Guitar Hero WT vs Rock Band 2

[Piuc2020]

I'm mainly interested in difference in the core gameplay mechanics and the instruments, I've only had the chance to play Guitar Hero 3 and I enjoyed it but I enjoy rhythm games for their technical difficulty and the overall fun factor and GH3 was amazing in this respect, I hear Rock Band 1 is a little on the easy side but supposedly Rock Band 2 is much harder. How are the individual instrument experiences?

Do both games have fully fleshed out careers for each instrument or is the focus on "band play" way too heavy to enjoy the game solo? (I'll be playing with friends of course but playing alone is awesome as well)

I get the impression that RB2 is the better game but GH WT seems to be a lot cheaper.

Thanks for any input

Also, if you could point me in the direction of hot deals for either games that would be awesome (I have a PS3).

 

[bearxor]

RB2 lets you go through the 'World Tour' mode solo on any instrument. I'm not sure about GHWT since I didn't try the single player when I rented it.

RB2 is the better game but if you're looking for insane charting that will test your skills, go with the GH series. If you want the more fun, matured game with more technically correct note mappings, pick Rock Band.

And remember, GH isn't really GH anymore. The Rock Band series is the spiritual successor to GH2. If Harmonix hadn't been bought by MTV games, it's likely Rock Band would have been Guitar Hero 3.

 

[FuryofFive]

i know this is old... but i wanna chime in say.. i picked up GH:WT(PS3)... and the drums are absolute crap. at least for me. i had rock band one for ps2.. and the drums were fantastic. I think the wireless tech is just not enough for the drums.even after calibrating it. it still didnt feel right. missing notes, i know i hit. not to mention, when you calibrate the drums, you also calibrate the guitar. i damn near freaked. I was doing horrendous at guitar then realized this. I dont know how hard it would have been to calibrate them seperately.
I may end up picking up RB2 just to play the drums...
one thing i will say. the GH guitar is way better than the Rock band guitar. the buttons just work better.It might be the flush buttons that make the rock band guitar not so great.(level with guitar and not protruding)

 

[Trader05]

Since my first guitar hero game was GH3, i actually like World Tour better than Rock Band. You can play single instrument through career mode. I had an issue with my drums before and the RMA process was very easy and fast (came in 2 days). Drums in my opinion are better than rock band's first drum set (no experience with the newer one), since i play real drums its almost real time on hard, i believe expert is real time. The guitar is way better than RB's. Its pretty much up to you, RB has more of a fun easier enviroment and GHWT has better hardware.

 

[jdport]

People seem to be about 50/50 on the guitars.... I agree with the above poster about the GH guitars being far better than the rock band guitar. But, a lot of people love the rock band guitar.... it's a personal preference. I've also heard that the RB2 guitar is much better than RB1.. i only have the RB1 guitar so I can't speak for that.

 

[FuryofFive]

The Drums in Rock band for ps2.. were way better than the drums for GH:WT(PS3)

 

[Cobalt]

Guitars (game play) in GH are worlds better than Rock Band. I always feel like it doesn't register properly in Rock Band even when I try calibrate it.

 

[Glitchny]

RB2 guitar is easily the best of them. makes the GH guitar feel like a cheap toy. with all things considered I'd go with RB2 as i consider it more fun and the instruments are better, and the DLC is amazing.

 

[tdawg]

From what I've read, I think the biggest difference in terms of career gameplay is the fact that in RB you can choose difficulty levels for each set, while with GHWT you are stuck on the difficulty level you initially picked and may end up getting stuck in the career when you just can't complete the song at your pre-existing difficulty level.

I'm not sure if GHWT progresses song-wise like GH2 or GH3, but if it's a linear progression, it has to be more fun than getting stuck playing the same song over and over through various sets and venues in RB. I want to be able to play those crap songs only once and then never see them again!

 

[Ackmed]

I owned RB2, and GH 3&WT on the PS3. With the drums from WT. I have only used the RB1 drums, and I like the WT drums better. I HATE the tapity tap tap of the RB1 drums. As far as core gameplay goes, I like different things about them both. I like the guitar playing on GH better. And the fact that I cant go to band and not use the mic is annoying in RB2. At least I couldnt get around it. In WT, you dont have to use it.

