Official Website

Platform: PlayStation 2, Xbox 360

Genre: Music

Number of Players: 1 - 2

Hello (your town or city here)! Are you ready to rock?

Of course you’re ready to rock, otherwise you probably wouldn’t be reading this review. Guitar Hero quickly became a smash hit when the original game hit the PlayStation 2, rivaling the popularity of other interactive music games like Dance Dance Revolution. There was no doubt that a sequel would follow, and Guitar Hero II has plenty more riffs to shred through. But, why are we so late in getting a review done? Well, it’s all about the PlayStation 3.You see, after I brought home my PS3 at launch, I promptly sold my PS2 and sadly, at the time, there was no feasible way to even play the game with the guitar controller. Finally however, Sony has taken care of that problem and once again, I’m ready to unleash some mock guitar in the comfort of my living room.

The idea behind guitar hero is like every other music game on the market, but the Guitar Hero series manages to make it fresh, in part thanks to the guitar controller. You’ll first need to pick a character, and there are quite a few different male and female personalities to choose from. Yes, chicks can rock as well; just check out Angela Gossow, lead vocalist of Arch Enemy or even the hot Japanese ladies of Flagitious Idiosyncrasy in the Dilapidation if you don’t believe me. My character selection; Lars Umlaut. While he doesn’t have much of a back story (none of them do, not that you need one) I can only assume that the overweight guitarist from Norway moved to the United States in search of a new, black metal act to join (maybe his fellow band mates were involved in church borings and murder such as black metal saw back in the 90’s.) Disillusioned at how lame the US black metal scene is, Lars had no choice but to join a cover band and try and earn the money for a flight back home. Also, you may notice that Lars seems to have been influenced by none other than Immortal’s own Horgh.

Once you’ve selected a character as well as a guitar (Gibson is still the main sponsor apparently.) You can choose to begin your career. The easy mode is a good way to get used to the songs, but you won’t make any money, that’s what the other levels are for. In career mode you’ll start out at a battle of the bands and work your way up through the world of music. Each stage has four songs to choose from and once you’ve decided what you’re playing, you simply need to hit the right color button on the guitar controller AND use the strum bar at the same time. For those extended notes, use your tremolo (or whammy bar) for a little extra exaggeration and score more points. As you keep the music flowing and the combo going, you’ll build up your start power (the blue bar) and once it has hit the middle, move the guitar into an upright position to activate it and score even more points.

Taking the career path on a higher level of difficulty earns you money which can be used in the store to buy new songs, guitars, paint jobs, costumes, characters, and even videos. A new addition to the career mode is the encore. At the end of each of the stages once you’ve played enough songs to advance to the next venue, the crowd will want another song which is NOT on the playlist. You’re given the option to play it or not, but just do it as this opens up even more songs in the game and there are over 55 songs total to be played.

If you’re having problems with a particular song, you can always go into the practice mode and keep playing through it until you get it perfected, and there’s even an option to slow it down, something that can be a necessity for some riffs. The multiplayer mode is still included, but with some new options. You can still play the co-op mode where both players will be using their axes in unison, and there’s even an option of playing bass, but not everyone is about working as a team. The face off mode will have you seeing who can play the best and if you want, you can take it to a higher level with the pro mode.

So, what bands have made it into the lineup in this version of the game? Plenty you know, more that you might not, and a few surprises as well. There’s a good deal of metal, not a big surprise, with acts like Mötley Crüe and their fit “Shout at the Devil.” KISS “Strutter,” Van Halen’s “You Really Got Me,” and even Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” are a part of the selectable songs. If you’re up for a bit of grunge you can play “Heart Shaped Box” by Nirvana or the Alice in Chains hit “Them Bones.” If classic rock is more your thing, “Carry On My Wayward Son,” the Kansas staple track, “Can't You Hear Me Knocking" by The Rolling Stones or even "Crazy on You" by Heart are in the mix. A bigger surprise is that there are two songs, “John the Fisherman” by Primus and the Jane’s Addiction song “Stop” which are performed by the original artist and even progressive metal act Voivod makes and appearance with “X-Stream” from their latest album Katorz. Sadly, that particular Voivod release is also the final album that the late Denis D'Amour (Piggy) appears on as he sadly died of colon cancer in 2005; a huge loss to the m\world of metal indeed.

There aren’t many changes with the graphics. Much of the screen is taken up by the play field itself, though around it you can see your character playing his (or her) heart out and the rest of the band. While many of the songs do feature male vocals, those that require a female singer you will see a replacement. Each of the venues looks different, and there are plenty of devil horns for everyone. This isn’t really a game that’s about visual appeal so much as musical appeal, and that’s where the game truly excels.

Guitar Hero II is a must have for fans of music and music, guitar playing, those looking for something to play when friends are over . . . just about any reason you can think of. There aren’t drastic changes, though I can think of a few things of my own. While the folks over at Activision and Red Octane probably might not listen, adding in a “freestyle” option in two-player mode might not be a bad idea (you’d basically get the option to use the guitar as you see fit, though the notes would have to fit in key.) An online mode would be a fantastic addition, though I would assume Guitar Hero III may very well feature that. Also, the ability to custom design your character and select your band members. Come on, I know for a fact that geeky looking vocalist in Guitar Hero II can’t possibly handle singing a Lamb of God song. Now of course, my other idea is, has been, and will remain Guitar Hero Extreme, a release featuring some of the most blistering metal songs ever recorded, and just for fun, I’ve thrown together a list of potential tracks you can read through right here.

Throw your fist in the air, toss up those devil horns, put away that air guitar and get ready to rock in your living room, basement, local bar (there’s are plenty of them these days that seem to have taken a liking to Guitar Hero.) Dancing game, drumming games; those are all fine I suppose, but what it all comes down to is guitars, Guitar Hero, and Red Octane keeping us rocking, head bangin’ and having a great time, and Guitar Hero II gets you as close to actually playing a guitar as you can without the need of tuning. Rock on brothers and sisters, rock on.

-mike-