Dude looks like a lady! Oh... it IS a lady...
Let's not beat around the bush too much here - if you don't know the basics of Guitar Hero by now, then we'd be a little bit concerned and might question why you're on a gaming website in the first place. However, for those who have yet to pick up a plastic guitar and give it a crack for themselves, pressing the coloured fret buttons and strumming to hit the notes as they come flying down the screen at you in time with the music is what it's all about. Hit lots of notes, get the high scores, and laugh at your mates who are (debatably) much more feeble than you are at being a rock legend - that's essentially the aim of the game. For anyone who has played a Guitar Hero game before (or those lucky sods who have managed to get their paws on the guitar in Rock Band), they will feel right at home with Guitar Hero: Aerosmith. In fact, in terms of bringing innovation and new ideas to the table, this game is probably the absolute smallest step forward for the franchise so far. It's Guitar Hero III with an Aerosmith coat of paint, and that's going to be either awesome or horrible depending on where your rock music allegiances lie.
The only real difference between this and Guitar Hero III is that this one is packed with Aerosmith content - you know, things that only fans of the band will actually care about. Video interviews that introduce each new venue of the career mode, along with Aerosmith character models and guitars based on Joe Perry's actual guitars are pretty much all there is in terms of 'new' content, along with what is obviously an incredibly Aerosmith-heavy track list. There are around 40 tracks on the disc, with the large majority of them songs from the bands expansive career; in terms of content, 40 isn't really that many in comparison to past Guitar Hero titles, and it's been announced also that no downloadable tracks will be made available in the future, so there's not much room to move once you've played all of your favourite songs to death.
This looks oddly familiar...
It's incredibly easy to be negative about this game based on the fact that we're not the biggest Aerosmith fans on the block here at PALGN, but we must say that if you are a fan of the band, this is a pretty cool experience. In the career mode specifically, you'll progress from venue to venue, and each one is based on a venue that Aerosmith played at during their career that was significant to them. Each 'stage' is given a brief introduction via a fast-paced mix of interviews edited together, and it really does set the tone for the gigs in question; even though we're not fans, the video segments are quick enough and are edited cleverly enough that they're still entertaining, and when the fans are chanting for Aerosmith to come on stage and play their own tunes, you do get the vibe that the 'main event' has arrived, so to speak. It can get a bit much at times for non-fans like us, but we can definitely see the appeal for those people who cry everytime they hear "I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing" on the radio.
In terms of production quality, at least the game generally does a good job of presenting itself. Visually it still falls a little bit flat; while the character models move around with the same style as the band themselves, they still look a little bit strange if you look at them too closely. The graphics in Guitar Hero has always been cartoon-ish in style, so this isn't necessarily a detriment to the game depending on your perspective, but the animations tend to look a little un-natural at the best of times. The music in the game is solid, and all of the Aerosmith tracks are original recordings, which is good, but unfortunately the tracks from other artists that feature are cover versions. While they do sound alright, it's obviously never going to be as 'good' as the real thing, and it does bring down the overall experience a little bit when the rest of the game is filled with the original versions.
"I'm so hungry I could eat this microphone..."
Much like the multiple versions of SingStar that get released nowadays, the choice to purchase this particular version of Guitar Hero should be based solely on the tracklist, given that there isn't anything else in terms of gameplay features to really draw you in. So if you like Aerosmith, this is probably a safe purchase; the now classic Guitar Hero gameplay is still solid, and there are enough fan-specific tidbits that will make any Steven Tyler fan a little bit giddy. If you don't like Aerosmith however, this is definitely not the best place to strum on your favourite plastic peripheral - especially if you've played other Guitar Hero games in the past. This truly feels like a band-specific expansion, and as well as being a not-so-thrilling addition to the franchise, it's also probably not the best place for Guitar Hero newbies to start their collection, given the lack of variety. Only die-hard fans need apply.
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