Guitar Hero: Reawakened

Guitar Hero: Reawakened is the 8th main entry in the Guitar Hero series. However, it does not follow Guitar Hero Live and instead falls in line with the first 6 main Guitar Hero games, more specifically, Warriors of Rock. It is set to be released for the Playstations 4 and 5, Xboxes One and Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch in Fall 2021.

Gameplay
As with previous games in the series (besides Guitar Hero Live), Guitar Hero: Reawakened lets up to four people play in a band on vocals, lead and bass guitar, and drums, to successfully match notes as they scroll down the screen. Unlike Live, Reawakened goes back to using a 5-button guitar controller, much like the Guitar Hero games from 2005-2010. Warrior forms make their return from Warriors of Rock. Unlike said game, where only 8 characters got transformations, there will be 12, including said 8 that got them in WoR, along with 4 more, (2 veterans [Izzy Sparks and Eddie Knox] and 2 newcomers).

Character designs for veterans will be reused from Warriors of Rock.

Players playing this game for the first time will start off with 12 characters while being able to unlock more through quest mode and quickplay+. Warrior and spirit forms are no longer their own characters, but instead are appearances for those characters. Warrior forms are unlocked after clearing certain venues. Also for the first time in guitar hero history, you select your venue, difficulty, and rockers after you select a song.

Characters in this game:


 * Axel Steel
 * Johnny Napalm
 * Judy Nails
 * Izzy Sparks
 * Pandora
 * Lars Umlaut
 * Casey Lynch
 * Austin Tejas
 * Echo Tesla
 * Eddie Knox
 * New character (female; so far unnamed)
 * Another new character (female; so far unnamed)
 * Lou (Unlocked in quest mode, clear venue 10)
 * Grim Ripper (Unlocked in quest mode, clear venue 10)
 * Minotaur (Unlocked in quest mode, clear venue 10)
 * Demi-God of Rock (Unlocked in quest mode, defeat final boss)
 * Herald of Rock (Unlocked in quest mode, defeat final boss)
 * God of Rock (Unlocked after conquering all of quest mode)


 * Clive Winston (reach rank 7 in quickplay+)
 * Xavier Stone (reach rank 14 in quickplay+)
 * Midori (reach rank 21 in quickplay+)
 * Quincy Styles (reach rank 28 in quickplay+)
 * Arthas Menethil aka the Lich King (Warcraft) (reach rank 45 in quickplay+) (Icecrown Citadel is also unlocked as a venue)
 * Illidan Stormrage (Warcraft) (reach rank 58 in quickplay+) (Argus is also unlocked as a venue)
 * Reinhardt Wilhelm (Overwatch) (reach rank 70 in quickplay+)

Venues:


 * Tiger Arena
 * Shamrock Shrine
 * Polar Dome
 * Knox Casino
 * Metallic Factory
 * Telephantasm (Unlocked by completing the Telephantasm Experience in Quest Mode)
 * Razorback Castle
 * Roman Colosseum
 * Paramourn Theater
 * Allegiant Stadium
 * Rock Underworld (Unlocked by completing Venue 10 in Quest Mode)
 * Final Battle (Unlocked by defeating the final boss in Quest Mode)
 * Mt. Rocklympus (Unlocked by conquering the other venues in Quest Mode)
 * Stage of Kings
 * CBGB
 * Infernal Hall
 * Icecrown Citadel (Warcraft) (reach rank 45 in quickplay+) (Arthas Menethil is also unlocked as a rocker)
 * Argus (Warcraft) (reach rank 58 in quickplay+) (Illidan Stormrage is also unlocked as a rocker)
 * Hyperspace (Unlocked by conquering ALL of Quest Mode)
 * Rush 2112 (Unlocked by purchasing the Warriors of Rock collection DLC or the Legacy Collection DLC)
 * The Monument (Unlocked by purchasing the Warriors of Rock collection DLC or the Legacy Collection DLC)
 * Beast Dethroned (Unlocked by purchasing the Warriors of Rock collection DLC or the Legacy Collection DLC)
 * Dream Theater (Unlocked by purchasing the Dream Theater Metropolis DLC)

