The short answer is that this game should have been the successor to Guitar Hero 3. With songs that will truly test your skills on guitar, bass and drums (some on vocals but mostly not), makes this game quite possibly the heaviest and hardest game in the series; also one of my favorite music games ever. The setlist isn't going to appeal to everyone, but Neversoft did a good job by making a great mix of classic rock, modern hard rock and metal songs to feel like you are playing through a classic Guitar Hero. After all, the name of the game is "Guitar Hero" after all and it feels like a step backwards in the right direction to make the name go with the game. 
 
Starting with the all new Quest mode, the main agenda is to play through the songs to achieve a certain amount of stars with each character, gain powers to help you defeat the boss and free the Demigod of Rock. It plays more like an older Guitar Hero but also cuts you a break with the new powers to help make it through the Quest with the least hassle. I found it to be a little too easy when fully powered because you basically can't fail out of a song unless you play the final set and just plain stink. Overall, I found the Quest mode to be fun because the music is was awesome to play through, but still could have used some more structure, polish, and more enhancements with the story to make it a more enjoyable experience.  
 
On to the star of the show, competition with Quickplay+. The only things I liked about Guitar Hero 5 were that you weren't limited to the standard band and that some songs had a challenge to go along with them that would give you more stars when you completed it. Now with Warriors of Rock, each song has multiple challenges and leaderboards for almost all of them so that you can see how you fare against your friends and others around the world. The more challenges you complete, the more stars are added to your Rank, the more things you unlock in the game and the more you will be inclined to play through all of your previous DLC and exports. 
 
I just want to talk about my experience with Guitar Hero 5 really quick because I think that game had to have been the worst in the series imo. I rented that game with a friend when it came out and beat it in a day, tried out the online modes, then haven't touched it for the 4 others days we had it. To me, Guitar Hero had a reputation to be a game that challenged your skills as a plastic guitar player rather than giving you popular mainstream music that the family could play together; World Tour is somewhat guilty of this too. I don't play games with my family, I play games to accomplish certain things in them and Guitar Hero 5 did not give me any reason to continue playing beyond that first run through. 
 
To me, Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock is a game that won't be enjoyed by most because it mainly appeals to the people who loved playing the older games and are looking for a new challenge. Although I only played the guitar and some vocals, I'm sure that there will be hard challenges on bass and drums that will take me a while to complete. I'm also looking forward to busting out my old drums and trying to obtain as many stars as possible while ranking up on the leaderboards.  
 
This may not be the best party game, but if you're like me, you want to try and beat your friends at these songs. There are also challenges that need to be done as a band but hopefully your friends and family will like the music in the game, but chances are that most won't. This game isn't trying to appeal to everyone or give you a musical experience like no other, but give you a video game that relies heavily on obtaining high scores and trying to make you feel that you have accomplished something because of it. That's why I love this game and if you're like me, then you will too. 
 
If I had to give this game a score, it would be a 4 out of 5. I'm just happy that Guitar Hero isn't trying to become like Rock Band and went back to where we all started, the guitar. I'm a guitar player (trying to be a good one) in real life and that's why I started playing these games in the first place because they were awesome to me. If your debating on getting this, just take a look at the track list and if you like the majority of the songs, then it's a no-brainer.

The short answer is that this game should have been the successor to Guitar Hero 3. With songs that will truly test your skills on guitar, bass and drums (some on vocals but mostly not), makes this game quite possibly the heaviest and hardest game in the series; also one of my favorite music games ever. The setlist isn't going to appeal to everyone, but Neversoft did a good job by making a great mix of classic rock, modern hard rock and metal songs to feel like you are playing through a classic Guitar Hero. After all, the name of the game is "Guitar Hero" after all and it feels like a step backwards in the right direction to make the name go with the game. 
 
Starting with the all new Quest mode, the main agenda is to play through the songs to achieve a certain amount of stars with each character, gain powers to help you defeat the boss and free the Demigod of Rock. It plays more like an older Guitar Hero but also cuts you a break with the new powers to help make it through the Quest with the least hassle. I found it to be a little too easy when fully powered because you basically can't fail out of a song unless you play the final set and just plain stink. Overall, I found the Quest mode to be fun because the music is was awesome to play through, but still could have used some more structure, polish, and more enhancements with the story to make it a more enjoyable experience.  
 
On to the star of the show, competition with Quickplay+. The only things I liked about Guitar Hero 5 were that you weren't limited to the standard band and that some songs had a challenge to go along with them that would give you more stars when you completed it. Now with Warriors of Rock, each song has multiple challenges and leaderboards for almost all of them so that you can see how you fare against your friends and others around the world. The more challenges you complete, the more stars are added to your Rank, the more things you unlock in the game and the more you will be inclined to play through all of your previous DLC and exports. 
 
I just want to talk about my experience with Guitar Hero 5 really quick because I think that game had to have been the worst in the series imo. I rented that game with a friend when it came out and beat it in a day, tried out the online modes, then haven't touched it for the 4 others days we had it. To me, Guitar Hero had a reputation to be a game that challenged your skills as a plastic guitar player rather than giving you popular mainstream music that the family could play together; World Tour is somewhat guilty of this too. I don't play games with my family, I play games to accomplish certain things in them and Guitar Hero 5 did not give me any reason to continue playing beyond that first run through. 
 
To me, Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock is a game that won't be enjoyed by most because it mainly appeals to the people who loved playing the older games and are looking for a new challenge. Although I only played the guitar and some vocals, I'm sure that there will be hard challenges on bass and drums that will take me a while to complete. I'm also looking forward to busting out my old drums and trying to obtain as many stars as possible while ranking up on the leaderboards.  
 
This may not be the best party game, but if you're like me, you want to try and beat your friends at these songs. There are also challenges that need to be done as a band but hopefully your friends and family will like the music in the game, but chances are that most won't. This game isn't trying to appeal to everyone or give you a musical experience like no other, but give you a video game that relies heavily on obtaining high scores and trying to make you feel that you have accomplished something because of it. That's why I love this game and if you're like me, then you will too. 
 
If I had to give this game a score, it would be a 4 out of 5. I'm just happy that Guitar Hero isn't trying to become like Rock Band and went back to where we all started, the guitar. I'm a guitar player (trying to be a good one) in real life and that's why I started playing these games in the first place because they were awesome to me. If your debating on getting this, just take a look at the track list and if you like the majority of the songs, then it's a no-brainer.

I'm psyched to check it out.  I'm debating on picking up a copy tomorrow.  The tracklist seems pretty damn solid, featuring a massive amount of songs that I've wanted on a Guitar Hero game for a looooong time.  It's also nice to hear that it feels more like the old GH games, and that the competitive ideals of beating your friends have been brought back to the forefront. 
 
My question is this:  are the touch strip-style see-through gems still in the game, even if there is no touch strip anymore?  While those notes definitely made solos quite a bit easier, it also took away from some of the difficulty on Expert.

Picked the game up yesterday.  To start, I was already going to buy a copy of Soundgarden's Telephantasm, so to get that INCLUDED WITH THE GAME, it would mean I only dropped $45 bones for the games...plus the $16 in credit that I had made the game about $30. 
 
This is the most fun I've had with a GH game in a long time.  I'm in love.  This is Guitar Hero the way that Guitar Hero should have been for so long.  Very satisfied.