Battle of the Bands: Guitar Hero Live vs Rock Band 4

I mentioned earlier that I'm quite impressed by the potential of Guitar Hero Live's expanding tracklist, though I think developer FreeStyle Games should focus on music from actual rock bands, and leave the likes of Skrillex and Eminem to a potential DJ Hero reboot somewhere down the line. Like Rob said, standing on stage and playing guitar to a bunch of 'wub wub' noises feels stupid and breaks the illusion in a major way.

Like Nick said, I think the future of Guitar Hero Live will be in the expanding of its Live portion. Bringing real bands into the mix and giving the player the ability to stand on stage and play along with them is a brilliant idea.

Rob: I think both games have their flaws, but if I was going to fork out for one of them it would have to be Guitar Hero Live.

Rock Band may have perfected the music rhythm game, but is that more true this time around than last? I don't see any incentive to hand over a wad of cash for the same basic experience, especially when the price is so ridiculously inflated.

And yes, I know Guitar Hero's instrument feels cheap, but not significantly more so than Rock Band's. They're both kind of crappy, but at least Guitar Hero prices its instrument accordingly.

I'm impressed that Guitar Hero Live is trying to do something different. It's not there yet – and to be completely honest I'm probably not going to buy either of these games – but it looks like Guitar Hero is on a path that'll lead to something I'd invest in.

I'm excited by what future installments of Guitar Hero have in store, whereas I feel like I can already see what Rock Band will offer. It includes PS2-quality animations and instruments so expensive you could go out and buy a real guitar, which you probably should instead.

Nick: Learning a guitar takes a lot of time and practice. Sometimes you just want to feel like a rock star without having to worry about any of that rubbish.

And yeah, I think Guitar Hero does a better job of giving you that sensation this time around. If you like gaming with plastic guitars, Guitar Hero Live is definitely a unique enough experience to be worthy of your money.

Rock Band 4, on the other hand, feels like a more complete game to me. It's got more to do, more to see, and the instruments are more robust.

But it has practically priced itself out of contention. I'm eagerly awaiting the moment retailers try and clear stock from shelves and I can pick it up cheaply, but until that happens, I'm more than happy playing Guitar Hero Live.