Just like Warriors of Rock, the biggest part of Reawakened is Quest Mode, once again narrated by the Demi-God of Rock. Some time after the beast was defeated, an unknown entity has put every rocker under his spell and now serves him (with the exception of only 3 (Axel Steel, Johnny Napalm, and Judy Nails). Demi-God, witnessing the horrors, wanted to help them out, but is not able to due to being gravely injured by the same entity, but discovers a fourth that was unaffected (Izzy Sparks). After recruiting him, the 4 go through many venues and battle the other warriors. The players attempt to complete songs and challenges to advance the story and game. Just like Warriors of rock, guitar is the biggest focus, making the difficulty curve for the other instruments rather inconsistent.

The default line up (THE lineup for quest mode) is Axel on drums, Johnny on vocals, Judy on guitar, and Izzy on bass.

The story culminates into a story section loosely based on Soundgarden's telephantasm album, with 6 of the songs playable. An ancient artifact is found in the telephantasm world which would aid the unaffected warriors in their quest to defeat the entity (Later revealed to be Lou) and free all the rockers from his spell. This is narrated by a member of the disbanded Soundgarden.

This game has 120 tracks from 115 different artists, the most of any game in Guitar Hero history. Focus is mainly on Rock n' Roll and metal. A legacy collection DLC will feature many tracks from the first 6 main guitar hero games as well as Rocking the 80s. Another collection was announced which would feature tracks from the band-centric games like Aerosmith, Metallica, and Van Halen.

Those who purchase the Warriors of Rock collection or the entire Legacy Collection DLC will get to experience the quest mode from Warriors of Rock. Those who never experienced Warriors of Rock will get to witness how 8 of the characters obtained their warrior powers in said game. Those who have will get to relive the moments.

For the venues, the names you see from venue 2 onwards are not the characters you play, but who you will have to face in a guitar battle in that venue. The character in bracket is who would face that rocker.

Guitar battles make a comeback, using the formula from Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock.

Earning enough stars in each venue will initiate a warrior transformation in venue 1, or a guitar battle between warriors from venue 2 onwards before the encore.

For this, when it is a guitar battle, encore, the telephantasm experience, Venue 10 (Rock Underworld), or the FINAL boss, they will be in warrior forms. Otherwise, in regular songs (except for venue 10), they will be in human form.

Due to Axel, Johnny, and Judy not having their own venues in quest mode for reawakened, their respective venues from Warriors of Rock, Stage of Kings, CBGB, and Infernal Hall, return as quickplay+ venues.

"Party Play", where the game automatically plays songs and allows for players to jump in at any time, remains in the game. The game also includes "Quickplay+" mode to play any of the in-game songs or downloadable content (DLC) directly. Quickplay+ mode also includes some of the features from Guitar Hero 5's Career mode as well as the quickplay+ mode of Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, such as song challenges that are otherwise not incorporated into the Quest mode. Each song, both on-disc and DLC, has thirteen different challenges to be completed. Players have the opportunity to use the unlocked Warrior form of the game's characters within Quickplay+ mode in order to take advantage of their gameplay benefits as necessary to complete some of these challenges. Unlike Warriors of Rock, after quest mode is dominated, players have the chance to be all-powerful for quickplay+ though only if the players are playing as the characters that have and are in warrior form (few others like Lou and Demi-God can be played as well). When all-powerful, players have the powers of all 12 warriors.

Exclusive to the Switch version, the roadies make a return. In this mode, up to four additional players with their own undocked Switch wirelessly connected to the docked Switch (the "Roadies") can assist the other players using instrument controllers. The Roadies can create setlists from the undocked Switches, or engage in gameplay through "spells" that improve the performance of the player they are assigned to. Alternatively, in Roadie Battle mode, the Roadies can attempt to distract another player while at the same time removing the distractions placed on their player by another Roadie.

