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"Guitar Hero 7" redirects here. For the 2011 cancelled title, see Guitar Hero 7 (cancelled).

Guitar Hero Live (also known as GHL, Guitar Hero 7 or GH7) is the seventh main entry in the Guitar Hero series that was announced on April 14, 2015 for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and iOS (with 4th gen Apple TV support),[1][2] and was released on October 20, 2015 in North America and Australia and on October 23, 2015 in Europe.[3] Guitar Hero Live doesn't have backward compatibility with previous instrumental controllers and uses a six-button guitar controller.[4]

Gameplay[]

Guitar Hero Live introduces GHTV, a new feature that showcases a 24-hour playable music video network that lets fans play along to a continually updated collection of official music videos, from new song releases to classic hits (although the game is mostly focused on modern tracks). GHTV also allows players to compete with their friends and other rockers from across the globe to battle for the highest score on any given song. A December 14, 2015 patch introduced Rival Challenges, which acts like Pro Face-Off for GHTV where two players compete each other for the highest score.[5]

The game includes hundreds of playable songs from a diverse range of artists, including The Black Keys, Fall Out BoyMy Chemical RomanceGary Clark Jr, Green Day, Ed Sheeran, The War on Drugs, The Killers, Skrillex, The Rolling StonesThe Lumineers, Pierce the Veil, and many more.

Guitar Hero Live's offline "Live" mode features a first-person view for players and has the game's offline career mode. This live-action gaming experience gives players the chance to be the star of the show and their performance affects the crowd's reaction.

The formula is similar to previous Guitar Hero games. But rather than using 5 frets on the guitar, Guitar Hero Live has two rows of three frets (a total of 6 buttons on the fretboard); one of the rows being white frets and the other row being black frets. There are also now open notes on guitar, which is commonly used for percussive mutes and occasionally for the lowest note.[1]

Vocals are also in the game and works as it does in the previous games. Besides Guitar and Vocals, there is no support for include other instruments such as Drums or Bass in the title, with Jackson stating that the game is "all about guitars".

Festivals and stage bands[]

In the offline "Live" mode's career, the player is the lead guitarist for one of eleven bands: Broken Tide, Yearbook Ghosts, Fight Hound, The Jephson Hangout, Blackout Conspiracy, Portland Cloud Orchestra, Our Pasts Collide, Vivid Screams, The Out Outs, Quantum Freqs, and a Rock the Block supergroup. These bands perform at one of two music festivals: Rock the Block in Boulder City, U.S.A. or Sounddial in the Stoneford Castle, U.K. If the player gets a good rating on an overall performance, they will unlock bonus images of the band the gig was based on, including their name and age, as well as a description of the band member, and, if the player gets a five star rating on every song, a slideshow is unlocked showing pictures of the band, as well as a song from their gig playing in the background (i.e. Yearbook Ghosts has The Rock Show playing).

Venues in the Rock the Block festival include The Ledges (featuring Yearbook Ghosts and Quantum Freqs), Strictland Park (featuring The Out-Outs and The Jephson Hangout), Roadblock (featuring Vivid Screams and Fight Hound, Cactus Joe's (featuring Broken Tide and Super Group). Venues in the Sounddial festival include Barn Stage (featuring Portland Cloud Orchestra and The Jephson Hangout), Fire Pit (featuring Our Pasts Collide and Blackout Conspiracy) and Castle Stage (featuring Broken Tide). Each band plays three songs except Broken Tide plays five songs at Castle Stage once unlocked.

iOS and Apple TV[]

GHL iOS Main Game Exampe 1

Guitar Hero Live on an iPhone while using a Bluetooth Guitar Hero Live guitar controller.

The iOS version of Guitar Hero Live not only contains the full game (including GHTV without Rival Challenges) fully compatible with a Bluetooth iOS Guitar Hero Live controller specific for it but it also contains a "Touch Mode" that plays songs on a 4-lane (1234) highway similar to the amount of lanes the previous iOS Guitar Hero game, playable on iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.[6]

GHL iOS Touch Mode Example 1

Playing in "Touch Mode" without the Bluetooth guitar controller.

In the 4-lane "Touch Mode", black n' white-square notes (that would be normally be considered "bar chords" in the main game but are single notes in "Touch Mode") come down a highway where you tap them on screen as they cross the touch line. When a note were to Hammer-on, pull-off, slide, or bend will usually be followed with a stringed note linked to it like in the previous iOS game, referred to as a "combo note". Also in Touch Mode are "swipe notes," quickly swiping the screen from one fret to another where the arrow points to, similar to strum notes in the previous iOS title.[7][8] Of course, there are also regular chords where the player uses two fingers to press simultaneously to play them and unlike the previous iOS game that only had split chords, they can be adjacent.

