Guitar Hero World Tour

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Kudos to Harmonix and the innovations of Rock Band, they must have done something right for mega-selling Guitar Hero to notice what they were doing quite as quickly as they seem to have done. Yes, Guitar Hero IV, officially titled Guitar Hero World Tour, will include a microphone and a drum kit; but this update isn't just about ticking boxes.

Developer Neversoft, who's great Guitar Hero III which received with a very warm reception despite it being the former Tony Hawk's developer's first attempt at a music game, are going to be taking Rock Band's genre-defining selling-points and building upon them. We're also promised a few unique twists we're fairly convinced the next-generation of Rock Band will eye with interest.

First, the basics. World Tour will give us a redesigned (and apparently more responsive) guitar controller, a 'genuine electronic' drum kit, and a microphone. The drum kit in particular sounds like it is receiving some attention, the set incorporating three drum pads, two raised cymbals and even a bass pedal. "Larger and quieter, velocity-sensitive drum heads" are mooted, and we assume here Activision are drawing direct parallels with EA/MTV's rival title. Rubber design also promises to make the set easy to move and deliver 'authentic bounce back'. It is unclear whether peripherals will be cross-compatible with Rock Band at present, and although GHIII did work in some cases, the PS3 axe didn't work with Rock Band on the console, sadly.

Where World Tour could leap-frog Rock Band is through the introduction of the Music Studio. This is a creation tool which will let budding bands compose, produce, edit and share their own songs - and it'll cleverly link-in with some of the game's new online functions, specifically the Band Career and Battle of the Bands options. "Guitar Hero has set the standard for music-based gaming and with Guitar Hero World Tour and the game’s groundbreaking Music Studio, we are once again delivering unprecedented innovation that has the potential to revolutionize consumer generated music, much in the same way that video sharing hubs have driven user generated video," offers Dusty Welch, publishing boss at GH license holder RedOctane.

Unlike series installments of yesteryear, the latest Guitar Hero promises a track-listing composed entirely of master recordings, which is another welcome move. The following artists have already been mooted for inclusion: Van Halen, Linkin Park, The Eagles and Sublime. Make of that what you will. A la Rock Band, Neversoft will this time around rally to deliver vast quantities of localised content, which should mean a better selection for our non-English language pals on the continent, as well as more of the Britrock the UK has clamoured for in the past.

Coming over all "Web 2.0" for a moment, World Tour will also up the ante on the customisation front, giving players the chance to detail how their rock band should look, as well designing album covers, logos and the like. No doubt this portion of the game alone will prove a heatsink for literally hours of play time. Online, rockers will also be able to share their own tracks, as well as download the creations of other, Acti promising a service suspiciously titled GHTunes to organise all this sharing.

"With the introduction of our advanced high-quality new wireless instruments, in-depth customization options and advanced online functionality, the game enables music fans and gamers globally to share in the most social and expressive music experience ever," chimes-in Welch.

Back to the meat of the gameplay, however, and the title will allow both solo and multiple band members to rock-out, the game supporting one instrument or several depending on how many groupies are at hand. Battle of the Bands mode allows eight players to join online and challenge each other 'band-on-band' to determine who are the most hardcore. In the Band mode, meanwhile, up to four players can jam (both online and off). Then there's single-player Career Mode, players choosing any of the instruments in branching venue progression, a la GHIII.

Guitar Hero World Tour will be released on the Xbox 360, PS3, Wii and PS2 this autumn, although only the two next-generation systems will benefit from the full compliment of online modes. Given the intense competition from GH founders Harmonix this next outing could be pivotal, especially with word reaching us this week that tomorrow's Rock Band release in Europe could be a sell-out. Blur vs. Oasis? Guitar Hero vs. Rock Band? Truly this looks like being an epic battle of the bands.

We'll bring you more on this as the summer wears on.

By Luke Guttridge