2015 might be known as the year rhythm-based guitar games came back, as both Guitar Hero and Rock Band are rebooting their franchises for the next-gen video game systems and banking on nostalgia from the past decade. While metal was a big part of the first wave of games (Dragonforce, The Sword), Guitar Hero Live became the first of the two to unveil some of the songs in their forthcoming game, and either there aren’t that many guitar heroes around these days, or they’ve decided to turn their back on heavy music, at least initially. Here are the first 10 songs to be revealed, via the site’s Facebook page:
- Ed Sheeran – Sing
- American Authors – Best Day of My Life
- Jake Bugg – What Doesn’t Kill You
- Gary Clark Jr – Don’t Owe You a Thang
- Band of Skulls – Asleep at the Wheel
- Of Monsters and Men – Little Talks
- Alter Bridge – Cry of Achilles
- Biffy Clyro – Sounds Like Balloons
- Blitz Kids – Sometimes
- The War on Drugs – Under the Pressure
Well, that’s, um, interesting. We’ve never heard of Blitz Kids or Jake Bugg, Ed Sheeran is a sensitive singer-songwriter type and American Authors is folky. Gary Clark Jr. is the only notable guitarist out of the lot, and it doesn’t seem like anything remotely metal is happening. The comments on the Facebook page and IGN article announcing it suggest that they’re losing a lot of potential gamers by getting more into folk, indie and UK buzz bands.
However, in a video, the game’s developers mention that the GHTV online feature will have hundreds of songs to play, and they mention that there will be heavy metal involved. They’d better name some names pretty soon, though. Guitar Hero Live will be out this Fall.
