You've got the talent and enthusiasm, and now you want to prove it to the world in Guitar Hero: World Tour, right? Not so fast, Mr. Van Halen. Learn how to be a virtual rock star in three easy steps:
1. Look The Part
Starting with the Rock Star Creator, create the ultimate rock legend by shaping his or her face, including eye sizes, cheekbones, and even ear angles. Yes, you can re-create Barack Obama if you really want to bring those Dumbo ears forward. Then tweak your age, height, skin color and physicality and a star is born! Well, almost. A star also needs a stage presence, so select from metal, rock, and pop-style attitudes, including win/loss animations.
While you can accessorize your avatar, don't neglect your gear, either. Drill down into each instrument, selecting head stocks, mic stands and drum kits, even going so far as choosing the strings you use with your virtual guitar. Finally, the band's going to need a name and a logo, which represents you at shows and can be layered on instruments to personalize them further. We suggest something with a snake in it. Chicks dig serpents.
2. Rehearse The Songs
How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Better yet, how do you get on MTV? Practice, baby. Playing gigs isn't just about jamming to great songs, but about accruing the cash and gear to make you that much cooler to the world. Unlock new hats, eyewear, wrist bands, and more so that you can be the one true rock god. Then, go back and customize your star and equipment again, but think twice before you don "simian" gorilla mask. We doubt that's the Gorillaz your fans are asking for.
Finishing a set's no good if you're not making serious scratch, though, so if you're having trouble mastering a song, take a step back and practice the tough parts. A complete breakdown of your performance is available post-song, right down to which lyrics you messed up. So take the ego hit and rehearse song segments to get your timing perfect.
3. Write The Hits
After covering the greats, you'll be ready to truly express yourself. Using the robust Music Studio, you can create original songs beat by beat or generate drum beats and bass lines with the press of a button. Making music is as simple as playing the World Tour guitar while manipulating the whammy bar, the touch-sensitive slide bar, or even tilting the guitar for volume. Leveraging the tone technology from Line 6 POD's, maestros can pick from a laundry list of effects and styles in order to get the precise sound for their epic masterpiece. Compose a song solo, or pump it out with your buddies, and then use the GH Mix editing tool to hone it to perfection. GH Mix will let you fix problem spots in songs, nudging notes around or duplicating sections that work well.
Once you've written your magnum opus, release it to the world by uploading the song to GH Tunes with your designed album cover and recommended genre, where all the other Guitar Heroes can sample and rate your hard work. GH Tunes will highlight the rising stars, newest songs and best of the week as picked by Activision and Neversoft, and all of it is completely free. In other words, you literally can become a real-world star in Guitar Hero: Word Tour.
Of course, if all of this sounds way too complicated, then you can simply start your rock career by picking a pre-made character and playing some music. No customization, no practicing, no composing; just note playing. But with the studio just a menu click or two away, you might it hard to avoid going from casual strummer to creative songwriter. After all, Grammy season isn't that far away.
Posted: 20 Oct 2008
