Activision is back with the next iteration in their wildly successful Guitar Hero franchise. This time around Neversoft, who took over development duties after Harmonix was bought by MTV, brings new features to the table such as online play, something everyone's been waiting for. So how does Guitar Hero III fare compared to previous games in the series? Let's find out.
The game follows the same formula you've come to expect. Start up career mode by creating a band name, choosing a character and a guitar. There are plenty of cool characters to choose from such as “Axel Steel” - a tough guy rocker, “Izzy Sparks” - an 80s rocker complete with the over the top hair and clothes, “Johnny Napalm” - a punk rocker with a huge spiked Mohawk and tattoos, and for all you classic rock fans, “Xavier Stone,” who was clearly inspired by the great Jimmy Hendrix. Each character has two outfits to choose from and three guitars.
The coolest addition to the gameplay are the awesome “Boss Battles” where you will go fret to fret against guitar legends Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave) and Slash (Guns n Roses, Velvet Revolver). The way boss battles work is you will play your guitar piece and then the opponent plays his. It's a back and forth battle. If you hit your notes you will earn attacks that you can use against your opponent. In fact, you have to use them. It's impossible to win without attacking the opponent because the only way to win is to make them lose. It's not a matter of keeping up with the song until it ends. The attacks will double the opponent's notes, increase the speed, shake the screen or, my favorite, jam their fret board causing them to miss a lot of consecutive notes. A tip for you guys is to save your attacks until the end of the song where there are a lot of notes for your opponent to hit and attack him consecutively.
All this finger melting rock and roll is made possible by the brand new Les Paul guitar controller that is included with Guitar Hero III. This new guitar is wireless, and not just some crappy 3rd party wireless, but a Microsoft backed wireless. Activision and Microsoft worked together to make the use of the new guitar as easy as possible. Simply power on the guitar and your Xbox 360 will automatically recognize it and just like a regular controller, you can turn on your Xbox 360 with the guitar. Sweet! Another new addition to the guitar is a removable neck which makes taking your guitar to your buddy's house so much easier. Last but not least, the new Les Paul controller includes a removable face plate, just like the Xbox 360. Custom face plates are available at various retailers such as Best Buy. The new Les Paul also makes it much easier to use your Star Power. Mmmm.... Star Power.
The set list for Guitar Hero III has something for everybody. It includes songs by artists such as Weezer, Rage Against the Machine, Social Distortion, Cream, The Who, Rolling Stones, Black Sabbath, The Sex Pistols, Pearl Jam, ZZ Top, White Zombie and many more. In fact, the game has over 70 different tracks! If that is enough rockin' for you, new song packs are available for download via Xbox Live.
Visually the game's menu's really stand out. The art style used fits in perfectly with the game. If only they made posters out of the artwork, my walls would proudly display them. Asides from great graphics, the game also includes short cartoon animations that help move the story along – although it isn't much of a story. The animations are reminiscent of a Gorillaz music video. It isn't all peaches and cream though. On stage animations seem a bit underdeveloped, almost robotic. After a while it gets a little annoying having to see the same character animations over and over again.
Overall, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock continues the franchise's success streak with its fun gameplay, great set list, new guitar and the addition of online play. If you're a fan of previous games in the series then you will love Guitar Hero III. And for any parents reading this, a Guitar Hero III bundle under the Christmas tree will automatically make you the coolest parents in the neighborhood!
The third Guitar Hero is here. Neversoft, its new developer, delivers what Guitar Hero fans love - a great, highly entertaining living room rock experience!
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