Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock launched this week, and so far the game seems to be getting hammered on pretty good by many reviewers. Not so here. I’m around 40% through the new Quest Mode, and personally I’m enjoying it more than any Guitar Hero game since the first two PS2 installments. Go figure.

I’ll have a review of the game for you next week, but to kick things off I’d like to first talk about the new guitar controller that comes packaged with the game for $100 (and in the $180 “Super Bundle” with drums and a mic). I wasn’t expecting it since I’ve received bundles in the past and typically only get copies of the standalone games to review nowadays, but this time, since the guitar controller has been redesigned I suppose, Activision sent over a guitar bundle for me to shred with. So, before I dissect the game itself, I figured I might as well share my impressions of the new guitar.

Now, I’ve been using the standard guitar controller from the Rock Band 2 bundle for a while, so I don’t have any of the more recent Guitar Hero controllers to directly compare this one to (I don’t think my older PS2 model counts). However, in comparison to the Rock Band 2 guitar, the new Warriors of Rock controller is miles better.

The heft of the controller is rock solid, and it feels incredibly sturdy in your hands. The fret buttons and whammy bar also have a nice resistance to them, and the strum bar has a satisfying clicky feel to it that delivers tangible feedback which really helps with timing as you play along. Of course, that clickiness can also be an audible distraction, as the strum bar does make a fairly loud clicking sound when plucked up and down. Playing with headphones on definitely helps drown out the noise, although it may still annoy spectators or even someone in the next room.

Two other features I like are its dedicated Star Power button placed behind the strum bar in perfect position for you to bump it with the heel of your hand without having to move it out of place (it’s also helpful because this guitar’s tilt sensor seems much harder to trigger than others), and its “Home” button which rests at the center of an analog nub control pad used for menu navigation. Oh, and it also has a really long neck strap, which is something I’ve been wanting for a long time.

Again, these things may be carry-overs from a previous Guitar Hero controller, but they are major improvements over the hardware I’ve been using.

Completely brand new to the Warriors of Rock axe, however, is its customizability. Hidden in a compartment in the neck of the guitar, where the batteries and USB sensor are also stored, is a lever which you hold down to detach the “wings” that make up the shape and design of the guitar’s body. This new feature, in theory, allows you to change the look of the guitar without having to buy a new one altogether. But right now, the only alternative is an axe head design GameStop offered as a pre-order bonus – and unfortunately these axe head wings are shabbily made.

Swapping out the wings is a fairly simple process – I recorded a video of the process and embedded it at the bottom of the page if you’d like to see how it works – and the stock flaming wings included with the guitar lock in tightly and are ergonomically sound. However, the axe head wings are a pain in the ass to detach once they’re in, which is very odd because they also don’t fit firmly into the guitar either. The bottom wing in particular shifts around when you hold it, and the pointed edges of the axe blade jab into your hands.

Shoddiness of the swappable axe blade wings aside, the new Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock guitar is a sweet piece of kit, and if you’re itching to upgrade from an older model this is definitely the way to go. The overall design of the controller is as solid and playable as can be, and the detachable parts (the tip of the guitar also slides off) make it even easier to store. The potential for customization is also promising, but there’s been no word on if, when or how optional wings will be offered, and if newer options are eventually sold they’ll have to be constructed a hell of a lot better than the axe blade to be worth considering.

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In all seriousness, I’m hopeful that Warriors of Rock will be the shot in the arm the Guitar Hero franchise so desperately needs right now, and I’m really eager to see what the new story-based Quest Mode is all about.

Activision rocks Xbox Live with a double dose of beat-mixin’, hard-rockin’ music games today, as playable demos for the Xbox 360 versions of DJ Hero 2 and Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock have now been released. Demo features for each game are as follows.

In the DJ Hero 2 demo, fans will get a taste of four exclusive mixes from the best soundtrack in entertainment as they freestyle scratch, sample and crossfade through various gameplay tutorials, QuickPlay and all-new multiplayer modes including Accumulator and DJ Battle. Mixes included in the demo of DJ Hero 2 are:

· Pussycat Dolls Featuring Busta Rhymes “Don’t Cha” Mixed With Pitbull ”I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)”
· Lady Gaga Featuring Colby O’Donis “Just Dance” Mixed With Deadmau5 “Ghosts N Stuff”
· MSTRKRFT Featuring N.O.R.E. “Bounce” (Battle Mix)
· Estelle Featuring Kanye West “American Boy” Mixed With Chic “Good Times”

Gamers looking to be among the first to experience Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock’s all-new, story-driven Quest Mode, narrated by notorious KISS front man Gene Simmons, will be transformed into rock warriors and shred to the following four hit tracks off the game’s quintessential rock collection:

· Black Sabbath “Children of the Grave”
· Foo Fighters “No Way Back”
· Slash featuring Ian Astbury “Ghosts”
· Dethklok “Bloodlines”

Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock ships this September 28th followed in short order by DJ Hero 2 on October 19th. Both titles will be released on PS3, Wii and Xbox 360.

All 93 tracks to be featured as part of the Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock on-disc set list have been announced this morning, and here they are!

Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock melts faces on September 28th for PS3, Wii and Xbox 360.

· A Perfect Circle – “The Outsider”

· Aerosmith – “Cryin’”

· AFI – “Dancing Through Sunday”

· Alice Cooper – “No More Mr. Nice Guy”

· Alter Bridge – “Ties That Bind”

· Anberlin – “The Feel Good Drag”

· Anthrax – “Indians”

· Arch Enemy – “Nemesis”

· Atreyu – “Ravenous”

· Avenged Sevenfold – “Bat Country”

· Bad Brains – “Re-Ignition (Live)”

· Band Of Skulls – “I Know What I Am”

· Black Sabbath – “Children Of The Grave”

· Blind Melon – “Tones Of Home”

· Blue Öyster Cult – “Burnin’ For You”

· Bush – “Machinehead”

· Buzzcocks – “What Do I Get?”