Main Setlist
Venue 1: Izzy Sparks and his transformation into a warrior (he is with his band in this before joining the other 3 main characters of this game). His warrior form takes on the appearance of a humanoid tiger. His basic doubles the active star power duration, while his effect+ makes it quadruple the duration. Location is Tiger Arena.

''Intro: So many rockers have fallen under the Entity's spell except only a handful. Thankfully, I was able to find a fourth unaffected. Meet Izzy Sparks. He has the flair and the skills to back it up. Surely he is worthy, now is the time for him to prove his worth.''

''Warrior Transformation: Ah, a great performance out of Izzy. He has proved himself, now he will be rewarded. *sparks surround him completely, then he emerges in a new form, with the appearance of a humanoid tiger* Ah, this form suits him well. Let us see if he can bring the roar to the stage.''

Song list:


 * More Than This - Roxy Music
 * Heart of Glass - Blondie
 * Clones (We're All) - Alice Cooper
 * All I Want is Everything - Def Leppard
 * Far Far Away - Slade
 * I Won't Forget You - Poison
 * Carrie - Europe
 * It's My Life - Bon Jovi
 * Don't Bring Me Down - Electric Light Orchestra
 * Animal I Have Become - Three Days Grace (Encore)

2: New character with warrior form of an ogre. (Shamrock Shrine) [Johnny]

Song list:


 * Should I Stay or Should I Go - The Clash
 * My Name is Human - Highly Suspect
 * New Divide - Linkin Park
 * Fight for Your Right - Beastie Boys
 * 21st Century (Digital Boy) - Bad Religion
 * Vertigo - U2
 * Fake It - Seether
 * Buddy Holly - Weezer
 * Hero - Chad Kroeger of Nickelback
 * Like a Stone - Audioslave (Encore)

3: another new character (This one's warrior power can be this: basic would double the multiplier [that is without star power at all, so max multiplier would be x8 without star power without other powers combining with it] while the effect+ makes it triple the current multiplier. Warrior form is that of a humanoid polar bear) Location is Polar Dome where outside is snowing and cold. [Izzy]

Song list:


 * Pardon Me - Incubus
 * My Demons - Starset
 * One Last Breath - Creed
 * I'm So Sick - Flyleaf
 * Bound for the Floor - Local H
 * The Otherside - Red Sun Rising
 * Alive - POD
 * Cold - Crossfade
 * Dead & Bloated - Stone Temple Pilots
 * Back Against the Wall - Cage the Elephant (Encore)

4: Eddie Knox (His basic power in quickplay could be that a missed note reduces rock meter by half of how much it would usually go down. Warrior power would make it only a quarter of it. His warrior form is the appearance of a zombie gambler) Location would be the Knox Casino. [Johnny]

Song list:


 * Juke Box Hero - Foreigner
 * China Grove - The Doobie Brothers
 * Feel Like Makin' Love - Bad Company
 * Partytime - 45 Grave
 * Just What I Needed - The Cars
 * Bungle In The Jungle - Jethro Tull
 * Down on the Corner - Creedence Clearwater Revival
 * Simple Man - lynyrd skynyrd
 * Gimme Shelter - The Rolling Stones
 * Tom Sawyer - Rush (Encore)

5: Echo Tesla (Metallic Factory) [Izzy]

Song list:


 * The Hand that Feeds - Nine Inch Nails
 * When Worlds Collide - Powerman 5000
 * Sweet Dreams - Marilyn Manson
 * Everything Zen - Bush
 * I Stay Away - Alice in Chains
 * Dragula - Rob Zombie
 * Supermassive Black Hole - Muse
 * Tonight, Tonight - Smashing Pumpkins
 * Hole in the Earth - Deftones
 * Strum & Drang - KMFDM (Encore)

Halfway Point: Soundgarden telephantasm experience (if they are willing to sell the license to use 5 or 6 of their songs from the telephantasm album in order to retrieve the artifact of the same name). For the story for these songs, I would imagine this being narrated by guitarist Kim A. Thayil.

