Customer Ratings & Reviews

I haven't played a Guitar Hero or Rock Band game since college, and Guitar Hero Live has allowed me to rekindle a spark of fun that I haven't felt for close to 10 years. The "Live" mode is familiar in terms of mechanics -- you play introductory songs and gradually unlock more difficult ones. The presentation, though, is novel -- instead of videogame graphics, the crowds, stages, and bandmates are filmed in real-life and stitched together with special effects to make imaginative, cool venues and atmosphere. It's campy and cheesy and actually kind of exciting. If you really enjoy creating a virtual rockstar and dressing them up with clothes, you'll have to look elsewhere. The gameplay is similar to Guitar Hero and Rock Band games of old; you press fret buttons on the plastic controller and strum the plastic strum bar in time with the notes that appear on screen. Instead of 5 fret buttons placed in a straight line, there are 3 pairs of fret buttons, for a total of 6 (three white buttons and three black buttons positioned above / below each other). It's a lot more challenging than the previous setup, because your fingers will have to travel vertically as well as horizontally. I'm pretty good at the 5-button setup, and this is currently kicking my butt. It feels great to be terrible at Guitar Hero again, to be honest. The "TV" mode is a great addition too; the game plays two music video channels 24 hours a day, with curated blocks of music based on different genres. 1PM to 2PM might be heavy metal on Channel 1, with top-40 hits on Channel 2. Then from 2PM to 3PM, it'll be classic rock and indie rock. You jump in and out at will, and get ranked based on other folks that are playing at the same time. You can also acquire "plays" either through playing the TV mode or by paying real money, which allows you to play songs of your choosing rather than the ones currently playing in the Channels. I'm not a power player by any means and don't have a ton of time to play, so it works for me. Overall, this is a great installment in the Guitar Hero franchise.

I loved the old guitar hero so was excited for the new version to come out. I really like the live play but wish there were more songs and more venues. Also the GHTV is a neat idea but don't like how you can't really pick which songs you want to play and it picks for you. Overall its a lot of fun but still think its lacking a little.

The new GH guitar controller layout takes some getting used to. It does present a more realistic feel in terms of actual guitar playing dynamics (I've tinkered with actual playing), but you really need to nail the center of the buttons, cuz if you don't it will pickup stray notes. The "base" game is pretty limited in terms of content, I'm just starting to explore the "GHTV" online experience.

This is a great family game. I have 2 younger boys and set the game on easy mode. They play for hours and I can jam out and listen to great music.

I personally loved the new controller. I felt pretty awesome pulling off some of those trickier songs! The idea to use live, first-person footage sounds better as an idea, because while playing I either hardly noticed (focusing on the notes) or got a headache from the motion. The online functions worked pretty well, I thought. Sure there are microtransactions, but if you're good enough to play on either of the two top difficulties, they don't even matter, because you'll earn more plays than you use. Overall, the gameplay is what REALLY shines here. unfortunately, the rest is all about your opinion and tastes, and we all know how that usually works out... As much as I love rhythm games in general, and with Guitar Hero being an amazing rhythm game, it would be ignorant to say that everybody is in the same boat. While this is certainly a good Guitar Hero game, this is NOT something that will achieve the revival of the franchise.

I have been a fan of music games since the mid 2000s. I was sad to see when the previous franchises were discontinued after their games saturated the market. When Guitar Hero Live debuted for Wii U, I thought I would give it a try to see if it was worth purchasing after the last drought of music games. Admittedly, I was skeptical about the 3X2 button scheme, when I was so accustomed to the 5-button design since the original Guitar Hero. I tried the demo at the kiosk in the store, and was pretty impressed. It was difficult to adjust to the new button scheme, but no reward comes without effort. I'm glad that there are five different difficulty levels in the game to suit the beginner, the advanced shredder, or anyone in between. The best part of the game is seeing the audience's and your own band members' reactions to how well you are playing. Whether I am shredding like a pro or the audience is getting ready to throw bottles at me, their reactions give me the motivation to rock at my fullest potential. I have yet to try the GHTV app, but I am looking forward to doing so soon. Overall, a good game. I would recommend it to fans of the music game genre. Who knows? Maybe this game may even inspire some players to pick up a real axe and shred away to greatness as they turn it up to 11. ROCK ON!

