“Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock” another washed up entry in aging series

“Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock” feels like a classic band’s comeback tour, hoping to recapture the magic of days gone by.

But it instead illuminates more of the reasons why the “Guitar Hero” franchise has fallen off of a proverbial cliff.

The game chooses to focus on its story mode, of all things, over the actual track list. In the musically-inspired narrative traditional “Guitar Hero” characters must rock out to release their true warrior powers.

Those powers combine to release the Demigod of Rock for an eventual battle with the Beast.

It’s all pretty needless. The story is emphasized, but it does nothing to actually revitalize the game. It features some short cutscenes with Gene Simmons and a fun section in the middle with Rush’s entire “2112” album, but it’s largely forgettable.

The only significant gameplay addition comes from the warrior powers. They have a range of effectiveness, from completely filling the star power meter to protecting your note streaks. After beating the game, players can combine all eight powers and earn up to 40 stars on a song.

But it’s confusing to switch the scoring format in the sixth game, and it makes playing traditionally less fulfilling.

Credit has to be given to the song selection, however. Along with all the Rush songs, there’s a great mix of classic rock bands like Queen and Jethro Tull and newer songs by bands like Muse and Them Crooked Vultures. There are some obscure songs, but that’s par for the course for this sort of game.

The core gameplay is exactly the same as entries past — play the notes and the music plays. At this point, it’d be pretty hard to mess that portion up.

Developer Neversoft didn’t tamper much with the gameplay and for good reason, but it’s a little underwhelming compared to the changes to come in its competitor “Rock Band 3.”

There’s nothing wrong with the game itself. The changes don’t add much to the product, but they don’t subtract much either. This is the 10th “Hero” game to appear on the Xbox 360 since 2007, so the genre is a bit worn out.

“Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock” took another shot at relevance and the attempt is mediocre overall.

Just expect the franchise to emulate the Rolling Stones and have another similar comeback tour next year.