Guitar Hero: Reawakened

Guitar Hero: Reawakened
Developer(s)	Beenox
Publisher(s)	Activision
Series	Guitar Hero
Platform(s)	Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch
Release	October 16th, 2021
Genre(s)	Rhythm
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Tagline: "Reawaken your inner warrior."

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 on October 16th, 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 [Shamara Rock and Polarra Snow]).

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
• Shamara Rock (New Character)
• Polarra Snow (New Character)
• 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 35 in quickplay+) (Icecrown Citadel is also unlocked as a venue)
• Illidan Stormrage (Warcraft) (reach rank 50 in quickplay+) (Argus is also unlocked as a venue)
• Reinhardt Wilhelm (Overwatch) (reach rank 70 in quickplay+) (Eichenwalde is also unlocked as a venue)
• Garrosh Hellscream (Warcraft) (Reach rank 90 in quickplay+) (Tanaan Jungle near the Dark Portal in Past Draenar is also unlocked as a venue)

Venues:

• Tiger Arena
• Rocky 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 35 in quickplay+) (Arthas Menethil is also unlocked as a rocker)
• Argus (Warcraft) (reach rank 50 in quickplay+) (Illidan Stormrage is also unlocked as a rocker)
• Eichenwalde (Overwatch) (Reach rank 70 in quickplay+) (Reinhardt Wilhem is also unlocked as a rocker)
• Dark Portal [Tanaan Jungle in Past Draenar] (reach rank 90 in quickplay+) (Garrosh Hellscream 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 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, Rock Underworld, or the FINAL boss, they will be in warrior forms. Otherwise, in regular songs (except for Rock Underworld), they will be in human form.

When players complete quest mode and go on to conquer the venues, they will instead play as that home venue's rocker as well as their respective band members, akin to Warriors of Rock. Venues 2-4 will be "flashbacks" for Shamara, Polarra, and Eddie respectively. They will also get to witness their transformations that happened before the story of Reawakened takes place. These happen after the player conquers half the songs on their respective songlists. For the telephantasm experience, players can pick any of the 12 warriors they choose into three groups of 4, each group playing two songs. In the Rock Underworld, players are stuck with the three poster children of the series, but can pick any of the other 9 warriors they want to fill out the band. Two of the three songs in Final Battle, players can pick any of the 12 they want, with 7empest having its own "venue", akin to the Tool venue in World Tour.

Once all venues are conquered, a bonus 13th venue is unlocked.

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. In this game, players can use up to three warrior powers as opposed to two in Warriors of Rock.

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. This is known as the All-Powerful Star challenge.

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

List of songs for Guitar Hero: Reawakened

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: Shamara Rock: warrior form is an ogre. (Rocky Shrine) [Johnny]

Song list:

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

3: Polarra Snow (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]

Intro: Who here is a fan of gambling? This casino was passed down starting with a man named Edward Caine Knox. Currently, it is owned by his grandson Edward the III, who many know as Eddie Knox. Gamble some spare money, enjoy the brewery, or even enjoy some shows. This casino has everything to offer for entertainment.

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]

Intro: A lab was not enough, so an entire factory was made. This has aesthetics and feel to something from the far future. When one is alone with creations, that one would eventually make something bigger. A certain inventor built this so more of her creations will be born more quickly. With this, what will the future bring in the industrial world? Machines, stages, and rock.

Song list:

• The Hand that Feeds - Nine Inch Nails
• When Worlds Collide - Powerman 5000
• Everything Zen - Bush
• Heaven Beside You - Alice in Chains
• Joyride (Omens) - Chevelle
• 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]

Intro: This castle, known as Razorback Castle has been passed down to many generations. This holds a lot of history and has even been through many upgrades as well to keep up with the modern age. Packed with dining rooms, stages, etc, this has everything to offer. Time to rock this castle to the core.

• 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
• Weak and Powerless - A Perfect Circle
• Blurry - Puddle of Mudd
• Keep Away - Godsmack
• Self Deception - Lacuna Coil
• Light's Out - Breaking Benjamin
• Something From Nothing - Foo Fighters
• This Celluloid Dream - AFI
• Mark the Graves - Linkin Park
• 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 the 8 possessed warriors now free. The first two songs will have 4 each with all four of their respective powers for each song. Only the four powers of the warriors selected for each song will be active. For the final song, all-powerful mode is active, meaning all 12 warrior powers are active. During the final song, it is a long cinematic focusing on a long 1-on-1 fight between Demi-God and Lou after the latter gets weakened after the 8 freed warriors weakened him from his all-powerful giant mode.

First Song: Unfortunately, they were not able to stop Lou from becoming all-powerful, but their efforts were not entirely in vain. They were at least able to free the other 8 warriors. In addition, Lou is not as powerful as we wanted to be, but he is still extremely dangerous. They have done their part well. Now the other 8 will step up and help hold off and hopefully weaken him until my arrival after I have been healed and recovered form my injuries. The first four are up.

Second Song: You have done well, warriors. A powerful blow indeed, but there is still a lot of fight left to be done. Next group is up. Show him what you are made of.

Final Song: A powerful blow, he is no longer all-powerful, but he still has the souls absorbed within him and too dangerous to engage. The 8 did their work, but had little power left. You all have done well, but leave the rest to me. This is also personal. It is payback time, Lou.

• Am I Evil? - Metallica
• Among the Living - Anthrax
• 7empest - Tool

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
• Twilight of the Thunder God - 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, using rock and metal instead of variety of genres like in a select few games.

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.

Beenox 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, Shamara, and Polarra obtained their warrior powers. They will have their own song list 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.

Expansions:

It was confirmed that expansions will be added to Guitar Hero: Reawakened over the course of this game's lifetime. These expansions will include a large number of new songs (near 6-8 times the songs from a DLC pack) and most will be band-centric. These expansions will be downloadable content. This is a major change from when Activision used to sell expansions as separate games. One confirmed expansion focuses on the Red Hot Chili Peppers (who was originally going to have their own Guitar Hero game in 2011 before it got cancelled due to rhythm game sales on the decline at the time). This expansion is set to be released April 9th, 2022.

A second expansion was confirmed to be centered on Australian rock band AC/DC. It was confirmed to have 35 songs, all from said band.