playing. Though if you're playing the game on expert difficulty, you might not have time to gawp since the coloured notes come thick and fast. Weirdly enough, the game doesn't distinguish between male and female characters in that a computer controlled female bandmates can be up on stage belting out a song in a man's voice. It's pretty disconcerting to say the least.
Getting back to the game's main flaw, Band Hero's problem is with the choice of songs that come with the game. Many reviewers have criticised the game saying that the songs are too pop-based and that they've been chosen just to appeal to younger players. There are a range of songs - there are older hits such as YCMA and newer songs like Evanescene's Bring Me To Life. But I don't have a problem with that. What I do have a problem with is the fact that the instruments you're playing usually don't correspond to the sounds being produced on screen.
Allow me to explain. With Guitar Hero World Tour, Rock Band and so forth, you're playing as either a singer, a guitar player or a drummer. The bulk of Band Hero's songs don't have a drum or guitar part, and so when you hit the guitar you get the sound of a piano coming out. The same goes for the drum set. I'd say that only about 1/4 of the songs have a guitar part in them. This immediately destroys the illusion that you're playing the guitar or banging the drums and takes you right out of the game.
So it's not surprising that Band Hero has ended up being sold so cheaply by most retailers who I'd guess just want to get shut of it. Since you already need a guitar controller, drum kit or microphone just to play it, you might as well get a second hand copy of one of the Guitar Hero games instead. An example of how not to make a band game, Band Hero isn't even worth picking up at this measly price.
Score: 2 out of 10.
Band Hero is a spin-off game put out by Activision, who are also responsible for publishing the Guitar Hero series. As is the case with Guitar Hero World Tour, you use a plastic guitar, a drum kit or a microphone to follow a series of on-screen prompts allowing you to 'play' one of sixty-five pop songs. I've used quotation marks because you're not really playing the songs in the same way you would be if you used a real guitar. But in the case of the Guitar Hero games, strumming/bashing/singing along is still fun since the game creates the illusion that you're actually playing. Not so with Band Hero - in fact, now I think about it, I probably should have put quotation marks around bargain too.
You can choose to play as one of several pre-created characters, or you can make your own custom character to play as. Either way, the cartoony graphics give you something else to look at while you're playing. Though if you're playing the game on expert difficulty, you might not have time to gawp since the coloured notes come thick and fast. Weirdly enough, the game doesn't distinguish between male and female characters in that a computer controlled female bandmates can be up on stage belting out a song in a man's voice. It's pretty disconcerting to say the least.
Getting back to the game's main flaw, Band Hero's problem is with the choice of songs that come with the game. Many reviewers have criticised the game saying that the songs are too pop-based and that they've been chosen just to appeal to younger players. There are a range of songs - there are older hits such as YCMA and newer songs like Evanescene's Bring Me To Life. But I don't have a problem with that. What I do have a problem with is the fact that the instruments you're playing usually don't correspond to the sounds being produced on screen.
Allow me to explain. With Guitar Hero World Tour, Rock Band and so forth, you're playing as either a singer, a guitar player or a drummer. The bulk of Band Hero's songs don't have a drum or guitar part, and so when you hit the guitar you get the sound of a piano coming out. The same goes for the drum set. I'd say that only about 1/4 of the songs have a guitar part in them. This immediately destroys the illusion that you're playing the guitar or banging the drums and takes you right out of the game.
So it's not surprising that Band Hero has ended up being sold so cheaply by most retailers who I'd guess just want to get shut of it. Since you already need a guitar controller, drum kit or microphone just to play it, you might as well get a second hand copy of one of the Guitar Hero games instead. An example of how not to make a band game, Band Hero isn't even worth picking up at this measly price.
Score: 2 out of 10.
On the plus side, I did manage to trade it in at Asda for £6.00 in-store credit.. a profit of three quid.
If you've had a look at the clearance section of your local gaming store recently then there's a good chance you'll have seen a copy of Band Hero sitting there, woefully unpurchased. Before today, the lowest I'd seen it being sold for was £4.99 - however, I found that HMV was selling it of for the princely sum of £3.00 and so picked up a copy. Had a I found a real bargain? Well, put it this way - I want my three quid back.
