ThunderPeel2001 Posted September 23, 2009 (edited) As much as I dislike any Guitar Hero game after II, 1up seem to think that GH5 is the greatest music game in the history of mankind... http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3175867&p=4&sec=REVIEWS Conversely, Rock Band: Beatles gets a far less glowing review. What gives? Edit: This was, in hindsight, the worst attempt at expressing myself ever here on the Thumbs... *sigh* Edited September 23, 2009 by ThunderPeel2001 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chris Posted September 23, 2009 Maybe they explain in their reviews Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Irishjohn Posted September 23, 2009 I grabbed Guitar Hero 5 the other day, and I've already returned it. I've heard so much good stuff about The Beatles: Rock Band, but I think I'm done with rhythm games in general. I'm off to play some ODST. There is nothing tired about that franchise/genre/fictional universe. AT ALL. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ThunderPeel2001 Posted September 23, 2009 Maybe they explain in their reviews Ah, the sarcastic Mr. Remo. The point of my (lazily put together) thread was to ask Thumbs their opinions... Something I trust a lot more than reviews. Has GH5 taken a massive leap forward or is still a soulless corporate exercise? (The inclusion of a virtual Kurt Cobain is pretty tacky and tasteless in my opinion -- something the reviewer doesn't even touch upon. Or as Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic put it: It's hard to watch an image of Kurt pantomiming other artists' music alongside cartoon characters. Kurt Cobain wrote songs that hold a lot of meaning to people all over the world. We feel he deserves better.)Is this just more of the same or is it really a vast improvement deserving of the phrase: "the most multiplayer-friendly music game yet". Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Irishjohn Posted September 23, 2009 Has GH5 taken a massive leap forward or is still a soulless corporate exercise? (The inclusion of a virtual Kurt Cobain is pretty tacky and tasteless in my opinion -- something the reviewer doesn't even touch upon. Or as Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic put it: ) Is this just more of the same or is it really a vast improvement deserving of the phrase: "the most multiplayer-friendly music game yet". Well, it's definitely streets ahead of Guitar Hero 2, but I recognised a lot of the advances from Rock Band. Like I said before, these games mean less to me than they used to, and so for me the bigger issue is the lack of room for change at all. You can probably genuinely say that Guitar Hero 5 is a vast improvement if you're really into rhythm games and understand a lot of the nuances that are there in design. If, like me, you used to like hitting plastic keys in time with music and are apparently no longer bothered, there's not a whole lot going on that's different in any major way. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ThunderPeel2001 Posted September 23, 2009 Well, it's definitely streets ahead of Guitar Hero 2. Sacrilege! (I love that game.) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Erkki Posted September 23, 2009 I don't actually mind the Cobain issue. It's funny watching him sing Bon Jovi songs on youtube. There's still a place for humour in these games isn't there? I personally don't plan to buy any more of these. I have GH 1 -3, Rock Band, haven't played them in ages. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ethanThomas Posted September 23, 2009 The overall vibe I got from the RB: Beatles review was that it was kind of easy and doesn't really do anything new. GH5, while not ultra-innovative, nevertheless added some cool new party friendly features and has more challenges to offer up for the experienced player. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ThunderPeel2001 Posted September 23, 2009 The overall vibe I got from the RB: Beatles review was that it was kind of easy and doesn't really do anything new. GH5, while not ultra-innovative, nevertheless added some cool new party friendly features and has more challenges to offer up for the experienced player. From your description it sounds like they should have gotten a similar score. Instead Beatles: Rock Band got 75% and Guitar Hero 5 got 100%. I guess, now that I've done a bit more research, 1up is the only site with that kind of discrepancy, so maybe I should just forget about it. I'm still interested what other Thumbers think of GH5, though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ethanThomas Posted September 23, 2009 From your description it sounds like they should have gotten a similar score. Instead Beatles: Rock Band got 75% and Guitar Hero 5 got 100%. I think part of the reason 1up went to the grades system is to avoid these sort of quibbles about numbers, but wouldn't a B equate to more like 85%, and an A be 95%? (A+ being 100%) From what I've heard, Neversoft has gotten much better at doing the note-tracking. So if you're trying to decide what game to buy, at this point the only thing that really matters is which track-list interests you more. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ThunderPeel2001 Posted September 23, 2009 (edited) I think part of the reason 1up went to the grades system is to avoid these sort of quibbles about numbers, but wouldn't a B equate to more like 85%, and an A be 95%? (A+ being 100%) I was judging it from Metacritic's interpretation of their score... But either way, who cares? As I've already said, they're pretty much the only site with such a difference between the two games... so why bother examining it further? (I should have done a bit more research before bringing it up.) Edit: *sigh* I went to the bother of calculating what the grades equate to in percentages -- which is pretty silly, I know. But A = 92% and B = 67% (their grades go straight from D- to F with no inbetween). This is confirmed by their editorial director, too: Linky. Must get life Edited September 23, 2009 by ThunderPeel2001 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Irishjohn Posted September 24, 2009 Sacrilege!(I love that game.) Ha ha, well the crucial difference here is the song list, I suppose... Things are getting a bit thin on the ground now. So in THAT respect it would be difficult to claim Guitar Hero 5 is better. If I was asked to recommend one of the two to somebody with a similar taste in music to mine I'd recommend 2 ahead of 5. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
syntheticgerbil Posted September 24, 2009 Maybe Activision paid 1up a bunch of money to help their metacritic score? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ThunderPeel2001 Posted September 24, 2009 Well that's what one of the comments below the GH5 review actually suggests! Lol. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chuckpebble Posted September 24, 2009 I listened to the Listen Up podcast (is that sacrilege too? If so, just know this, I didn't enjoy it as much. It meant nothing to me. That other podcast was crap.) and from what I can remember of it, the points against Beatles Rock Band were: that it was not Rock Band Beatles, in a sense, it does not interoperate with other versions of Rock Band in any way, I guess DLC-wise there was mention of the virtual Beatles being static and lifeless, I think there seemed to be some sentiment that the tracklist was too short for the price the developers obviously had fun while they were making the game:eyebrow: But aside from those quibbles, they sounded mostly smitten with the game. I can't really compare this to what they said about GH5, though, I must have been working diligently at that point of their 'cast. Or, RB Beatles could just be the first rhythm game that I've been remotely interested in. Who knows? As far as review scores go, meh, who needs em'? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
