The first thing you’ll notice about Guitar Hero is that it’s not controlled in the traditional way that most other games are. Included with the game comes a replica guitar controller. This works exactly as you would expect it. You’ve got 5 fret buttons used for each varying note, a strummer for actually playing the notes and a whammy bar to tweak notes for extra points. The size of the guitar, while not quite the same as real one, is certainly big enough to feel good, particularly around the waist of an experienced guitarist who will feel right at home with this.
Your task in Guitar Hero is pretty straightforward. You play songs, you win money and you spend the money on a variety of unlockables ranging from new guitars and characters to actual bonus songs from lesser-knows acts from around the world. The better you play, the higher rating you will get and the more money you will earn. As with any band just starting out, you begin your journey at the bottom of the pile starting off with small gigs in bars, though it’s not long before you’re performing in front of sell out crowds inside huge stadiums. The game itself is much like the previous Harmonix games Frequency and Amplitude, or most other music-based games in general. You’re presented with a bar that scrolls vertically with various coloured markers sliding down the screen. Each of these represents the different coloured fret buttons on the guitar. By holding the appropriate coloured fret button and hammering the strummer you must time your playing with the on screen markers. Single notes are shown with just a solitary marker, while long notes have a long trail behind them indicating that the button must be held for that length of time.
Playing the double chord notes are never easy
While initially simple, things soon get more complicated when chords are introduced and you have to hold two buttons at once. Miss these notes and the ‘Rock’ meter in the bottom right corner of the screen will go down. Go too far into the red and it is game over. On the flip side of that, hitting many notes in a row will start a combo. Every time you hit 10 notes in a row you will earn a multiplier to your score ranging from 2x to 4x score bonus. In addition to that, there are special ‘star’ notes littered throughout each of the songs. Hit these sequences without missing you’ll fill up your ‘star bar’. Once this is filled enough you can activate it by holding your guitar vertically and instantly double your multiplier to as much as 8 times its normal score. This is obviously key to gaining the high scores.
Guitar Hero features 4 perfectly judged difficulty levels. Easy mode is ideal for beginners as by only using the first 3 fret buttons and offering simple song layouts at a slow pace, it eases the player in gently. Normal spices things up a bit, adding in the 4th button while the general speed and complexity of the songs increase. Hard mode introduces the final fret button while the faster song layouts really start to fit the music perfectly. The final setting is Expert, which does exactly what it says on the tin offering some of the most finger-blistering challenges in gaming. The beauty of Guitar Hero is that there is a setting suited for everyone. While more casual gamers who haven’t the time or perseverance to learn the game will find plenty of enjoyment in the Easy/Normal modes. On the flip side, real dedicated players will lap up the Expert mode. Nothing is unfeasibly hard, it can all be beaten with practice and patience. Within a few weeks you’ll be flying through songs you deemed near impossible when you first attempted them, and it’s that sense of accomplishment that makes a great game.
It’s not just the various difficulty settings that give Guitar Hero such a rewarding learning curve. The songs themselves are a brilliantly balanced mix of initial simplicity that slowly progresses into devious complexity. Early songs like Franz Ferdinand’s "Take Me Out", Bad Religion’s “Infected” or even “More Then a Feeling” by Boston offer more straightforward, melodic tunes to ease you into the game with. By the end of the game however, Pantera’s "Cowboys From Hell" and Ozzy’s “Bark at the Moon” will have you tearing your hair out by comparison. The soundtrack on the whole is very hard to fault as it packs so much variety. Modern bands Queens of the Stone Age, Sum 41, Audioslave and Incubus excellently compliment the old school rockers like Queen, The Ramones, Motorhead and of course, Jimi Hendrix.
You can't beat a pair of pink sunglasses.
The rest of the soundtrack is equally as strong too with the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, White Zombie, The Donnas, David Bowie, Judas Priest and Deep Purple all lending their songs. And of course there’s Megadeth’s "Symphony of Destruction" which being a personal favourite lends itself perfectly to hamming along with a guitar to. It’s worth noting that none of the main music in Guitar Hero is actually licensed and is done by sound-a-like vocalists. Very good sound-a-likes, though - the Ozzy Osbourne one for example sounds more like Ozzy than Ozzy does, but if you were expecting the real thing then you may be a little disappointed. That said, there is an argument to be had that it actually benefits the game more than it hurts it, because the game is about ‘your’ band, the fact that it is ‘your’ vocalist singing and not Lemmy himself growling through the ‘Ace of Spades’ does actually tie with the theme of the game in the big scheme of things. Another complaint could be had over some of the glaring omissions from the game. No Metallica? No Guns N' Roses? AC/DC? Iron Maiden? I can only imagine their absence was down to license trouble or money issues because they would be top of the list when putting together a guitar themed soundtrack. Fingers crossed for next time then!
The presentation throughout Guitar Hero is hard to find fault with. Menus are tidy and easy to navigate while the whole game has a unique scribbled notepad-like look about it. In game everything is clear and easy to understand with big, bright markers leaving the player with no confusion about what they are supposed to press, while the graphical quality of the band and the surrounding environment is suitable enough. It’s not going to win any graphical awards, but a game like this doesn’t need to, especially when the character designs and environmental detail fit the style of the game so perfectly.
Even though the game does contain a great, if a little overly simple, 2 player mode, the long term appeal of Guitar Hero is surprisingly high. Usually games with added peripherals tend to be great fun for about week and then are never seen or played again (re. Donkey Konga and Sega Bass Fishing to name but two). But just like with their previous games, Harmonix have managed to retain that same appeal both Frequency and Amplitude had, bringing the player back time and time again. This could be down to the brilliant soundtrack or the addictive nature of the gameplay, but most of all it’s because of how fun the game is. Guitar Hero is fun because it takes something that many of us wish we could do - play the guitar like a professional - and makes it achievable. It takes years of practice on a real guitar to play ‘Smoke on the Water’ (yeah, if you're a retarded monkey - Ed)properly, but it’s something you can do instantly here and feel good about it. Fun is what gaming is all about and Guitar Hero has it in bucket loads. Don’t miss out.
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