When Jon Napier, FreeStyleGames’ director of projects, said that Guitar Hero Live would have something for everyone, he wasn't kidding.

A screenshot posted to the official Guitar Hero Live Facebook page revealed the first ten songs included in the upcoming music game, and as promised, the track list is all over the place. Sure, the game looks like it still favors indie and hard rock, but what about players who prefer blues? Or folk? Or Norwegian pop? From the looks of things, Guitar Hero Live has all kinds of music fans covered.

The released song list is as follows:

  • Ed Sheeran, "Sing"
  • American Authors, "Best Day of My Life"
  • Jake Bugg, "What Doesn't Kill You"
  • Gary Clark Jr, "Don't Owe You a Thang"
  • Band of Skulls, "Asleep at the Wheel"
  • Of Monsters and Men, "Little Talks"
  • Alter Bridge, "Cry of Achilles"
  • Biffy Clyro, "Sounds Like Balloons"
  • Blitz Kids, "Sometimes"
  • The War on Drugs, "Under the Pressure"

According to the Facebook post, these are just ten of hundreds of songs that will be available when Guitar Hero Live launches this fall. Presumably, that total is split between the game's main campaign and its online mode, Guitar Hero TV.

Notably, all of these songs are pretty new - the oldest is Gary Clark Jr.'s "Don't Owe You a Thang," which was released in 2010. That's a big departure from the original Guitar Hero, which came out a decade ago with a track list comprised almost entirely of older metal hits and classic rock standbys. While it's hard to imagine a Guitar Hero game that won't have some older music, the message here is pretty clear: Guitar Hero Live looks forward, and doesn't draw on the past.

As most fans already know, the centerpiece of Guitar Hero Live is a first person mode that uses live action footage to recreate a rock concert from the guitar player's point of view. So far, only one in-game band has appeared in the videos, raising concerns about how well Guitar Hero Live's music will blend with its visuals. The energetic, crowd-surfing footage shown so far has a pretty distinct vibe, and it's going to look awfully silly if, for example, Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir's voice starts coming out of Broken Tide vocalist Ryan Burnett's mouth (notably, Hilmarsdóttir - singer for Of Monsters and Men - is the only female lead vocalist featured in these ten songs).

Obviously, FreeStyleGames must have some plan in mind, and it'll be interesting to see exactly how the developer plans to include such a wide selection of music in Guitar Hero Live while still keeping the amount of live action footage needed from getting out of hand. Keep an eye out for more information about the ground-breaking first person mode, as well as an expanded track list, as Guitar Hero Live's fall release creeps closer.

Guitar Hero Live is expected in late 2015 for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Wii U, Xbox One, and Xbox 360.

Source: FreeStyleGames