Rumor: Game Informer talks Guitar Hero IV's drums, create-a-track mode

by Ross Miller { May 12th 2008 at 7:22PM }

Here we go again. Every month, someone gets an early copy of a gaming magazine, posts the highlights in a forum post, and we run it as a rumor until we can confirm its veracity. And again, we can't confirm this information, but a Neo GAF poster has claimed to already receive a copy of the latest Game Informer, the cover story being Guitar Hero IV.

Here's the alleged information. Guitar Hero IV features the requisite Rock Band features: drums, vocals, bass, guitar and create-a-rocker. Additionally (and most interestingly), there will be the option to create your own song tracks. Although vocals are excluded, all other tracks can be made and uploaded to GH Tunes for sharing and rating. We're not sure how this will apply to songs not in the game, given copyright concerns, but color us intrigued.

All songs will reportedly be master tracks, and four bands have been confirmed: Van Halen, Eagles, Linking Park and Van Halen. Is this the "significant leap" mentioned by Activision last week? Until we can obtain a copy to verify, consider this a rumor.

Tags: activision, gh4, ghiv, guitar-hero-4, guitar-hero-iv

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

kobebryunt @ May 12th 2008 7:25PM

Heh, anyone still care about Guitar Hero?

Kizzle @ May 12th 2008 7:34PM

Not me, and not a growing number of others. Give it another year or so and the answer will be "not anyone."

Raikage (LDF CRAB BATTLE!!!) @ May 12th 2008 8:17PM

For people who don't own a PS3 or 360, then yes, GH is the best choice in the music genre.

Also, if GHIV has Create-A-Track, I'll buy it over RB in a heart beat.

Kizzle @ May 12th 2008 8:24PM

If you think the create-a-track thing is going to be anywhere near as good as you're imagining in your head, then...well, you're Activision's ideal customer. Ignorant.

Raikage (LDF CRAB BATTLE!!!) @ May 12th 2008 8:37PM

I understand what you mean, but if it lets me put notes where I want, hammer-on/pull-offs where I want, and has some way to play the music along with it, it's fine by me.

That way I don't have to pay $170 for 56 super easy tracks and then have to pay $2 each for more.

But, I don't beleive it will be all that cool, but all I want is the basics... and I'm sold.

KeenCommander @ May 13th 2008 12:03AM

Yes, I do. And no, I don't care about Rock Band. And if they make my Guitar Hero like Rock Band I'll be pissed and it will officially be the first (but probably not last) game in the series I don't buy.

havs @ May 13th 2008 5:06AM

wow, a rock band hater? i cant believe there are still idiots who think neversoft can actually make music games...

gh4 could be good, but all harmonix DOES is music games. there would be no guitar hero without them and rock band was the next logical step for the genre.

Asspigeon @ May 12th 2008 7:27PM

Van Halen, Eagles, Linking Park and Van Halen

Van Halen is so awesome they include them twice o.O

?

Sora267 @ May 12th 2008 7:30PM

No, the second is obviously the tribute band which decided not to change their name.

waynski1457 @ May 12th 2008 7:47PM

It's Van Hagar

Hafk @ May 12th 2008 10:11PM

It's supposed to be Sublime.

finnith @ May 12th 2008 11:07PM

Linking Park?

You're overusing spellcheck, mister.

ill trooper @ May 13th 2008 7:41AM

"DAD! It's *LINKIN* park... Jeeeeez! STOP EMBARRASSING ME!"

jbkyoyo @ Jun 20th 2008 1:26PM

it says linking park above in the story... if you only catch it when this guy says it dont blame this guy

jsn @ May 12th 2008 7:28PM

I wouldn't believe much of this, it's wild speculation

Create a song is the most lame, half assed idea ever. It's hard enough to track out passable midi songs with a keyboard, mouse and a library of quality instruments. This would be $99 casio quality at best.

Also, why dilute the guitar hero name further by attaching a full band to it? That's only going to confuse potential customers even more.

XanthouS @ May 12th 2008 7:28PM

They announced the working title as well:

"Guitar Hero IV: Me Too! Edition"

Eothein @ May 12th 2008 7:31PM

the hell's a Linking Park?

