No offense to
Richie Valens, Buddy Holly or The Big Bopper; for many rhythm game fans, the day
that it was revealed that Harmonix was to be bought by Mtv and would not be
producing the third entry to the wildly popular Guitar Hero franchise was truly
the day the music died. With Harmonix working away diligently on their brand new
franchise for Mtv (Rock Band, perhaps you’ve heard of it) and
Tony-Hawk-developer-cum-rhythm-game-noob Neversoft handling Guitar Hero III, it
was hard to say what the future would hold for the series.
However, not only
has the series transitioned beautifully into Neversoft’s hands, the third entry
ranks as the most polished one yet. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock is an
absolute blast to play, offering all of the elements that hardcore fans of the
series have been clamoring for years, from a full-on co-op career to a ton of
online features as well as some subtle yet important tweaks in the gameplay to
make it more accessible to newcomers, yet still fun to play and challenging for
masters of the game.
Guitar Hero III
introduces some story elements to the career mode, told through cartoon
cut scenes in between tiers. These show the rise of your band from dingy basement
shows to world (and ethereal) fame. They don’t really add a whole new element to
the game’s presentation, but don’t really take anything away from the game.
Guitar Hero III
features a bevy of new tracks from a variety of different musical eras
throughout the history of rock. While the first few tiers are predominantly
ruled by classic rock tracks (with tracks from the Rolling Stones, Alice Cooper,
Heart, Foghat, Cream and so on), but the game gradually begins to crank out some
newer tunes from artists like Muse and Queens of the Stone Age modernizing the
rock.
The amount of
master recordings featured in the game quite impressive. Whereas the masters
were sprinkled around a little bit in Guitar Hero II, they seem to be all over
the place in Guitar Hero III, making for a much more authentic experience. The
game even managed to score some actual artist likenesses, with Bret Michaels,
Tom Morello, and Slash making appearances (the latter two being unlockable
characters that you can play as).
One thing that
Guitar Hero fans will notice is that the response times are a lot more lax in
GH3. You’ll have a lot more leeway when it comes to hammer-ons and pull-offs,
making it easier to hit some of the more complex solos. While some GH
enthusiasts will likely be pretty pissed off about this change, rest assured
that the game has no shortage of difficulty on Expert mode. Even though the game
has been made more accessible, Guitar Hero 3 has the some of the most difficult
songs ever in the series, with tracks like “Raining Blood” by Slayer, “One” by
Metallica, and the notorious “Through the Fire and Flames” by Dragonforce
bringing painful memories to my hands as I write this sentence.
Another key
addition to the series is the inclusion of the new Battle modes. In Career mode,
the Battles are original compositions written by Tom Morello and Slash for the
game (as well as a Steve Ouimette rendition of “The Devil Went Down to Georgia on
behalf of “Lou”) where you’ll have to beat them at their own song, causing them
to fail. You do so by employing Mario Kart-esque power-ups to fling challenges
their way, like a mid-song lefty flip or causing all of their notes to double
up.
The Battle mode
is a great idea, but unfortunately falls prey to some problems. For starters,
the power-ups that you gain aren’t terribly balanced and tend to randomize the
gameplay a bit too much. While some power-ups are very easy to rebound from (the
“Whammy” power-up only requires you to push the Whammy bar a bit until you
restore your fretboard), others like the double notes will murder you. This is a
huge problem during the final battle with “Lou”, since you’ll go through about
half the song before he gets the first power-up, and if it’s a double note, you
might as well restart right then. At this point, the game is no longer about
skill, but becomes a luck situation where you just hope that “Lou” won’t get the
double note.
Another issue
with the Battle mode is that they’re a bit few and far between. It seems like
this was an idea that the developers wanted to test, but were leery of going all
out with. I say this since there are only the two other battles throughout the
career, aside from “Lou”. For a game called “Legends of Rock”, it seems to be a
little bit lacking in the star power.
However, minor
grumblings aside, this version of Guitar Hero is pretty great, and the best new
feature in this package is the wireless controller. The wireless Les Paul
controller keeps with the series’ licensing tradition of using Gibson guitars as
their body models, and this is the best looking and best feeling GH controller
yet. The controller is extremely responsive and accurate, the strum bar has more
give to it and the buttons feel great. For modders, the game has detachable
faceplates for switching up the look. Additionally, the neck is detachable for
easy storage and transport.
Another great new
feature is the more fleshed out multiplayer elements. There’s a full-on co-op
career mode with a few new songs picked out with co-op in mind (like “Sabotage”
by Beastie Boys and “Reptilia” by The Strokes), as well as the aforementioned
Battle mode (unfortunately, you can’t do the boss battle songs with a friend),
and face-off modes. Oh yeah, and you can play all of these modes online, too.
Graphically, the
game looks much improved over Guitar Hero II. The character models look much
cleaner and detailed (not just PS2 models with a high-def boost), and boast some
impressive lip syncing.
Ultimately, the
biggest challenge that the game faces (or that the series has ever had to face)
is direct competition from Rock Band, set to release next month. While many
gamers are on the fence as to which one to pick up, I would state that missing
out on this year’s Guitar Hero would certainly be a mistake for rhythm game
fans.
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Gameplay:
9.0
Even
with a new developer at the helm, Guitar Hero III doesn’t skip a beat. The
gameplay is a nice improvement over Guitar Hero II, with more responsiveness
during solos and some fun new features. Even though it could stand to be fleshed
out a bit more, the new Battle mode is a great competitive touch.
Graphics:
8.0
A
marked improvement over Guitar Hero II, the character models look great and the
singers actually have some impressive lip syncing this time around.
Sound: 9.5
A
varied and diverse soundtrack spanning several decades of rock, Guitar Hero III
has some great songs and some of the most technically complex that you’ll find
in any entry to the series.
Difficulty:
Medium
Concept:
8.5
Guitar
Hero III introduces some great new features, but could’ve seen them through a
bit more (like the career Battles).
Multiplayer: 9.0
The
co-op career is a fine addition, as are the two-player Battles. All multiplayer
modes in the game are now playable online.
Overall:
9.0
A
great addition to the series, Guitar Hero III offers some great new tracks for
hardcore fans, while the more responsive controls are great for newcomers. While
the series faces some stiff competition from Rock Band this year, it would be a
shame for any rhythm game fan to miss out on Guitar Hero III.