I was really intrigued by the new button layout. Two rows of fret buttons. Although I wish they would have added more than 3 buttons per row, the feeling is more closer to playing a real guitar, granted you're still playing a plastic controller. The Guitar Hero TV is nice since you don't have to pay for dlc, just keep jamming to music videos. You can probably play for hours and hours on end.

The selection of songs on the disk is limited, however, when you connect to Guitar Hero TV section, the setlist greatly expands. It's fun to just play the through the channels and have a stream of music playing, however, it is rather irritating to have to be forced to be connected to the internet.

I only have a Wii U so I was excited when I found out GH Live was coming to the console but disappointed when Rock Band 4 was not. For offline play, the on disc set list had a lot of songs that I liked and the live action style of the single player mode was enjoyable as well. For online play, I thought the lack of permanent songs as DLC would turn me off. However, the implementation of the streaming music gives me a "one more song" feeling and the microtransaction system to play what I want is not an issue because of the abundant tokens awarded through gameplay. A surprise hit for me.

This game brought me back. It was hard to get used to the double fret set up but was easier as I kept playing. The only thing I don't like is all the songs aren't available in the live venues but only available on the guitar hero tv channel in game.

I was really excited when I heard about the changes to the gameplay and it definitely lived up to my expectations. That said the playlist is a major disappointment. I understand that they need to cover all genres but they put way too many obscure Indi rock songs. Who really cares about these songs. Where are all the hits that everyone wants to play. Honestly we played it for a couple days after Christmas and it has set ever since.

I really enjoy this game. The songs within this game are good, but do not really fit the "Guitar Hero" theme. However, they are fun and mostly popular songs most people will know. The Guitar itself has changed since previous editions of the game and lends a new challenge in itself. I'm having a little trouble adjusting to it, but mostly that's because I'm not very coordinated for the speed of the game. The guitar itself is well-built and feels good in your hands. The graphics on the Wii U are very good and the game runs well with no slowdown whatsoever. Overall it is a good, fun, and challenging game.

Pros * Revamped gameplay feels much more realistic * Tonnes of evolving content * Great to dip in and out of * Rewards and incentives to keep coming back Cons * Clicky and creaky build quality * Some song choices are questionable * Campaign section is very short * Not sure how successful “live” sections are in practice

Alright, I'll be honest. I was not a fan of the changes, as I was an old player of guitar hero. If you haven't researched it, basically instead of 5 buttons you have 2 rows of 3. This completely changes the game. It's not bad... I just don't know if it was necessy. If you've never played a previous guitar hero it doesn't matter. Another complaint was that the menu system was so confusing at first. It didn't really give you any direction. Regardless, it's a fun game. Personally I prefer rock band if you ask me.

The game is fun but it does take a good bit of coordination. The negative is that the guitar controller is not very reliable. The first one we got had one button that never worked. Took it back to BB and exchanged for a new unit. A different button on this one failed on the second day of use - then started working again just as randomly as it had stopped. We will keep an eye on it.

The initial unit I purchased came with a busted guitar (the down stroke didn't register). Took it in and got a replacement in about 5 minutes tops! The game itself is a blast, wicked different from what I remember playing when I was younger. Has a cool career mode and constantly updating library that has kept us hooked for way too long, well worth the purchase! Only gave it 4/5 because of the initial guitar, everything else has been stellar!

Fun game - seems to have a little bit of trouble syncing at times and that slows play down some.

The new controls take some getting used to but it is a great way to start up guitar hero again. Guitar hero TV is an awesome addition.

Love the new guitar controls. Could use more songs, as I'm not a big rock/metal fan.

fun if new to you. Otherwise just another GH game requiring you buy new guitars.