Review: Band Hero

The game, which includes a microphone, a guitar and a set of drums, resembles Rock Band in many ways – without the rock music.

That is a good thing if you’re trying to appeal to a broader market. Band Hero is instantly accessible, with the most non-gamer out there able to join in, if only at the mic initially.

Songs are across the pop spectrum, from Taylor Swift to The Village People to Nelly Furtado. The ubiquitous Swift is the biggest selling point for the game, fronting the commercials.

The game comes loaded with 65 songs at the outset, with downloadable content already available through the built-in music store.

Gameplay with the guitar follows the standard set with Guitar Hero. As buttons flow toward the screen, players push the matching colored buttons on the neck of the guitar while strumming. The drums are similarly played, with the drum heads or cymbals hit as the corresponding buttons appear onscreen.

The microphone requires the player to maintain the same sound length and pattern as appears onscreen, although actual singing skill isn’t really required.

The guitar isn’t always a guitar in Band Hero, since many of the songs don’t have a strong guitar presence. Sometimes it’s a piano or an organ and sometimes it represents a horn section. This might seem like sacrilege to hard-core players, but it’s just another way for a diverse audience to participate.

The drum set is larger than the Rock Band set, featuring three drum heads, along with two cymbals and a bass pedal.

The microphone is a solid, professional-looking mike. It feels like one you would use if you were really fronting a band.

If you have a spare Guitar Hero guitar laying around, you can add it as a bass guitar, completing your band. A player using the one guitar can also choose between lead guitar or bass guitar.

Band Hero is set up so that you can solo on any of the instruments, if you don’t have any friends or relatives handy. Someone showing up late to the party can jump right into a game. Each player can also set the difficulty they would like to try, so even if you’re new to the genre, you can play alongside the pros.

Game modes have a little something for everyone.

There is basic training, to get you up to speed on the instruments.

Competitive gameplay lets you pit your talents against your friends’ skills.

Quickplay lets you jump in and go, choosing the songs you want to play in the order you’d like and letting you set the skill level and even your “handedness” – a little love for the lefties out there.

The Career mode plays out much like in the Guitar Hero series – you and your band start off at a low difficulty, playing small town dives and eventually working your way up to the big time.

Band Hero goes to great lengths to make the experience as family-friendly as possible, even down to editing lyrics that could be deemed objectionable.

For instance, in Don McLean’s American Pie, the word “whiskey” is removed from the phrase “good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye,” I guess because it is an alcoholic beverage. Why the rye, a type of whiskey,  was left in is a mystery, though.

You can create a rocker – designing your perfect avatar onstage – down to tattoos and fret boards on your guitar. The Guitar Hero Studio also offers downloadable songs that have been custom created for the game.

If you’re looking for a fun group activity this holiday season, you can’t go wrong with Band Hero.

Platform: Playstation 3, Xbox 360 Rating: Everyone Manufacturer: Activision Score: 9 “non-rockin’” chilies