Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Review - Xbox 360

7.5

Gameplay: 9
Graphics: 3
Audio: 6
Multiplayer: 8
Innovation: 5

The Guitar Hero games may be considered by some as just another fad to go along with Singstar, Dance games, and practically anything on the Wii, but yet these “fads” continue to sell and thrive with sequels, and the Guitar Hero series is the perfect example of this. The third iteration of the series provides gamers with a huge variety of artists including the likes of Alice Cooper, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Who, Pearl Jam, and Metallica. Guitar Hero 3 gives you the opportunity to be the awesome guitarist that you always wish you could be, just don’t expect to get too many achievements.

Gameplay

If you haven’t played a Guitar Hero game, they work basically the same way as those dance games you see the crazy kids at the arcade playing on, except you use a toy guitar. This time around, the guitar is finally wireless which adds to the ability to enjoy yourself while tapping, err, strumming away to your favourite tunes. The basics of playing a song involve pushing any of the five buttons on the fret-bar while strumming the “strum bar” at the same time, as it appears on the screen. This works great in Easy and Normal mode for beginners, but if you want to see what the Guitar Hero games are all about, you have to play it on Hard or Expert for the real experience. Playing the game in expert mode, Guitar Hero 3 becomes a game that many would consider impossible to beat. The game does work on a fairly steady learning curve through the difficulties though, if you can beat the game on easy then you can survive the first few songs in normal, and if you can beat the game on normal you can survive the first few songs in hard, etc. As you get better, the game gets better, and your skill level really starts to be reflected.

Guitar Hero 3 is a great game to watch others play, and that’s probably the main reason why it’s so successful. Also, it’s a lot easier to pick up a plastic controller and press a few buttons than it is to stick your fingers down tightly on steel strings and learn how to play a real song. For this reason alone, the Guitar Hero series has become almost a pop culture icon amongst try-hard kiddies that wish they could play guitar like their favourite band guitarist can. The other main use on the guitar is the Whammy bar, which can be found on all electric guitars and is used to loosen the strings on the guitar to make a note drop down a little bit. This happens in-game on notes that you can hold down on, and is used to boost your star power meter.

Star power is (continued next page)