Guitar Hero
Air guitaring is not cool. Say it with me now….
AIR GUITARING IS NOT COOL.
Okay, now that we got that out of the way, Guitar Hero includes a guitar, so for all intents and purposes, it’s NOT air guitaring, therefore it is INCREDIBLY cool.
Red Octane has effectlively given talent to the talentless, or at least provided a reasonable illusion to players of Guitar Hero that one could in fact be a rock star. For 70 bucks, you get the game itself, a shoulder strap and a plastic guitar controller. This new peripheral is the key to the fun of the game. 5 fret buttons, a strum button, a whammy bar and a tilt sensor are used to match the rythms that roll down the screen. You can play with the Dual Shock controller, but it makes the game very difficult and almost boring. Additionally, you can drop another 50 for a second guitar controller and rock out with a friend.
Similar to the Dance Dance Revolution series of acrcade games, a newly endowed rocker pushes the matching colored fret button and strums as notes hit the play line on the screen. Miss a note and you get a sour chord and boos from the audience. Hit ten notes without error and your score multiplier goes up to a possible of 200 points for each note. Hit special Star combos without error and your Star Power meter will fill. When it does, tilt your axe straight up and down for big points, up to 8x multipliers and some fancy moves by your on-screen persona.
As you complete songs, you move up the ranks of rockstar-dom, opening up new songs, new venues and earning cash for new characters, guitars, original songs and behind the scenes videos. The main career mode has 30 songs, nearly all of which are easily recognizable covers of some of the greatest rock hits from the 60’s through today. Ozzy Osborne, ZZ Top, Bon Jovi and Sum 41 just to name a few. Original songs are unlockable for advanced players to extend playlife, but the nature of the game is the nature of playing guitar itself, just getting better at the songs you know. Don’t expect to fly through the game in a few days though. Some of these songs will kick your ass, even on the medium difficulty. Bark at the Moon will have your carpal tunnel acting up, but the gradual progression through the songs helps you learn what to expect.
I gotta be honest. I don’t like these rythm games, because I have none. Something about this title makes it so you don’t have to and fools you into believing you can play ACTUAL guitar. I can’t tell you how often I’ve considered picking up a set of strings, despite my better judgement. It doesn’t matter. If other games gave you as much sense of talent and skill as Guitar Hero does, we’d all think we were plumbers, pro sports athletes and ninjas. Between the rockin music, the amazing amount of interactivity and the false sense of musical talent, the only want I had was for a free form type of play or a more open ended (and less ‘talky’) tutorial mode. Aside from that, this could quite possibly be the perfect game. I hate to say it, but bring on the sequel. I can’t wait for more.
Rock on!!!!
