GUITAR HERO 5, BRINGING BACK ARTISTS FROM THE GRAVE... VIRTUALLY!

Now for those who read my blogs, you'll know I've talked about The Beatles: Rock Band quite a bit lately and how excited I am for that game. But it's not the only music rhythm game to get a release next month, it's also not the only music rhythm game to virtually bring much adored musical artists back from the dead. For one could not forget that the latest Guitar Hero game is set to hit stores in early September.  
 
Stunningly named Guitar Hero 5, it's the fifth installment of the hugely successful Guitar Hero franchise. It only feels like yesterday that I was reviewing Guitar Hero: World Tour, oh how time flies when your strumming you favourite plastic guitar. It's been interesting to see how Guitar Hero developers Neversoft have gone about dveloping this latest game, it almost seems as if the Guitar Hero franchise is looking to now please a slightly different crowd to it's main competitor Rock Band. There now taking a more 'party' orientated approach with new and rather intriguing modes. We'll wait and see how well this works out for all involved.  
 
But I'm not going to go on a 'moaning git' rant about the fact that Guitar Hero 5 features much loved musical figures who are no longer with us. But considering I felt weird about playing Guitar Hero: World Tour with a virtual representation of Jimi Hendrix, I'd hate to wonder how I'd feel playing with grunge legend Kurt Cobain. While I'm not a Kurt Cobain superfan, I do have huge respect for both the musical genre he helped bring to fame and the man himself. I'm all for adding some modern musical legends into a Guitar Hero game, afterall they are technically Guitar Heroes in their own right. But dead ones, well that feels slightly uncomfortable to me. But maybe that's just me and I'm being a total child about it all.  
 
Though considering that most gamers think Activision/Neversoft are 'milking the cow' with the Guitar Hero franchise these days, adding musical legends like Johnny Cash probably wouldn't lower their popularity levels any lower. But is it such a big deal, probably not. Afterall, Neversoft would have needed the agreement of the families of these artists to have them in a Guitar Hero game in the first place. So if there fine with it, then we should be right? I honestly don't know, Guitar Hero 5 isn't looking to bad actually and it as a rather interesting setlist.  
 
While I won't lie and tell you that I love the Guitar Hero franchise these days, it's still capable of producing good music rhythm games and even though you get the feeling it's slipping futher and futher behind Harmonix's Rock Band franchise, I still think it's worth checking out. Yes some of the extra features seem rather stupid and yes it's popular to hate Activision whenever you get the chance (especially if your from the UK). But it's always been a solid series for those who love their music, and hopefully Guitar Hero 5 will be no different. Seeing a virtual Kurt Cobain in Guitar Hero 5 does have one great side effect though, at least we finally get to play Smells Like Teen Spirit. 
 
What are your thoughts on seeing virtual representations of much loved musical figures in a Guitar Hero game? 
 
Thanks for Reading! 
Follow me on Twitter if your the slightly bit bored (JosephBayliss).