Band Hero is a spin-off game put out by Activision, who are also responsible for publishing the Guitar Hero series. As is the case with Guitar Hero World Tour, you use a plastic guitar, a drum kit or a microphone to follow a series of on-screen prompts allowing you to 'play' one of sixty-five pop songs. I've used quotation marks because you're not really playing the songs in the same way you would be if you used a real guitar. But in the case of the Guitar Hero games, strumming/bashing/singing along is still fun since the game creates the illusion that you're actually playing. Not so with Band Hero - in fact, now I think about it, I probably should have put quotation marks around bargain too.
You can choose to play as one of several pre-created characters, or you can make your own custom character to play as. Either way, the cartoony graphics give you something else to look at while you're playing. Though if you're playing the game on expert difficulty, you might not have time to gawp since the coloured notes come thick and fast. Weirdly enough, the game doesn't distinguish between male and female characters in that a computer controlled female bandmates can be up on stage belting out a song in a man's voice. It's pretty disconcerting to say the least.
Getting back to the game's main flaw, Band Hero's problem is with the choice of songs that come with the game. Many reviewers have criticised the game saying that the songs are too pop-based and that they've been chosen just to appeal to younger players. There are a range of songs - there are older hits such as YCMA and newer songs like Evanescene's Bring Me To Life. But I don't have a problem with that. What I do have a problem with is the fact that the instruments you're playing usually don't correspond to the sounds being produced on screen.
Allow me to explain. With Guitar Hero World Tour, Rock Band and so forth, you're playing as either a singer, a guitar player or a drummer. The bulk of Band Hero's songs don't have a drum or guitar part, and so when you hit the guitar you get the sound of a piano coming out. The same goes for the drum set. I'd say that only about 1/4 of the songs have a guitar part in them. This immediately destroys the illusion that you're playing the guitar or banging the drums and takes you right out of the game.
So it's not surprising that Band Hero has ended up being sold so cheaply by most retailers who I'd guess just want to get shut of it. Since you already need a guitar controller, drum kit or microphone just to play it, you might as well get a second hand copy of one of the Guitar Hero games instead. An example of how not to make a band game, Band Hero isn't even worth picking up at this measly price.
Score: 2 out of 10.
Band Hero is a spin-off game put out by Activision, who are also responsible for publishing the Guitar Hero series. As is the case with Guitar Hero World Tour, you use a plastic guitar, a drum kit or a microphone to follow a series of on-screen prompts allowing you to 'play' one of sixty-five pop songs. I've used quotation marks because you're not really playing the songs in the same way you would be if you used a real guitar. But in the case of the Guitar Hero games, strumming/bashing/singing along is still fun since the game creates the illusion that you're actually playing. Not so with Band Hero - in fact, now I think about it, I probably should have put quotation marks around bargain too.
You can choose to play as one of several pre-created characters, or you can make your own custom character to play as. Either way, the cartoony graphics give you something else to look at while you're playing. Though if you're playing the game on expert difficulty, you might not have time to gawp since the coloured notes come thick and fast. Weirdly enough, the game doesn't distinguish between male and female characters in that a computer controlled female bandmates can be up on stage belting out a song in a man's voice. It's pretty disconcerting to say the least.
Getting back to the game's main flaw, Band Hero's problem is with the choice of songs that come with the game. Many reviewers have criticised the game saying that the songs are too pop-based and that they've been chosen just to appeal to younger players. There are a range of songs - there are older hits such as YCMA and newer songs like Evanescene's Bring Me To Life. But I don't have a problem with that. What I do have a problem with is the fact that the instruments you're playing usually don't correspond to the sounds being produced on screen.
Allow me to explain. With Guitar Hero World Tour, Rock Band and so forth, you're playing as either a singer, a guitar player or a drummer. The bulk of Band Hero's songs don't have a drum or guitar part, and so when you hit the guitar you get the sound of a piano coming out. The same goes for the drum set. I'd say that only about 1/4 of the songs have a guitar part in them. This immediately destroys the illusion that you're playing the guitar or banging the drums and takes you right out of the game.
So it's not surprising that Band Hero has ended up being sold so cheaply by most retailers who I'd guess just want to get shut of it. Since you already need a guitar controller, drum kit or microphone just to play it, you might as well get a second hand copy of one of the Guitar Hero games instead. An example of how not to make a band game, Band Hero isn't even worth picking up at this measly price.
Score: 2 out of 10.