WTF Happened To Guitar Hero?

Resurgence Of The Rhythm Game

It may have been a long time since any of us have thought about Guitar Hero, but I can almost guarantee that more recently you’ve seen a slight uptick in the amount of rhythm games on your radar. Guitar Hero and Rock Band, as well as all their semi-identical brethren, are now long outdated - but their spirit and style has been revived as of late as VR gaming has been on the rise.

If you’re an avid user of TikTok, chances are that you’ve seen your fair share of Beat Saber, whether that’s people playing it or adverts for it. With other titles including Pistol Whip and Synth Rider, we’re starting to see an appetite in the mainstream again for rhythm-based games.

Unsurprisingly though the rise in interest is thanks to a serious change and innovation in the genre’s output. What eventually killed Guitar Hero, at its core, was a failure to innovate in favour of flooding a saturated market until the cash ran dry. Now with everyone exhausted and uninterested in that take on it, it’s time for something new - and these VR offerings certainly fit that criteria.

The important thing now with rhythm games on VR is to make sure that it’s not the only thing we’re seeing, as it’s not controversial to say that the market is so far lacking in diverse quality titles. Hopefully we won’t see a repeat of the Guitar Hero arc with the new generation of music-driven, rhythm hitting games, but only time will tell.

Honestly though, if Guitar Hero released an immersive, VR rehash tomorrow, would you play it? I’m not sure I can say for certain that I wouldn’t be drawn in…