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Guitar Hero Live details new Hero Powers

Star Power is no more, as Guitar Hero Live will introduce a new mechanic called Hero Powers, which will find new ways to give players in-game boosts.

Ozzie Mejia

July 7, 2015 11:00 AM

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It's been pretty clear that Guitar Hero Live would look to take music games in something of a more unconventional direction, while looking to retain the spirit of the original series. With that, Activision and Freestyle will be introducing a new mechanic called Hero Powers.

Hero Powers will act as a replacement for the classic Star Power mechanic, offering select power-ups that boost the player's score. These powers are activated with a simple tilt of the guitar or by hitting the Hero Power button on the guitar peripheral. Unlike the old Star Power mechanic, players earn Hero Powers by racking up in-game currency and picking up Hero Powers later down the line.

These powers include:

• Clear Highway - Removes all immediate notes from the highway. These are all registered as hits and will add to your score, streak, and multiplier.
• Double Multiplier - The old Star Power mechanic of doubling a player's multiplier for a limited time.
• Dial Down - Reduces the frequency of notes for a limited time to make tough solos a little easier.
• Dial Up - Increases the frequency of notes for a limited time to give players a chance to add to their score and multiplier.
• Score Chaser - Max multiplier is doubled for a limited time.
• Safety Net - Multiplier and score streak are frozen at their current value.
• Invincibility - Hits all notes for a temporary period, while missing notes do not register.

On its face, one might wonder whether such a concept would compromise the idea of the score chase by introducing external power-ups. As if that sort of thing could possibly happen with a Guitar Hero game. This is one of those things that may not look so good on paper, but maybe it'll work out better in practice. Look for more information on these new additions as the Guitar Hero Live release date gets closer. Activision and Freestyle will rock out on October 20.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?