Einhanderkiller @ May 12th 2008 7:58PM

Whoever they are, they're better than Linkin Park.

Erik @ May 12th 2008 8:04PM

Linking Park...Its where computer geeks everywhere get together with their laptops and try to Rick Roll each other

Tegolin @ May 12th 2008 7:32PM

Whos Linking Park? I know a Linkin Park though.
Anyway, if they release said GHIV cheaper than Rock Band and people buy it more than RB, I would go insane.

Kizzle @ May 12th 2008 7:33PM

Activision fails.

Yeah, cute that GH4 is playing catch-up, but the problem is, by the time they get their drums and Rock Band copycat shit out, Rock Band 2 will be well on the way and will have evolved even further.

From now on, GH will be playing catch up. Activision is looking pretty pathetic here.

KrazyGamer @ May 12th 2008 8:38PM

Actually they don't plan on releasing a Rock Band 2 anytime soon b/c they can do so much through their download system. IIRC they said the next RB wouldn't come out most likely until the next console genereation. I could be wrong but this is what I remember.

KeenCommander @ May 13th 2008 12:05AM

Hardly, last I check GH3 was a major seller. They don't need to catch up.

Kizzle @ May 13th 2008 12:45AM

"Catch-up" on innovation, doofus. There's a reason there are so many "GH3? LOL" posts on sites like this, people have realized Rock Band offers a much better experience. There is zero reason to believe that will change regardless of what the GH franchise does, because the soul of the game was Harmonix, and they ain't doing that anymore. GH is Activision riding a cash cow, and nothing more.

Christ, they almost ruined the game with boss battles and power-ups...I don't trust them to rip-off Rock Band properly.

Sean @ May 12th 2008 7:35PM

The funny thing is, no matter which Linkin Park song they include, it will be just like playing every Linkin Park song ever made.

http://www.hometracked.com/2007/05/29/all-linkin-park-songs-look-the-same/

xeleion @ May 12th 2008 7:43PM

Haha, as much as I love Linkin Park, that article is so true. Guess that's why I've grown out of it and they're no longer my favorite band. :)

waynski1457 @ May 12th 2008 7:53PM

Wow, I never knew that. Explains a lot really.

And now I have an excuse to link to this awesome LP parody.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=JYNRhzX6gw8

catfish24 @ May 12th 2008 8:52PM

That's true of every album before Minutes to Midnight. Even still, I love Linkin Park so it doesn't bother me much although I can see how one wouldn't like them because of that.

tmacairjordan87 @ May 12th 2008 9:31PM

Dude I've been saying this forever to the few people I know that actually like that POS band and I was starting to think I was the only one who thought that. Thank you so much for finding that.

giantenemycrab @ May 12th 2008 7:35PM

I've always wanted a create-a-track mode.. But I think I'll wait for Rock Band 2.

TWiNKiE @ May 12th 2008 9:46PM

Create-a-Track is an excellent idea. Me being in a band, in theory, I could put my music in Guitar Hero.

(yay!)

Brian @ May 12th 2008 7:48PM

I would be interested to see the compatibility with the RB instruments on GH4. Payback is a bitch.

Neebs @ May 12th 2008 8:51PM

Yeah, fucking with the consumer more for the sake of childish revenge!

murph @ May 12th 2008 9:35PM

now that Activision has caught up, i'm sure they'll supply (or more accurately, allow Harmonix to supply) the patch. it's in their best interest at this point.

RESISTANCE @ May 12th 2008 7:48PM

Looks 10)% real to me because the same person added stuff about Banjo and VP that seems completely in lines with the leaked screens.

RESISTANCE @ May 12th 2008 7:49PM

oops i meant 100%

Scilent @ May 12th 2008 8:18PM

If the eagles are in than I'm in. Create a track sounds interesting but who knows.

mirage @ May 12th 2008 8:19PM

I would never buy this game unless they allow me to use my Rock Band instruments. Why would I want two sets of fake instruments cluttering up my place?!

