Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock Updated Impressions

It was only earlier this week that Activision finally took the official wraps off the latest game in its venerable Guitar Hero series--Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock. This latest title seeks to channel all things rock and metal, and in doing so introduces an approach previously unseen in the company’s plastic power-chord series. Quest mode grows straight set play to include a story-driven experience, tracking the rise of the game’s virtual namesakes as they attempt to tackle the lord of the underworld, "The Beast," and free the demigod of rock.

We snuck into the Activision booth for a quick follow-up look at the game and found the Neversoft development team showing off a fresh lady rocker by the name of Echo Tesla. Born of the elements, Echo’s look straddles the line between rock and industrial, with a bandana concealing the meeting point between her pale-skinned face and her jet-black hair. Buckles and studs adorn her outfit, matching the look and feel of her custom venue, a giant outdoor stage complete with whirring cogs, huge speaker stacks, and coiled metallic lightning rods.

Like each of the other playable characters in GH: Warriors of Rock, Echo has her own set of special skills. In addition to being able to throw down some mean licks, she earns star power simply by hitting a fixed number of notes without error. Her attribute, "star power generator," rewards the player 5 percent of the total star power energy bar for each successful 10-note streak.

Once you’ve earned the requisite number of stars by playing her particular musical set, she will evolve. While she is strapped to a wooden platform and raised high into the air, nature relentlessly strikes her and causes her to change. Jumping back to the ground, Echo is now wearing goggles. Her once long and flowing hair has been replaced with large, steel chain dreadlocks, a good fit alongside her matching steampunk boots. Unlocking level two of star power generator rewards an additional amount of power per streak, for a total of 10 percent for playing flawlessly. Skilled players will be able to deploy their multiplier doubler and continue to accrue enough energy to offset the loss over time as they play the song--provided they don’t mess up.

Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock is due out on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii in September this year. For a full rundown of the changes and the tracklist, check out our first look here.

Stay tuned for more GameSpot coverage from E3 2010.