 

[RyanPaulShaffer]

Rock Band is the superior platform in every way, shape and form. Ever since Activision took over Guitar Hero, it has been all downhill.

Guitar Hero: World Tour is a cheap Rock Band imitator, at best.

Go with the best: go with Rock Band. At least you know if you invest in DLC, it won't be made irrelevant by the next game release!

Oh, and the Strat > any of the lame GH guitars

Most people who complain about the guitar in Rock Band are usually just bad. The timing window in GH is so huge, you barely even have to hit the notes with the right timing to get it to register correctly. Hammer-ons and pull-offs are also super easy and cheesy in GH, and not realistic at all. Rock Band actually requires you to have proper timing and technique, hence, a lot of bads don't like it because they aren't actually good.

 

[Trader05]

Originally posted by: tdawg
From what I've read, I think the biggest difference in terms of career gameplay is the fact that in RB you can choose difficulty levels for each set, while with GHWT you are stuck on the difficulty level you initially picked and may end up getting stuck in the career when you just can't complete the song at your pre-existing difficulty level.

I'm not sure if GHWT progresses song-wise like GH2 or GH3, but if it's a linear progression, it has to be more fun than getting stuck playing the same song over and over through various sets and venues in RB. I want to be able to play those crap songs only once and then never see them again!

you can change the difficulty when you pause the game, i got stuck on a couple songs on hard and had to switch to medium.

 

[FuryofFive]

sooo i can play RB2 game with GH drums??? but not vice versa? i only bought GH : WT to play metallica

 

[Pheran]

I have both Rock Band and GH:WT, but I've spent much more time playing Rock Band. In my opinion the band play in Rock Band is far superior to that in GH:WT. Both games have solo careers for each instrument (well, RB1 doesn't have a bass solo career, I think RB2 added it). Also, there is much more downloadable content available for RB, and it's cross-compatible with both games. Here's something I posted on the Rock Band forums talking about this:

In general I've found that I like the Harmonix games much better and that Neversoft is making a mess of things. I started with Guitar Hero 2, which was great fun. I moved on to Guitar Hero 3, which was somewhat disappointing with the silly note charts, loose timing and (IMHO) inferior set list. Eventually I got Rock Band, which finally pulled my wife into the series. We trade around instruments a bit but lately I've been doing guitar with her on vocals.

During the Circuit City clearance, I picked up the GH:WT guitar bundle so that I could have a second wireless guitar, and of course I wanted to try the game. We finally got around to it last night, and my wife was sorely disappointed. Solo is not bad, but band play is a mess. The unified rock meter and lack of textual feedback for vocals (all you get are those stupid colored flashes) meant my wife had absolutely no idea how she was doing while singing. The vocal fill sections are goofy and the vocal star power mechanic is much better in Rock Band. I'm afraid that GH:WT is just going to be relegated to solo play for me, since the band interface is so crappy. That's a shame, because there are some good tracks in that set list and I really like some of the DLC (Jesse's Girl!).

As for instruments, I play with a mix. I have the RB2 drum set, the GH:WT generi-caster and a GH3 Les Paul (plus a wired GH2 Xplorer I never use anymore). I've never used a RB guitar or GH:WT drums, so I can't compare them. Check the instrument compatibility matrix for compatibility info.

 

[FuryofFive]

i bought RB2 to play with the GH intstruments.. all i gotta say is...
absolute crap
Rock band itself is cool because its an alternative to an otherwise milked out genre.(guitar hero)
but the game lacks the fundamentals that make a great guitar game.
1. The soundtrack is alright. I don't know what it is about the rock band makers, that attracts them to alot of 80's songs.
2 .Star power kinda distorts the way the game looks, possibly messing up the player
3. hammer-on are horrible.
I myself can pull 3's and 4's in GH:metallica, so im capable of hitting hammer-on's and whatnot. there are just not possible in RB
4. The skill level required to play Rockband is little to none. even with the hammer-on issue, this game is way to easy. I can 5 star songs no problem on expert. i've seen no real trouble playing Rock band 2.
5. Also in RB2, you have to hit the notes near perfect, and even with calibrating it several times, i felt it was a pain to get a real accurate shot at the song.
6. alternate strumming was a pain, felt if i didnt do it with the right power and right speed. i knew i was gonna miss notes. Much easier for GH


Songs that are in both game, i feel are totally better in GH

anyone else agree.. im gonna try and add more to my opinion.