· Children Of Bodom – “If You Want Peace… Prepare For War”

· Creedence Clearwater Revival – “Fortunate Son”

· The Cure – “Fascination Street”

· Deep Purple – “Burn”

· Def Leppard – “Pour Some Sugar On Me (Live)”

· Dethklok – “Bloodlines”

· The Dillinger Escape Plan – “Setting Fire To Sleeping Giants”

· Dire Straits – “Money For Nothing”

· DragonForce – “Fury of the Storm”

· Drowning Pool – “Bodies”

· Edgar Winter– “Free Ride”

· Fall Out Boy – “Dance, Dance”

· Five Finger Death Punch – “Hard To See”

· Flyleaf – “Again”

· Foo Fighters – “No Way Back”

· Foreigner – “Feels Like The First Time”

· George Thorogood and The Destroyers – “Move It On Over (Live)”

· The Hives – “Tick Tick Boom”

· Interpol – “Slow Hands”

· Jane’s Addiction – “Been Caught Stealing”

· Jethro Tull – “Aqualung”

· John 5 – “Black Widow Of La Porte”

· KISS – “Love Gun”

· Linkin Park – “Bleed It Out”

· Lynyrd Skynyrd – “Call Me The Breeze (Live)”

· Megadeth – “Sudden Death”

· Megadeth – “Holy Wars… The Punishment Due”

· Megadeth – “This Day We Fight!”

· Metallica & Ozzy Osbourne – “Paranoid (Live)”

· Muse – “Uprising”

· My Chemical Romance – “I’m Not Okay (I Promise)”

· Neil Young – “Rockin’ In The Free World”

· Nickelback – “How You Remind Me”

· Night Ranger – “(You Can Still) Rock In America”

· Nine Inch Nails – “Wish”

· The Offspring – “Self Esteem”

· Orianthi – “Suffocated”

· Pantera – “I’m Broken”

· Phoenix – “Lasso”

· Poison – “Unskinny Bop”

· Queen – “Bohemian Rhapsody”

· Queensrÿche – “Jet City Woman”

· Rammstein – “Waidmanns Heil”

· The Ramones – “Theme From Spiderman”

· Red Rider – “Lunatic Fringe”

· R.E.M. – “Losing My Religion”

· Rise Against – “Savior”

· The Rolling Stones – “Stray Cat Blues”

· The Runaways – “Cherry Bomb”

· Rush – “2112 Pt. 1 – Overture”

· Rush – “2112 Pt. 2 – The Temples Of Syrinx”

· Rush – “2112 Pt. 3 – Discovery”

· Rush – “2112 Pt. 4 – Presentation”

· Rush – “2112 Pt. 5 – Oracle: The Dream”

· Rush – “2112 Pt. 6 – Soliloquy”

· Rush – “2112 Pt. 7 – Grand Finale”

· RX Bandits – “It’s Only Another Parsec…”

· Silversun Pickups – “There’s No Secrets This Year”

· Slash featuring Ian Astbury – “Ghost”

· Slayer – “Chemical Warfare”

· Slipknot – “Psychosocial”

· Snot – “Deadfall”

· Soundgarden – “Black Rain”

· Steve Vai – “Speeding” (Vault Version)

· Stone Temple Pilots – “Interstate Love Song”

· Strung Out – “Calling”

· Styx – “Renegade”

· Sum 41 – “Motivation”

· Tesla – “Modern Day Cowboy”

· Them Crooked Vultures – “Scumbag Blues”

· Third Eye Blind – “Graduate”

· Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Listen To Her Heart”

· Twisted Sister – “We’re Not Gonna Take It”

· The Vines – “Get Free”

· The White Stripes – “Seven Nation Army”

· ZZ Top – “Sharp Dressed Man (Live)”

The Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock on-disc set list expands by 22 songs today, two of which — Alice Cooper’s “No More Mr. Nice Guy” and The Runaways’ “Cherry Bomb” — have been re-recorded by the original artists exclusively for the game. Watch the video up top for a behind-the-scenes look at the re-record process, then scroll on down for the list of new songs. Activision has also set up a page with Amazon featuring a “Phase 2 Playlist Reveal” video and preview MP3s for the newly announced tracks.

· Alice Cooper – “No More Mr. Nice Guy”
· Alter Bridge – “Ties That Bind”
· Atreyu – “Ravenous”
· Bad Brains – “Re-Ignition (Live)”
· Blue Öyster Cult – “Burning For You”
· Bush – “Machinehead”
· Deep Purple – “Burn”
· Edgar Winter – “Free Ride”
· Five Finger Death Punch – “Hard To See”
· George Thorogood and The Destroyers – “Move It On Over (Live)”
· Lynyrd Skynyrd – “Call Me The Breeze (Live)”
· Pantera – “I’m Broken”
· Poison – “Unskinny Bop”
· The Ramones – “Theme From Spiderman”
· Rise Against – “Savior”
· The Runaways – “Cherry Bomb”
· Steve Vai – “Speeding”
· Strung Out – “Calling”
· Styx – “Renegade”
· Sum 41 – “Motivation”
· Them Crooked Vultures – “Scumbag Blues”
· The White Stripes – “Seven Nation Army”