Amirisme @ May 12th 2008 8:23PM

Can someone care to explain to me whats with all the hate on GH3? I live alone and I thought that having 3 different instruments for 1 guy would have been a bit awkward.... My friends still come over and play, though all on one guitar, taking turns and its still fun!

Yes, I do wish it had more tracks, but other then that, am I missing out on anything?

But then again, I haven't tried RB yet... Wouldn't know. Its not available here yet (Australia)

Oh, and PS... linkinG park???

Raikage (LDF CRAB BATTLE!!!) @ May 12th 2008 8:32PM

There are different reasons for the hate...

1: You hate Activision/Sticking with HMX... I'll give you this one.

2: You suck at GH/RB so you really don't want hard songs, thus you don't like GH... I'm a pretty decent player, so I like hard songs, RB is hardly a challenge except their guitar is so freaking horrible I can hardly pull of a chord without hitting 3/4 buttons.

3: Your a sheep and hate on everything that other people hate, PS3, Spiderman 3, Halo, etc.

Hafk @ May 12th 2008 9:03PM

Oh so agreed. GH3 isn't that bad at all.

tcc3 @ May 12th 2008 9:15PM

The GH3 charts aren't just hard, they aren't well done. GH,GH2, and RB went to great lengths to make it both challenging and still seem as if you're playing the song. The GH3 notes don't always match up right, breaking the illusion.

The character models and animation were poorly done and the boss battles were a bad idea. Battles as multiplayer are ok, but it has no business in "campaign" mode.

I also take issue with Activision being Nazis about using the guitars.

GH3 is not a bad game, but its a shadow of the franchises former glory. You can tell who the real creative force behind GH was, and Activision didn't aquire them

Hafk @ May 12th 2008 9:22PM

Some note charts, like Cliffs of Dover were actually very well done, and I really enjoyed the good ones.

Granted there are alot of bad ones, but they aren't as bad as people make them out to be. Like 3's and 7's, for example. Has a few problems, but is still a good chart. They aren't all Number of the Beast bad.

Boss Battles. You are right. However, at the same time, if the Boss Battles mean fun original compositions, I am all for them. I just want them INCLUDED with the game at the beginning! The Slash battle is super fun!

Activision should be better with the Guitars, but I think it also falls on Harmonix as well, who isn't letting Wii owners use the Les Paul controllers for Rock Band. Both parties need to get their shit together.

Guitar Hero 3 is a shadow in the franchise's formor glory, but I am not going to say I didn't enjoy playing Guitar Hero 3. I may have more hours clocked in the original games, but I am willing to give Neversoft and Activision another chance. I hope all of the GH haters on here will atleast give the next one a chance with a rental.

Hafk @ May 12th 2008 9:25PM

*former

tmacairjordan87 @ May 12th 2008 9:36PM

making the songs 4 times as hard as they are on regular guitar is why 99.9% of people hate guitar hero 3. It's stupid and completely unnecessary.

Hafk @ May 12th 2008 9:42PM

Because that is perfectly reasonable. An instrument that takes years to master is much easier than a game that takes weeks.

Cesaria (MKW:2621-2994-1376) @ May 12th 2008 11:33PM

I agree with Raikage. People hate for no goddamn reason. RB is way too damn easy but also way too damn much fun! There doesn't only have to be one rythmn game, people. Also, I highly enjoyed Spidey 3. People let critics make up their minds for them. If there was no 'net, people would've loved that flick. Oh, and Cliffs of Dover FTW! Worth the price alone!

Raikage (LDF CRAB BATTLE!!!) @ May 12th 2008 11:58PM

Thanks Cesaria. You can like 2 games in the same genre you know.

I also liked Spidy 3 but I'm not much of a movie critic...

Amirisme @ May 13th 2008 1:02AM

My god this has been such an enlightenment-type-thing.... Hahaha! But yeah, I still wouldn't know squat, cuz I haven't play RB....

But yeah, I agree with Raikage and Cesaria, what the heck is wrong with liking 2 different games? Damn fanboyism i tell you... Damn IT.

As for spiderman, loveD it until i saw Iron Man. Iron Man kicks the shit out of every other super hero movie out there.