Band Hero

By Jay Williams

From the makers of one of the best selling video game franchises of all time, Activision brings gamers Band Hero. Much like Guitar Hero 5 gamers are able to have up to four players join in on the action, giving them the freedom to play lead and bass guitar, drums, and vocals in whatever combination they like.

Band Hero features a multitude of hits for the whole family to enjoy - from Roy Orbison's Oh, Pretty Woman for the Dads, the Village People's YMCA for mum, as well as a nice dose of Taylor Swift's Love Story and Hilary Duff' So Yesterday for the kids.

With more than 65 tracks to choose from, Band Hero spoils players for choice, mixing some of the hottest new bands with some of the classic artists of old.

The set list this time around is more family friendly and pop orientated than seen in previous titles that where more focused on the lead guitar.

Band Hero includes all the great offline and online multiplayer modes of the past and enhances the competitive experience with the new RockFest mode for four players locally or up to eight online.

RockFest mode includes:

• Momentum: Songs get more difficult or easier based on player performance.

• Elimination: Players are eliminated throughout a song based on their performance in each segment - last person standing wins.

• Perfectionist: Rewards players with the highest percentage at the end of each song section.

• Do-or-Die: Missing any three notes for a song section temporarily knocks players out of the game and keeps them from scoring.

• Streakers: Players are awarded points for each note streak in multiples of 10.

• Pro Face Off: Head-to-head battle where players all play the same song on the same difficulty with the same instrument.

Band Hero mimics Guitar Hero 5's Quick Start feature that puts you right into the action allowing you to play a randomly selected song. Menus are the same with Career Mode, Quick play and Party Play. You are also able to create a rocker and even an entire band right down to every detail e.g. name, logo and overall style.

Core gaming of Band Hero is the Career Mode, once you have chosen a name for your band you are ready to rock! Throughout the Career Mode you will be gauged on your performance via a star system, earn stars to progress through to the next gig. As seen in Guitar Hero 5, certain songs have special requirements to meet that are instrument specific, such as, hit 50 high hats on drums, only strum up on bass or nail the solo on guitar, depending on your success you will get a silver, gold or platinum record that counts towards unlocking new songs and gear for your custom rocker.

Sound quality and animations are all top notch, realistic camera movements and concert-style TV footage really draw you into the experience.

As well as new songs and the multiplayer mode RockFest, a new drum kit controller has also being introduced. It features the same five-pad design as the Guitar Hero World Tour drum controller, many changes were made to address weight and size concerns that made assembly difficult. The cymbal pads are more circular than the previous triangular shapes, and the stands crossbar has been lowered to its base as to allow for the bass kick pedal to be supported by it.

And yes the drum kit comes with sticks, unlike the old kit where the sticks were packaged separately, the new kit stores the sticks in the base of the kit just under the main pads – it took me a little while to figure it out.

Neversoft and Activision have built on the successful design of Guitar Hero 5 and have made the franchise more accessible to families by toning down the heavy metal and incorporating more main stream pop songs. Band Hero is a must for any parent that wants to be the most popular over the Christmas season and well into the new year!

Game: Band Hero
System: Xbox 360
Players: 1-8
Online: Yes
Developer: Neversoft
Distributor: Activision

Rating: 75%

(Ratings Key/Explanation)