 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Guitar Hero: World Tour
- Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2
- Price: $49.99+
- Genre: Music
Common Sense Media says
A best-in-class "must have" music game.
Parents say
QUALITY
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that this is a sequel in the mega-popular Guitar Hero series. Some of the lyrics might raise an eyebrow as being sexually suggestive. Also, some of the female musicians that aren't wearing much clothes onstage.
What's it about?
GUITAR HERO: WORLD TOUR is the sequel to the best-selling video game of 2007 (Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock). This new version adds drums and vocals to last year's game that was all about playing on the guitar and bass, along with a tour bus-full of new modes and features. For the uninitiated, these music games let you play along to hit rock songs on a plastic guitar, a drum kit peripheral, or sing in a microphone, and you must hit the right note/drum at the correct time in order to rack up points. Perform well and the virtual crowd claps to the beat, but make too many flubs and you might just get booed offstage. When it comes to instruments, the Guitar Hero: World Tour drums has two raised cymbals along with the three main pads and bass drum pedal, resembling a real kit. The newly-designed wireless guitar looks and feels great, and offers extra buttons for improv play and special effects, if desired. The wired microphone provides clear sound for the singer in your group.
After you watch the first of many entertaining animated sequences, you can select from a number of single-player, co-op or head-to-head game modes. A new rock star creator lets you customize the look of your virtual musician before entering a lengthy Career mode that lets players swap instruments as they progress through the story (or choose to stick with one); the Band Career options allows you to join or host an online band with other players. Or why not compete in an online competition – four against four – to see how many points your band can collectively rack up against a rival super group? As with Guitar Hero III, players who dual guitars on the same TV can unleash "battle attacks" to trip up an opponent such as causing a string to break or flipping the left and right buttons.
Is it any good?
For those who have played the Rock Band series, this new version of Guitar Hero is similar, and it might be even better in some regards.The 80-plus musical tracks are about as good as the ones offered in Rock Band 2 (with some available in both, such as Survivor's Eye of the Tiger and Bon Jovi's Livin' on a Prayer). World Tour includes classics like Lynyrd Skynyrd's Sweet Home Alabama (live version), The Eagles' Hotel California and Michael Jackson's Beat It, as well as newer rock ditties such as Tool's Schism, Oasis' Some Might Say and Linkin Park's What I've Done. You can also download additional tracks from the Internet for a few bucks apiece.
But the way World Tour distinguishes itself from Rock Band is that it includes an editor to create and share your own songs. But be forewarned, it takes some patience and skill to fully appreciate the bundled "Music Studio." One to four players can choose to play lead or rhythm guitar, bass, keyboards and drums, but vocals cannot be recorded. Once you've saved your masterpiece, publish it to an online hub called GHTunes for others to download; on the flipside, you can download and play someone else' songs, too. Thanks to great songs, rockin' instruments, multiple game modes, and the built-in music studio, Activision's Guitar Hero: World Tour is the best of the music games.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about whether these music games have hit its stride or its peak? Are the changes in games like the Guitar Hero and Rock Band series enough to justify the purchase or is it worth just downloading new songs each week?
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- Parents
- Teens & kids
AGE
Give it a Rest, Parents
Well you know people this is an amazing video game and if your children are at all normal they have played it at their friends' houses. But this one does a few bad songs like "hot for teacher" which is obviously bad, but all the songs they bleep out the f and s words. But you know you don't have to play the bad ones! This GH does have some great songs like "eye of the tiger", "beat it", "hotel california", and "misery business"
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Kid, 11 years old
November 30, 2010
AGE
good for teens
Love it! i love it because theyre are good music lessons and 5 modes.i rated it iffy for ages 11-13 because it has inaproppraite language. it is still a cool game but i expect teens should play this game if they love rock
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AGE
Rock N Roll Damnation \m/
Its Rock N Roll and that is all it needs to be...
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AGE
A great game to play with the whole family
Now that theyve added the beginner level my 6 yr old little brother can play with me! This game is so fun to play with the family. I like playing it with my mom and beating her every time. the game is pretty pricey though.
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Kid, 11 years old
May 1, 2011
AGE
good but not great
i love it because you can learn about rhythm melody and percussion and it also has tutorials on how to play. what i hate is that on the van halen song has the OMG word that i hate.
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AGE
Not bad
This game isn't inappropriate at all. You don't even notice the bad words and references because you're only paying attention to the notes coming at you. I think, as with all other Guitar Hero games, it should be rated E10+. This game is awesome!
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AGE
fun, but addictive!
this is one of my favorite video games. as mentioned, some language is used, but most of it is censored. that's really my only concern. now that they added the beginner level, anybody can learn how to play! i'm not really going to say it's educational, but it gets addictive and eventually you'll end up with really fast fingers, hehe. world tour is one of the best guitar hero games, along with smash hits.
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AGE
Copies Rock Band and Makes It Better
If your child can handle skimpy clothing (which he/she should by age 11) than this game is fine for them, it will even introduce them to some pretty dang good music (Jimi Hendrix! The Sex Pistols! The Eagles!).
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AGE
Totally RAD!
Very fun! You might not be playing the actual guitar or the actual drums, but it still helps with keeping the rythym and stuff. Yes, it has some bad lyrics, but you don't even notice them. It's a game that the whole family can enjoy together! I recommend it!
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Kid, 11 years old
April 11, 2010
AGE
The best
I have this game,I play it with my mother all the time
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| Platforms: | Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2 |
| Available online? | Available online |
| Genre: | Music |
| Developer: | Activision |
| Release date: | October 26, 2008 |
| Price: | $49.99+ |
| ESRB rating: | T for Lyrics, Mild Suggestive Themes |
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