Guitar Hero 5

In the Band Lobby players can assemble a party of local and remote players to form a band, play the Career mode or opt for Quickplay. Most of the competitive multiplayer modes are carried over from former versions, along with two new ones: Party Play (random song selection with the option to join and leave at will using any instrument) and RockFest, a band mode for up to four (local) or up to eight (online) players with a variety of submodes. The songs are divided in smaller portions and for each section the players are rewarded based on a variety of conditions.

General new features introduced to the gameplay include drop-in/drop-out play, where it is possible to join in the middle of a song or stop playing without interrupting gameplay. There is also a new Challenges section in the Career mode.

The different game versions are identical, except for the PS2 version that lacks online game modes and downloadable content, drop-in/drop-out play and song challenges. It is also limited to two instruments and the multitap is not supported. The Wii version supports interaction with the Nintendo DS to edit videos and provides access to the Roadie Battle mode.