All Articles: Guitar Hero Live

Back in February, unnamed insiders said that Activision would relaunch the Guitar Hero franchise this year with “more realistic” graphics. That report has turned out to be accurate… but in the absolute strangest way possible. The next game in the series, Guitar Hero Live, will launch this Fall as a first-person, live-action experience that attempts to put players on stage for real. Shred that perfect solo and the crowd will cheer wildly for you. But if you screw up, you’ll be begging for the fenced-in stage from The Blues Brothers. That’s if your bandmates don’t kill you first.

Guitar Hero Live will also include a constantly changing catalog of songs in GHTV Mode, which overlays a note track on top of hundreds of different music videos. You can get a glimpse at how both modes will work by viewing the game’s debut trailer, which has been embedded above.

Unfortunately, your old guitars will no longer work in Guitar Hero Live. Activision is throwing out the old design and creating a new design featuring two rows of three buttons each. According to Activision, “beginners can feel like a rock star by mastering play with just the bottom three buttons.” Meanwhile, veterans will take on the new challenge of “creating complex chord-like shapes and finger combinations.”

Guitar Hero Live’s tracklist is still being finalized, but a wide variety of bands and singers will make the cut including The Black Keys, Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, Gary Clark, Jr., Green Day, Ed Sheeran, The War on Drugs, The Killers, Skrillex, The Rolling Stones, The Lumineers, Carrie Underwood, and Pierce the Veil and Blitz Kids. More will be announced as we get closer to launch.

Guitar Hero Live is in development for the PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Wii U at FreeStyleGames, the same team behind DJ Hero and DJ Hero 2. Somehow, Guitar Hero Live will also be playable on mobile devices and tablets, but details on that version of the game will be announced at a later date.

This morning, Activision released a teaser trailer touting an April 14 announcement of a “Mystery Game.” Could it be more Destiny? Or an official unveiling of Skylanders 5? Maybe the Call of Duty: Black Ops III reveal got pushed up two weeks? I should probably just watch the trailer…

Let’s see what we’ve got. There’s a kid with a guitar… and a band about to go on stage… and a cheering crowd. There’s also a tagline: “It’s About To Get Real.” Hmm, it’s a toughie, but I think I’ve got it… Activision is bringing back Crash Bandicoot! Wait a minute, that doesn’t sound right. Meh, it’s probably just a tease for Guitar Hero 7.

It’s not like there were a bunch of rumors back in February that said the franchise would return this Fall with a “more realistic” graphical style. Oh wait, there were. OK, it’s probably Guitar Hero 7.

I’ll keep waiting for you, Crash.