First things first though, since this is the first time new hardware has been introduced to Guitar Hero, how do the additions stack up? The mic isn't anything special, it's a standard USB style mic that works just as well as any other USB mic you might want to use. However, the drum set is a completely different beast than what we've seen in Rock Band so far. Obviously if you've seen these things in action or in pictures, you've already noticed the addition of cymbals in an attempt to add a bit more realism to your toy band kit. Along with that, this means that you now have the same five note spread that you've always had with the guitars, not including the bass drum pedal (which World Tour also has). On certain songs it really does add a little something to the experience, in particular with something like Foo Fighter's Everlong, and while it's a small addition it's also really cool to have it feel more like an actual drum kit. However, there have been some issues with pad sensitivity for some users, but Activision has been pretty quick at trying to address these problems, even offering a kit that will allow you to configure the sensitivity on a computer, providing a cable to do so. I didn't personally have any problems with that aspect of it though, but I did have some build quality problems with the colored rubber pieces of the cymbals falling off and the little rubber feet coming unglued out of the box. Small issues, sure, but still a bit annoying if you're paying full price for the whole bundle.

The guitar has finally seen a change as well, outside of the cosmetic changes we've seen for a few years now. This time out there's a new addition to the fret board, in the form of a touch sensitive pad that comes into play for certain sections of different songs. When you see translucent notes that are tied together with a small line, simply tapping the touch portion of the frets can play these, almost like a hammer-on but with no initial strum required. Also, if you have a hard time keeping up with the strumming on fast songs, you can use the standard fret buttons like normal but use the touch section to actual tap out your strums, instead of using the strum all together. It's not quite a mind blowing improvement, but it does simplify the playing a bit for newcomers, and will even help out the GH vets that have a little trouble keeping up in the harder difficulties. For those that care, the strum bar is still clicky, and doesn't feel mushy or unresponsive at all. Also, there's a star power button on the guitar now, which is large button placed between the start and back buttons right underneath the strum. The idea use of it is with your palm while strumming, but it was a bit awkward for me to pull it off, and I found myself going back to the traditional tilt for star power when I needed it.

The track selection this time out is really solid, offering up a lot of really great tunes, including a pretty eclectic mix of stuff like Beat It from Michael Jackson, BYOB from System of a Down, and so on. You can tell that the game is still heavily focused on the guitar side of things though, and there's quite a few drum tracks that feel far too repetitious on the lower difficulties to be that much fun for casual players. The bass line is still present as well, and while certain tracks have made some large strides in making bass actually fun to play (and not the step-child of the group), it's still not nearly as fun as playing the lead guitar. Singing works as well here as it does in Rock Band for me, and while I'm a far cry from a decent vocalist, I can hold my own on Medium at least. The words on screen are easy to follow along with, and the game gives a decent visualization when it comes to pitch to try and figure out how high or low you need to be going.

The single player game is a bit of a step back from what we've seen in Rock Band 2, and adopts the formula of each instrument having it's own career mode to play thru instead of just having one giant career mode that encompasses everything in the game. There is a band mode though, which only needs one other player to fill out the group requirements. I forgot to check if I could cheese my way thru it with the microphone sitting next to the speakers for a fake vocalist, but if you've got another person available to play with, definitely do so, because that's the ideal way to get the most enjoyment out of this title.

I can't really say much for note charting, since I'm not nearly as well versed in how these layouts should go as the majority of the internet seems to be, but I'll say for the most part, especially with drums, that the notes seem to match up with the songs fairly well. Obviously the higher difficulties are going to give you the most accurate charts, so it's a bit more of a moot point if you plan on starting out on the medium difficulty. For really new players there has been the addition of an even easier difficulty to start out with, which in essence is almost like playing a no fail mode, and if you have young ones in the house that want to beat up on some drums than this is going to work really well for you.

The biggest draw that Guitar Hero World Tour has going for it, at least in my opinion, has got to be the inclusion of an actual music creator. Even with the tutorial it's a pretty daunting task to take on, especially if you're not really familiar with musical notes and charting in the first place, but the tutorial does a decent job of getting you familiar with how to make the music in game, however it's going to take some time before I get anywhere near good enough to pump out something I'd actually upload to the servers. That doesn't seem to really be stopping anyone else though, as the virtual music studio is already filled with tracks from various users, but the majority of these entries are all pretty horrible at the moment. There's a few decent ones scattered about, and there's different filters to find the most popular and different genre's depending on taste, but two to three weeks in we have yet to really see anything that can sell the service to most people. Still, I think it'll be a feature that will really pay off in the end, and like I said, there are a few tunes on there worth checking out, some of which are actually original works and not just covers of other songs. You can lay down bass, drums, lead/rhythm guitar, and even a keyboard track to compose your entire song, along with some different effects for your instruments, to really give you any kind of musical type you're going for. I really look forward to seeing what a few talented folks put out there in the future, and it's definitely something I plan on messing with a bit more myself.

So while I realize that not everyone is going to be able to afford two $190 purchases for both Guitar Hero World Tour and Rock Band 2, I will say that I don't think GHWT should be missed, even if you already have a particular brand preference in mind. There's enough new stuff going on with World Tour that makes picking it up, at least in just the game form, well worth it, and any fan of music games should be willing to give this one a go. The music creator itself could end up being worth the $60 price tag alone, but the core experience is just as fun here as it's been in previous Guitar Hero titles, and the small gameplay additions and changes are all welcomed. I definitely suggest picking this one up, and I don't think you'll be disappointed.