The iOS version of Guitar Hero Live was $49.99 (£40) digitally on the App Store without a guitar. The Bluetooth Guitar Hero Live controller can be purchased for $99 (£80) and syncing the guitar controller on an iOS or Apple TV device unlocks the full $49.99 game from the App Store permanently for free. There was also a bundle of two Bluetooth Guitar Hero Live controllers for $149.99 (£120) for two-player support. Unfortunately, Guitar Hero Live is no longer available on the App Store, thus the Bluetooth Guitar Hero Live controllers no longer unlocks Guitar Hero Live for new players past December 1, 2018.[6][9]

iOS devices that Guitar Hero Live was compatible on (and required at least iOS 8.1.4 to play) were:

  • iPad 4, iPad Air, iPad Air 2
  • iPad mini, iPad mini 2, iPad mini 3, iPad mini 4
  • iPhone 5, iPhone 5c, iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus
  • iPod touch (6th generation)

4th generation Apple TVs also supports the iOS version of Guitar Hero Live but Touch Mode does not work in it. Players must be signed into iOS's Game Center server to use and play Guitar Hero Live, albeit there are no Game Center achievements for it.[6]

Vocals with the Companion App[]

Guitar Hero Live Companion app icon

Guitar Hero Live Companion iOS app

Released alongside the game was a free app on iOS (iOS 8.0 and above) called Guitar Hero Live Companion (or the Guitar Hero Live Companion App) which allowed players to use their iOS device as a microphone to sing along the vocal tracks by syncing the app with the main game on any platform through Wi-Fi connection on the same access point.[10]

This app was updated a few times on November 10, 2015 and December 15, 2015, fixing Wi-Fi connection issues with certain routers.

However, the app was removed from the App Store alongside the main iOS game on June 1, 2018.[6]

Soundtrack[]

Main article: Setlist in Guitar Hero Live

There is just over 40 songs in the Live mode, but in GHTV, there are over a hundred songs available for play. Unlike the previous games in the series, songs are given a 1 out of 5 difficulty rating, similar to the Rock Band series. When songs are played in GHTV, the song's music video will be played in the background. This also means that the music video version of the song is played instead of the studio version, which means that any edits or fade outs in the song, such as Eye of the Tiger and More Than a Feeling, will be present. Live versions of songs, such as Hit Me with Your Best Shot and Heart of Fire, will show the band performing the song live. The game is moreso focused on modern songs, instead of songs before the 21st century, as was the case in previous games. There is a diverse selection of artists in the game, and many songs from past Guitar Hero games return.

As of June 1, 2018, Activision announced that GHTV will be shutting down on December 1, 2018.[11] After GHTV shutting down and with the removal of the iOS version of Guitar Hero Live from the iTunes App Store, Guitar Hero Live on consoles will only have its 42 on-disc songs playable.

Gallery[]

Videos[]

External links[]

References[]

v · t · eGames of the Guitar Hero series
Console games
Main series games Guitar Hero · Guitar Hero II · Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock · Guitar Hero World Tour · Guitar Hero 5 · Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock · Guitar Hero Live
Expansion games Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s · Guitar Hero: Smash Hits · Band Hero (main page)
Band-centric games Guitar Hero: Aerosmith · Guitar Hero: Metallica · Guitar Hero: Van Halen
Portable games
Guitar Hero: On Tour series Guitar Hero: On Tour · Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades · Guitar Hero On Tour: Modern Hits
Guitar Hero Mobile series Guitar Hero III Mobile · Guitar Hero III: Backstage Pass · Guitar Hero World Tour Mobile · Guitar Hero 5 Mobile · Guitar Hero World Tour Mobile: Backstage Pass · Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock Mobile
Other games Band Hero (NDS) · Guitar Hero (iOS) · Guitar Hero Live (iOS)
Electronic toys Guitar Hero Carabiner · Guitar Hero Air Guitar Rocker · Kellogg's Guitar Hero promotional toys · Guitar Hero 2nd Edition Carabiner
Miscellaneous games and apps
Arcade games Guitar Hero Arcade
Cancelled games Guitar Hero 4 (NDS) · Guitar Hero Greatest Hits (NDS) · Guitar Hero 7 · DJ Hero 3D
Companion apps Guitar Hero VIP Pass (X360) · Guitar Hero Live Companion (iOS)
DJ Hero series DJ Hero (Renegade Edition) · DJ Hero Mobile · DJ Hero 2
Bundle packs Guitar Hero I & II Dual Pack (PS2) · Guitar Hero II & Aerosmith Dual Pack (X360) · Guitar Hero: On Tour & On Tour: Decades Box Set (NDS) · Guitar Hero III & Aerosmith Dual Pack (Wii)
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