The difference five years can make is astounding when you think about it. A game like Guitar Hero went from a surprise success to a colossal franchise, ballooning one of the most niche genres with massive appeal. In that five years, a total of fourteen games would carry the Guitar Hero name, with three more lifting the 'Hero' moniker for themselves. Seventeen games. Five years. One series.
It is no wonder that the franchise imploded upon itself by 2010. Activision was struggling with lower returns on rhythm games, an over-saturated marketplace, even lawsuits from musicians over the likenesses of them in-game. It was turning into a mess, to the point where CEO Bobby Kotick decided to put the series on ice after 2010, with only two more games to release for the Hero franchise, DJ Hero 2, and the penultimate Guitar Hero game at time of writing, Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock.
Warriors of Rock in some ways represents the final gasp of Guitar Hero as a franchise. It is a loud, bombastic game that lost part of its identity long ago, shackled by the whims of a publisher who tried hard to make it compete with Rock Band. After a full year of titles that we're mediocre, at best, Warriors of Rock would sadly get the brunt of the ire from critics of the time, noting it as the weakest Guitar Hero game in the franchise, an aimless, soulless game that lacked focus with a weak setlist and stilted visual style.
Warriors of Rock had to knock it out of the park to really capture the attention of critics who were at this point just as burned out as players. After all, this reputation is earned after a year of games essentially being the same in terms of visuals and progression. Hindsight of course 20/20. Warriors of Rock is a good, if flawed game, and it allows Neversoft's final swing at the series the one thing it lost when they first took it over; to carve an identity for itself.
That identity is what was missing from the Guitar Hero franchise since World Tour. The quirky characters with goofy presentation, the emphasis on the music over musician cameos, and ultimately, the spark that gives Warriors of Rock inspiration that allows it to stand out from the cascade of Guitar Hero games released in 2009, it purposefully stops trying to chase success by the standards of Rock Band.
The conditions Neversoft found themselves in were dire here. Activision had already closed the Guitar Hero division, and Red Octane, which began the whole franchise five years ago, was shut down completely. Neversoft knew that whatever they made, would be their final game in the franchise, and felt that the disjointed setlist of Guitar Hero 5 was one of the main reasons (on their end, at least) that led to poor sales. Neversoft's Brian Bright said it best in an interview at the time, "we were trying to please everyone out there and I think in the end you end up not pleasing any one person a lot."
Warriors of Rock is the hardcore Guitar Hero game. It is the one for fans of the franchise, and made with the loving care of fans of the franchise. Part of Neversoft's plan of development was to not try to be just another band-based game. It was instead decided to go back to the games roots in a sense, by emphasizing three aspects; the music, the guitar hero characters, and finally, to forge a new path outside of the confines of the standard formula.
This meant that the soundtrack would be rock focused in a way that invoked the first few Guitar Hero games, with an emphasis on rock, punk, metal and alternative bands over a variety of pop and other genres. It would also be guitar-centric for the first time since Guitar Hero 3. The other instruments in the game can be played, but outside of several standout songs, the song selection in Warriors of Rock was guitar heavy. It was also tuned for expert mode, which by this point, an estimated 40% of players were playing exclusively.
The real jumping off point that differentiates Warriors of Rock is quest mode, a first in the series. As part of their plan to re-focus the franchise, Neversoft decided to focus on one of the most unique parts of Guitar Hero; the character avatars. The characters by this point were often cursory to the guest cameos and self-made avatars, but nonetheless had appearances in most of the games of the franchise. Finally giving them a bit of a storyline and the spotlight over celebrity musicians was easily the right call, though Neversoft did get the band Rush and Gene Simmons of Kiss involved as narrators for the quest mode.
Quest mode essentially replaces the setlist progression in the other games, where each venue this time is played by a specific Guitar Hero character, like Pandora or Axel Steel. The character plays a setlist of songs associated with their music genre, with an encore presentation that would eventually unlock their potential as a 'warrior of rock.' See, the characters are chosen fighters who must slay a machine monster known as 'The Beast', as it tries to destroy the Demigod of Rock. The goal of the game is to recruit eight rockers to fight the beast with their newfound powers, recover a lost artifact, the legendary ax-guitar, and slay the Beast.
If this sounds like a bunch of silly nonsense, it's because it is. The game's plot and dynamics were directly inspired by heavy metal album covers and liner notes, with the right amount of cheese poured on top. Each of the warriors is given an extreme makeover, and even a special power that directly affects gameplay. Casey Lynch's character, for example, gives the Streak Guardian power, which guards your streak twice instead of once, meaning you can make two mistakes before a note streak ends. Pandora's power turns the star power multiplier to a 6x vs a 2x, so you earn extra points every time you use star power.
