Review: Guitar Hero 5 isn’t fixing what isn't broke

October 1, 7:21 PMVideo Game ExaminerQuibian Salazar-Moreno

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By now everyone should be pretty familiar with the gameplay of the Guitar Hero franchise. For Guitar Hero 5, that gameplay stays pretty much the same. Why tweak it when it’s pretty much perfect? The notes come down the screen; you match them by strumming and pressing the appropriate colored button on your plastic guitar and get rewarded with points, stars and unlockables. So why should we even consider buying the game? Other than the brand new 85 songs, GH5 has some new added elements to make a party a bit more live.

First off, all of the songs are available right off the bat for Quick Play and Party Play. You don’t have to play through the entire Career Mode to unlock all of the songs. And if you’re tired being the one always stuck playing the bass, you can play any instrument you want no matter what instruments your friends play. Yes, there can be four guitars playing at that same time. Sure, it doesn’t make sense, but somehow they make it work. You can also jump in and jump out songs without interrupting them along with changing the difficulty in the middle of a song if things are getting a bit too rough for you.

Career Mode allows you to choose or create character and for those of you with an Xbox 360, you can also choose your avatar as a playable character. As you move through career mode you’re offered different challenges with specific instruments to earn more stars and achievements. Some of those challenges range from 50 note streaks with vocals or whammy a certain number of notes with the guitar. These challenges offer a bit of replay value for scoring and achievement freaks. The Career Mode also unlocks playable characters like Shirley Manson (of Garbage), Johnny Cash, Kurt Cobain, and others.

Of course you can use songs you’ve downloaded from Xbox Live or the PSN Store, but there’s only a select number of songs you can import over from Guitar Hero World Tour, which will cost a bit of cash or points.

Overall, Guitar Hero 5 continues in its strong tradition of being a great party game or solo game with a great selection of classic and new music. So if you’re not feeling The Beatles this fall, GH5 is sure to whet your music gaming appetite.

Q’s Rating: 4.5 out of 5

IGN: 8.9 out of 10

Gamespot: 8.5 out of 10