''Intro: It was in my responsibility to show them this realm. This place holds an ancient artifact that could turn the tides of the battle their way. It is known as the Telephantasm. However, to retrieve it, they will have to prove their worth.''

Song list (All by Soundgarden)


 * Hunted Down
 * Outshined
 * Rusty Cage
 * Spoonman
 * Black Hole Sun
 * Fell on Black Days

6: Lars Umlaut (Razorback Castle) [Axel]


 * Cirice - Ghost
 * Aerials - System of a Down
 * Mudshovel - Staind
 * Here to Stay - Korn
 * Megasus (Song and Band)
 * Amerika - Rammstein
 * Stupify - Disturbed
 * Tear Away - Drowning Pool
 * Made of Scars - Stone Sour
 * Celestial Crown/Barael's Blade - The Sword (Encore)

7: Pandora (Roman Colosseum) [Judy]

''Intro: Ah, the Roman Colosseum, an ancient wonder that has withstood the tests of time. During ancient times, gladiatorial battles were the biggest form of entertainment among the masses. So much blood was shed here. Today, it would be frowned upon by modern day crowds, but there are other ways to entertain a crowd, without death happening. Let us see if you can rock the colosseum to the core.''


 * Weight of the World - Evanescence
 * Blue - A Perfect Circle
 * Blurry - Puddle of Mudd
 * Keep Away - Godsmack
 * Self Deception - Lacuna Coil
 * Light's Out - Breaking Benjamin
 * Something From Nothing - Foo Fighters
 * Click Click Boom - Saliva
 * This Celluloid Dream - AFI
 * 10's - Pantera (Encore)

8: Austin Tejas (Paramourn Theater) [Axel]

''Intro: Paramourn theater: One of the biggest theaters in the world. How did this one become possible? Well, it was thanks in part of funding by a certain recluse. Here, you see a lot of classical, musicals, orchestra performances, etc. But you would usually never see a rock concert held in here. Well, looks like that is about to change in a bit.''


 * Somebody to Love - Queen
 * Magic Carpet Ride - Steppenwolf
 * Magic Man - Heart
 * House of the Rising Sun - The Animals
 * Immigrant Song - Led Zeppelin
 * Don't Fear the Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult
 * LA Woman - The Doors
 * Woman of the World - Aerosmith
 * Walk of Life - Dire Straits
 * War Pigs (2017 Live Version) - Black Sabbath (Encore)

9: Casey Lynch (Las Vegas: Allegiant Stadium) [Judy]

''Intro: Many rockers dream big, but some are able to earn that right. Allegiant Stadium holds a massive amount whether for a sporting event or even a concert. Many rockers have their reasons to rock, whether for the riches, fame, or to rise to the top. But for a rare few, those mean nothing. They are just there to rock. Well, time for talk is over. Now is the time to rock.''


 * Breed - Nirvana
 * Hangman's Body Count - Volbeat
 * Diamond Eyes - Shinedown
 * Cum on Feel the Noize - Quiet Riot
 * Love Bites - Halestorm
 * No One Like You (2011) - Scorpions
 * Slither - Velvet Revolver
 * Welcome Home - Coheed and Cambria
 * Highway Star - Deep Purple
 * Death by Rock N' Roll - The Pretty Reckless (Encore)

10: Lou at the Rock Underworld (this would be a 3-person battle of the bands instead of a regular guitar battle, but normal guitar battle rules still apply). Lou's band consists of himself on guitar, the grim reaper on bass, and the minotaur on drums. Players choose three of the four characters to face them in this battle.

