The internets are all a-flutter with the news that Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock sold a mere 86,000 copies in the U.S. in its debut month. OH NOES! It’s the end of the music genre as we know it! No one plays music games anymore!

Only, there’s one small issue with all these reports — an issue that even some otherwise reputable news outlets aren’t bothering to mention with these doom-and-gloom scenarios: The “debut month” is the calendar month of September. And Warriors of Rock, as you might remember, came out on September 28. Which means that those numbers reflect only the first three days the game was out.

Now, let me be clear: These numbers still do seem a bit low. A sales rate of 28,000 units per day isn’t going to set any records. But consider this: If you remember my post rounding up reviews of the game, many reviews from the bigger, more reputable outlets didn’t go live until a day or two after the game was released. And with only a few exceptions, the reviews have been relatively favorable. Again, not record-setting scores, but good enough that they probably provided reassurance to anyone on the fence about getting the game.

So let’s all calm down and wait for some legitimate numbers to come out, shall we? The sky isn’t falling. At least, not yet.

There are times when I miss being a full-time employee for a videogame publication, but never more than when I hear about sweet shindigs that I would have been invited to prior to my freelance days.

Case in point: Activision’s launch party for Warriors of Rock, which took place on the Paramount lot, decked out with paraphernalia from the legendary CBGB’s (the only real-world location in the game). And the highlight of the night: an intimate performance from Soundgarden. Dan at One of Swords has all the details.

No, I’m not bitter about not being invited. Not at all.

There’s also Exhibit B, which to be fair is something I would not have been invited to, but still makes me look back with a certain fondness on my days of being part of a huge publishing company. This one features Activision employees in a company-wide battle of the virtual bands, with each group getting up to make fools of themselves in front of their colleagues. Don’t miss the performance of “Theme From Spider-Man” by The Parkers, decked out cleverly in outfits that show what would happen if Spider-Man became a Ramone. Dan has all the details about that one, too.

And who says Activision employees aren’t allowed to have fun?

[Read | Read | image: One of Swords]

And after a surprising bit of a delay, the reviews are now rolling in from all over the internet. The consensus? It appears to be something along the lines of “…eh.”

1UP: C
“[Y]ou won’t get the same mileage out of Warriors of Rock as previous Guitar Hero games. It could have been made somewhat better by more accessible, easily relatable songs, but with an otherwise lacking career mode, everything about Warriors of Rock reeks of regurgitated design decisions and a desire to simply make as much money as possible without really trying to add anything new.”

CVG: 7.9/10
“[T]he timely resolution of Guitar Hero’s identity crisis brings with it new issues. Tracks such as Nickelback’s How You Remind Me are completely at odds with the artistry targeting the hardcore players, and this mask slips even further when you’re playing Losing My Religion with band members including a ceiling-crawling lizardman and a headless rocker with a pumpkin on his hip.”

Destructoid: 7/10
“Warriors of Rock is a solid Guitar Hero offering for sure, and perhaps one of Neversoft’s best, despite the weird creative decision to include monsters in its primary experience. It’s a title that packs a ton of content and gameplay onto a single disc, and its import options for songs from previous titles will pad your song selections nicely. But it’s also an experience that feels remarkably similar to last year’s offering, and that’s unfortunate.”

Eurogamer: 7/10
“On a personal level and as someone with a preference for guitar, Warriors is full of songs I’ve never heard, will likely never purchase, but love to play in-game. Highlights include the beautiful strum-free arpeggios of Slash’s ‘Ghost,’ and the falling-to-knees, sex-face solo-noodling of Queensryche’s ‘Jet City Woman.’”

G4TV.com: 4/5
“[T]he game feels a bit like Guitar Hero 5.2. Even though the Quest Mode and track list didn’t cater to my interests, I still played and enjoyed the game until my fingers begged for a break and it’s inarguably the most complete and polished iteration to-date.”

Game Informer: 8/10
“Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock is often stupid and frequently silly, but I got caught up in shredding my way through the ridiculous experience. It doesn’t matter if I was laughing with the game or laughing at it; I was entertained.”

Games Radar: 6/10
“Since Warriors of Rock is still arguably as fun as any previous Guitar Hero, it’s difficult for us to condemn it entirely, especially since most of its new ideas don’t actively make the game worse. But the new ideas, in additional to being patently lame, fail to add anything.”

IGN: 6/10
“[T]he few changes the game sees outside of the quest mode seem geared to the highest echelon of Guitar Hero players, leaving behind the entry level audience that made the series so popular in the first place. … It’s no GH: Van Halen, but after the excellent Guitar Hero 5, Warriors of Rock feels like a lackluster encore rather than a blistering second set.”

Joystiq: 2.5/5
“Warriors of Rock adamantly refuses to evolve the series in any discernible way, and, as a result, the Guitar Hero formula’s gone stale. When playing the franchise’s very first outing, I was consumed by a feeling that I was using a video game controller to interact with music in a meaningful way. While playing Warriors of Rock, I got the distinct impression that I was just pushing buttons for points.”

Official Nintendo Magazine UK: 88/100
“[T]his is easily the most feature-packed Guitar Hero yet. Assuming the songs are up your alley and you’re a big fan of the genre, it’ll take you many tens of hours to play through – and thoroughly enjoy – everything on offer here.”

Official Xbox 360 Magazine UK: 6/10
“Warriors of Rock retains most of the features of previous games, such as the ability to create your own tracks, but while it never detracts from the excellence of the long-running series it’s the most woefully incremental of the bunch so far. … The interesting power mechanic and the return to fun, exaggerated rock and metal aesthetics are there to be enjoyed, but this is a series in dire need of a reboot.”

If you like what you’re hearing, here’s the Amazon listing for all versions of the game. And I’ll be posting more of these as I come across them, so check back later, won’t you? Meanwhile, tell me: Any of these reviews come as a surprise to you?

Those crazy bastids over at The Hero Feed have posted a ton of gameplay videos of Guitar Hero Warriors of Rock. The lineup includes “Fury of the Storm,” “Black Widow of LaPorte,” “Chemical Warfare,” “If You Want Peace… Prepare for War,” “This Day We Fight,” “Psychosocial,” “Setting Fire to Sleeping Giants,” “Sudden Death,” and “Deadfall.”

But that’s not all: They’ve also got another video of “Sudden Death”…with Dave Mustaine playing. Dig it!

[Read | Read]

We’re just a few short weeks from the release of Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, and right on schedule, Activision has unleashed a demo onto Xbox Live.

The demo features four songs:

Black Sabbath	Children Of The Grave
Dethklok	Bloodlines
Foo Fighters	No Way Back
Slash feat. Ian Astbury	Ghost

No word yet on whether the demo is also hitting PS3 today; the PlayStation Store updates much later in the day, so we’ll have to wait and see. But if you don’t have a 360, The Hero Feed has posted a nice roundup of gameplay videos.

Hey there Doubty McDoubtpants, were you scoffing at that Warriors of Rock track list that was leaked earlier this month? Well, scoff no more: Activision has confirmed the whole damn list. You can see the entire, official lineup right…here: Continue reading →