 

[novasatori]

they're all about the same in terms of enjoyability imo
strictly comes to what songs you like, and what artistic style you prefer (between current GH & RB)

but in general I would agree that RB is easier that GH

as per which is my fav that's going to be GH:Metallica, best musical game I've played yet on my 360

 

[FuryofFive]

Originally posted by: novasatori
they're all about the same in terms of enjoyability imo
strictly comes to what songs you like, and what artistic style you prefer (between current GH & RB)

but in general I would agree that RB is easier that GH

as per which is my fav that's going to be GH:Metallica, best musical game I've played yet on my 360

yes..GH:metallica is awesome. i dunno,something about liking about 80% of the songs works for me.. just disappointed they left out "until it sleeps"

 

[RyanPaulShaffer]

GH: Metallica was okay. I enjoyed about a dozen songs in it. Unless you're a fan of death/thrash metal, GH: Metallica has very little to offer.

It still is totally lame that it's a $60 separate game instead of a DLC track pack. Not only can you not play the Metallica songs in GH: WT, but you also can't play any of your DLC songs (except for Death Magnetic from GH3) in GH: Metallica.

Rock Band 2 is still a far better platform than Guitar Hero. Harmonix made the genre big with GH1 and GH2. They know what they're doing. Neversoft is just cashing in on the golden calf while they still can.

How many GH games have come out in the past year? Three? :laugh:

I must say though, the quality of GH: Metallica surprised me. GH: Aerosmith was a totally phone-in cash-grab, but it looks like they actually put some effort into GH: Metallica.

 

[PatrickBateman]

As a drummer, I actually like the drums better for GHWT. For example, dynamics. In GHWT rather than hitting the blue pad as a hi-hat accent, you actually hit the pad in ghwt harder to create the accent. I was a huge fan of RB2 (especially pearl jam's ten) but the drums broke 10 days outside of warranty and they basically said too bad. There were no RB2 drums around to purchase so I got the GHWT drums and like them so much better.
Speaking of GH Metallica, first try Master of puppets ( i can play it on real drums) expert drums I got a 97. Other than not choking the cymbals, it is pretty spot on.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: PatrickBateman
As a drummer, I actually like the drums better for GHWT. For example, dynamics. In GHWT rather than hitting the blue pad as a hi-hat accent, you actually hit the pad in ghwt harder to create the accent. I was a huge fan of RB2 (especially pearl jam's ten) but the drums broke 10 days outside of warranty and they basically said too bad. There were no RB2 drums around to purchase so I got the GHWT drums and like them so much better.
Speaking of GH Metallica, first try Master of puppets ( i can play it on real drums) expert drums I got a 97. Other than not choking the cymbals, it is pretty spot on.

Do you like using the GHWT drums with Rock Band? I bought World Tour when it was $99 at Walmart. Price and Metallica were the only reason I picked up GHWT instead of Rock Band. I'd love to get Rock Band if the drum parts work well with the GHWT drums.

 

[PatrickBateman]

Originally posted by: mugs
Do you like using the GHWT drums with Rock Band? I bought World Tour when it was $99 at Walmart. Price and Metallica were the only reason I picked up GHWT instead of Rock Band. I'd love to get Rock Band if the drum parts work well with the GHWT drums.

me, personally, I find it a little awkward to play RB with the GH drums only because the right cymbal becomes unused, the left cymbal becomes the yellow pad and RB maps the pads slightly different. However, my son, who plays a lot more often than me, has no problems playing RB with GH drums so maybe it just takes getting used to. Before getting GH drums I was perfectly happy with the RB2 drums until they broke and I couldn't find a replacement set anywhere. Now if only Pearl Jam can release their stuff for GHWT!