Activision's Guitar Hero series is receiving another mainline entry in just one month. Rather than offering just a new soundtrack, a slew of new features are also being added to the game to further improve the experience.

As with each mainline title in the series, Guitar Hero 5 will build off of the features of Guitar Hero: World Tour. Every feature present in the preceding title will make a reprise in GH5 alongside two new modes and a few new features. Additionally, nearly every downloadable track players have downloaded in World Tour will be forward-compatible and will take use of all the new features.

One of the new features Guitar Hero 5 will offer is drop-in/drop-out play and bands comprised of any number of instruments. Rather than force the typical guitar, bass, drums, and vocal combination, players can use any combination of four instruments whether it is four guitarists, or two drummers and two vocalists. This will allow players to take use of all their extra instruments and play what they specialize in without having to switch out with other players. The drop-in/drop-out play will allow players to change their instrument and difficulty on the fly as well, providing the most flexible setup available in a Guitar Hero game ever.

RockFest mode is the game's other new, major addition. In this mode, four players locally or eight players online will be able to partake in a variety of challenges. Momentum is a sub-mode that will adjust the challenge based on how well a player is performing. Excellent performance will bump the difficulty to Expert and provide the greatest amount of points. Elimination is another sub-mode in which the worst players are systematically removed until a victor is crowned. Other sub-modes include Perfectionist, where only certain sections of a song count towards points; Do-or-Die mode, which will eliminate player control if a note is missed; and Streakers, where consecutive notes are rewarded exponentially.

In addition to RockFest mode, players will also have access to a variety of song-specific challenges that can be completed to varying degrees of success: Gold, Platinum, and Diamond. Completion of these challenges will unlock hidden material as opposed to the previous in-game currency.

According to Activision, the Music Studio mode will see some improvements as will the Mii freestyle mode. The game will feature a "Guitar Hero Nintendo Ecosystem" where the game will communicate with the Nintendo DS, unlocking a stage manager and video editor DS controller feature that can be used within the Mii Freestyle mode. A new game mode, Roadie Battle, is also unlocked with the DS.

Guitar Hero 5 is set to offer an eclectic 85 new songs from 83 artists and will be available internationally September 1.