With the slew of music games that have come out in the past few years, it’s hard to believe that there’s anyone on the market left to cater to. Of course, leave it to Activision to find that hole, one last group who has yet to experience rocking out on fake plastic instruments. Yes, Band Hero has finally arrived, bringing with it a more casual appeal aimed at those few people who’ve yet to give the Guitar Hero franchise a shot.

Gameplay
 
If you’re one of the aforementioned people who’ve yet to experience a rhythm game, you’re getting into the genre at the right time. While the Guitar Hero franchise has been around a while now, the series has nailed everything just right in the past 2 games in that series. The only problem was, the games had a limited appeal, thanks to its focus on rock and metal, leaving the pop music/tween crowd out in the cold.

Of course, that’s changed with the introduction of Band Hero. While the GH series is all about fast and furious riffing/drumming/grunting, Band Hero tends to focus on casual, bubblegum filled fun. Instead of rocking out to "Run to the Hills" by Iron Maiden, Band Hero is the polar opposite, with the likes of Taylor Swift’s "Love Story" and the Jackson 5’s "ABC". In terms of track lists, the top 40 approach here is a solid set, but as with all music games, whether you like them or not will boil down to personal preference. If you’re wondering if the tracks found in the game will appeal to you, you can check out the full setlist HERE.
 
The setup for Band Hero is almost identical to that of GH5. You still have the same note highways, and your character will still perform the songs with all the usual rockin’ animations. There’s a standard career mode, as well as the terrific multiplayer options. Song specific challenges are included here as well, such as hitting a certain number of notes, hitting every vocal phrase in a song, and so on.

The Career Mode itself is pretty much the same stripped down version that appeared in GH5. You’ll see your band get invited to numerous gigs, play the track, earn some stars and move on to the next gig. While the Career is a solid mode for serious rockers, it’s the other multiplayer options that really have the most appeal. Playing game modes like "Do or Die" or just jamming with your band is a great experience. There’s even the chance to play using your Live Avatars, which is a nice touch.
 
Graphics & Sound
 
As this is pretty much GH5 with a whole lot of pink and purple, you can bet the game looks just fine. Character animations are the highlight, however, as you’ll likely be preoccupied with hitting the right notes, you won’t notice it nearly as much. Lighting effects, and on stage antics are lively and reflect the energy that performers usually would have on stage. The one area thats lacking visually is the crowd, but for the above reasons, most people won’t notice anyways.

The sound, as always, is excellent. I will offer no opinion on which songs are good/bad/ugly, as it alll comes down to personal preference, but I will say that the varied track list is a little surprising. Seeing Santogold on the same setlist as Papa Roach, and Taylor Swift beside Roy Orbison is definitely a surprising, though the variation is appreciated.
 
Value
 
With 20 less tracks than GH5, it feels a little light on content. The Career mode is a bit short, and without other people to play with, you won’t be getting the most out of the experience. The ability to rip tracks (400 Microsoft Points or $10) or create your own in the GHStudio is great, and add serious value, but given the casual focus, that probably won’t be utilized nearly as much as the other features.
 
Newcomers to the rhythm game genre will definitely find more to love about the game than those who’ve played the previous GH games. That’s because, essentially, GH fans have already played this game two months ago. If you are a GH5 owner, the track list will be the only deciding factor on whether you shell out good money for Band Hero, and I’m guessing the number of people who do that will be far smaller than the number of people who will pick this up as their first rhythm game.

Conclusion
 
The main problem with Band Hero is that there’s actually very little here to differentiate it from the rest of the Guitar Hero franchise. For a game that Activision have said they want to stand on its own, it just doesn’t seem to change the formula enough to make it appeal to people who’ve played other games in the series. At least not yet, anyway. Really, this is just a gussied-up track pack for the casual market. That’s not to say that it isn’t a fun experience, it’s just certainly not a new one.