Intro: What's this? *crowd along with Casey Lynch look in shock and horror as the four just disappear in fire* ''It seems the entity is done playing games. He now wants to deal with them personally on his home turf, the Rock Underworld. Now there is more than just pride on the line. They will need to battle for pretty much their souls. The tough battle is just about to begin. Best of luck to you, warriors.''


 * Your Betrayal - Bullet For My Valentine
 * Oblivion - Mastodon
 * Shepherd of Fire - Avenged Sevenfold
 * Demonology and Heartache - Atreyu
 * Facing Hell - Ozzy Osbourne
 * Isolation - Alter Bridge
 * Arms of Sorrow - Killswitch Engage
 * The Negative One - Slipknot
 * Rainbow in the Dark - Dio
 * Run to the Hills - Iron Maiden (Encore) (Since they are in warrior forms already to start the venue, you get to select 2 additional warrior powers to aid you in the encore).

Final Boss battle with ALL 12 rockers freed (will split into three groups of 4, can be arranged for which group, but the final group is locked with Axel, Izzy, Johnny, and Judy, though you will have ALL 12 warrior powers for the final song (I feel 7empest by Tool would fit well).


 * Am I Evil? - Metallica
 * Among the Living - Anthrax
 * 7empest - Tool (The four main characters play this final song, they are all-powerful (meaning they have all 12 warrior powers to aid them in this).

Bonus: God of Rock. (The Demi God has his own band as he heads for his homeland (Mt. Rocklympus) for a rock concert. After ALL songs in the quest mode have reached max stars, the god of rock [Demi's father] appears, gives out a smile, and challenges the demi-god to a guitar battle, the latter immediately accepting. After Demi-god defeats his father, the latter joins him in his band for the final encore of the game.)

''Intro: After witnessing the heroes defeating Lou and dominating the venues, I was invited back home to do a concert at Rocklympus. He told me, bring the best and rock this to the core. I thought to myself, and I always, you want the best, well you are gonna get the best. Let's rock n roll.''


 * Paradise City - Guns N' Roses
 * Troopers of the Stars - Dragonforce
 * Farewell, Mona Lisa - The Dillinger Escape Plan
 * Delusions of Savior/Repentless - Slayer
 * Halls of Valhalla - Judas Priest
 * As Loke Falls - Amon Amarth
 * Tornado of Souls - Megadeth
 * Laser Cannon Deth Sentence - Dethklok
 * Hexed - Children of Bodom
 * Ghost Walking - Lamb of God
 * Green Grass and High Tides - The Outlaws (Final Encore)

Development
Rumors surfaced in October of 2020 of a new Guitar Hero game. Activision later confirmed that a new Guitar Hero game was in development, and would follow mechanics from Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock rather than Guitar Hero Live. A teaser trailer was released New Years Day in 2021, to acclaim from veteran Guitar Hero fans. This game goes back to its roots, just like Warriors of Rock.

Gene Simmons, lead singer of KISS, was confirmed to return as the voice of the Demi-God of Rock, reprising his role from Warriors of Rock. He is one of only two voice actors that will have any amount of voice lines in this, the other being Kim Thayill. Their voice work would go into narrations.

Vicarious Visions and Activision confirmed that a major DLC project is in the works for this game. This was later revealed to be Metropolis Parts 1 (the song) and 2 (full album). For part 2, there are two acts and each can either be played in separate songs or at once.

3 more DLC projects will each include how Eddie Knox and the 2 new characters obtained their warrior powers. They will have their own songlist rather than the ones that are played before they are battled in quest mode.

To add some fun with graphic effects, especially with the powers of the Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X, visual effects will be added when star power is active. The visual effect depends on the character. For example, Axel's instrument surrounded by a mini-sandstorm or earth shaking around him, Johnny's emitting green smoke (like when he transformed into a warrior in WoR), Izzy's emits sparks of electricity, and Judy's lights up on fire.