Little additions like this actually flesh out the Quest mode well. Each of the eight warriors can compliment each other with different combinations of powers, which become dependent on the song being played. This is important in part due to two major set piece sequences in the game, playing the entirety of Rush's 2112 Album, and fighting the Beast in the game's climax.
Rush's 2112 sequence is, even from critics at the time, the high water mark of Warriors of Rock. It is universally praised for being artistic, imaginative, and full of the grandeur and bombastic power that makes Guitar Hero feel like it's finally found its voice again. The entire album, broken up into several parts, is used as a narrative piece for finding the legendary ax-guitar in the Quest mode, but it's lyrical content, narration by the band, and visual style make it the most unique set piece in the entire Guitar Hero franchise, even rivaling, and perhaps surpassing, the imaginative dream sequences from The Beatles: Rock Band.
The battle with the Beast is a bit less dynamic visually, as it requires the player to divide their warriors into two bands, and play through three Megadeth songs, including the song "Sudden Death", which was written by Dave Mustaine specifically for the game's conclusion. "Sudden Death" is often considered one of the hardest songs ever charted in Guitar Hero, and the conceit is that the powers of your chosen warriors will help you overcome its challenges to get you through it.
The game even sports a coda to it after the Beast is vanquished, with a final, even harder setlist of songs containing the likes of Slayer, Steve Vai, Children of Bodom, and of course, DragonForce as a final challenge. After beating the Beast, there is also a gameplay mode where you can go through all of the game's songs with all eight warriors, and use their combined powers to achieve a 40-star rating for each song, going beyond the five star ratings from the previous game.
Yes, the Quest mode is cheesy. It also might lack a bit of variety; as each setlist is catered to a specific genre or style of music to match the central avatar featured and ultimately, not super serious as a narrative. Gene Simmons is also a poor narrator, lacking a lot of conviction in his performance; but in truth, the Quest mode was another victim of tastes at that time. With many journalists and players clamoring for a more realistic portrayal of playing music, down to the point where a game like Power Gig tried and failed hard to cater to that mindset, Warriors of Rock's more cartoonish and arcade-styled structure was a tough sell. Yet, it is the part of the game that has aged the best. Its structure and theming are solid, its gameplay the same basic premise with some creative liberties to the note charting, and the powers, while gimmicky, fit thematically and feel refreshing to play. Quest mode is not a masterpiece of storytelling, but it is a thematic, arcade-minded vision that Neversoft excelled at, making it both fun and memorable to play.
The song selection in Warriors of Rock is very good. Reviewers at the time griped that a lot of the song choices felt a bit rote and second-rate, opining that previous games in the franchise already featured some of the best songs. "Blitzkrieg Bop" is a memorable Ramones song, while the "Theme from Spiderman" is not, for example, but here "Theme from Spiderman" is Johnny Napalm's encore. Songs like "Stray Cat Blues" from the Rolling Stones, "Cryin" from Aerosmith, "Burn" from Deep Purple and others would not be the first choices for any rhythm game for sure. However, in context of the characters they represent, the genre of music they invoke, and for the weight of the Quest mode, they are adequate enough when surrounded by the more marquee choices like "2112".
It does help a lot that Warriors of Rock supported a lot of backwards compatibility from previous Guitar Hero games, while adding even more songs as DLC, including a few full albums from the likes of Linkin Park and Soundgarden. Songs from World Tour all the way to Band Hero would be importable into the game, including 34 songs from Guitar Hero: Metallica. Each of the songs would be available in the new Quickplay+ mode, which included the challenge achievements from previous games plus a new challenge with the warriors in getting 20+ stars on each song. Stars become currency, as they help unlock outfits, characters, venues and guitars for players.
Warriors of Rock would not go on to be a classic like the other Guitar Hero games, and would be the last Guitar Hero game released for five years. This gave the franchise, once white hot, a chance to cool down after some rough times towards the end of this run. Neversoft would exit the picture, while Activision would have one more game in the "Hero" franchise to release in 2010, DJ Hero 2. After five years of constant, yearly releases, Guitar Hero was finally on a hiatus, but Neversoft was able to let the series go out on its own terms.
Time has been kind to Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock I feel. For many of the criticisms it had when released have become its strengths that allow it to stand out today as a unique - and dare I say, good game - despite some flaws. Warriors of Rock was a chance at something bold and new, something to finally distance itself from the stigma of chasing Rock Band and pushing for games that feel like cash grabs or sponsor advertisements. It was, at its heart, a game, something that was lost in the final years of active development for the series but found again in the most silly, extreme way. Warriors of Rock truly feels like Neversoft is trying to recapture some of the magic lost from Guitar Hero 3, and while it doesn't wholly succeed, it's a positive effort nonetheless that allows Guitar Hero to rest on a high note.