Extended Weekend Entertainment: Guitar Hero Beatles

It’s a joke, obviously. Enjoy your Labor Day!

Demotopia!: Guitar Hero: Metallica

I’ll admit it, I was a pretty big Metallica fan. I really liked their first three albums, and even today I’m known to pop in my favorite Kill ‘Em All from time to time. Granted, I haven’t been a Guitar Hero fan for a while, but I thought I would give the free Guitar Hero: Metallica a try. Can’t beat free, right?

You can play four songs: “Sad But True” (from 1991′s The Black Album, skipped it), “Seek and Destroy” (from 1983′s Kill ‘Em All), Queen’s “Stone Cold Crazy”", and Alice in Chains’ “No Excuses”. The first thing that hit me was that of all the Alice in Chains songs to play, they pick one of their slowest/wimpiest songs. It wasn’t a bad song to play in reality, but it definitely doesn’t rock or anything. And as fun as I was expecting “Seek and Destroy” to be, its nearly 7-minute length really got boring about halfway through.

One thing that really disappointed me is that you can only play as the old/lame Metallica. Both Cliff Burton and Jason Newsted are absent (and Dave Mustaine, now that I think of it), which is a shame. Also, no crappy 1990′s haircuts! Their current bass player, Robert Trujillo, is wearing a Metallica shirt (also seen above). That’s a big rock fashion no-no, sir.

When it comes down to it, this game is exactly what I figured it would be: Guitar Hero III with a new skin. I played each of the songs on Hard, and I’m no Guitar Hero master but I didn’t fail them. There are two songs on this game that I would still like to play, neither of them Metallica songs: Foo Fighters’ “Stacked Actors” and Slayer’s “War Ensemble”. I guess I’m just going to have to pass on them.

Hold Me Closer, Tony Danza

I’ve come to the conclusion that Harmonix needs to work on a piano-centric version of Rock Band. It could be more of a training tool than an actual, honest-to-god fun/rock game. I think the flowing gem design of Rock Band and Guitar Hero could be used towards tickling the ivories; start small (one octave) and work your way up to Ludwig Van Beethoven in no time. I’d even dish out some moolah for the keyboard peripheral.

I think the greatest thing about all of these music/rhythm games is that I’ve learned how to hold my own on the drums thanks to Rock Band. I’ve always wanted to be better at the piano, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to take lessons, so this would be my best bet.

What do you think? Or are you burnt out from music games already?

Or Maybe Even Elvis?

Seeing as how Rock Band has acquired exclusive rights to the Holy Grail of the music game genre with The Beatles, how much do you want to bet that Guitar Hero/Activision is trying to sew up the the Rolling Stones license right now? Really, there is nothing bigger than The Beatles, especially Aerosmith or Metallica, but I’m sure they’re not just going to live and let this die.

I know that even though it’s an inferior game, the Guitar Hero franchise still greatly out-sells Rock Band, mainly because of the established branding, but I feel this Beatles game is definitely going to narrow that gap. It’s a definite pick-up for me.

My Faves: Old Songs In A Whole New Light

We here at Threevue loved us some Guitar Hero II, and it still holds a special place in our hearts thanks to its awesome song list, logical icon placement, and overall feeling of freshness.

Something I simply love about Rock Band 2 is its inclusion of “Carry On Wayward Son” by Kansas, a track originally featured on Guitar Hero II. It’s awesome to be sifting through dozens of new tracks only to be greeted by an old friend, now a master track, with the ability to play the drums, too. Same thing goes for The Foo Fighters’ “Monkey Wrench”, which just wails as a master track compared to the watered-down Guitar Hero II cover, but unfortunately you’ve gotta shell out $2 for that one because it’s DLC.

Cheapskate: Just What I Needed Edition

Circuit City is currently selling the black wireless Les Paul Guitar Hero guitar for $20. That’s $40 off the regular $60 retail price of what I consider to be the best guitar for rhythm games of all time. You can pick it up at your local store, or order it online here. Orders of $25 and more get free shipping, too. And yes, it works on Rock Bands 1 and 2.

That’s not the only deal to be had at the store, though. Mayhaps you prefer the wired X-Plorer guitar? 10 smackers. Or howzabout a drum throne for $15?

Cleaning House: Guitar Hero II

Cleaning House is where we post some of the game reviews/articles that for one reason or another, we never posted. Instead of just letting the hundreds of words we wrote gather cobwebs, we’re putting them out in their current format. Better late than never!
Russ:
In hindsight, this game is both awesome and disappointing.

Awesome: For what it is, Guitar Hero II hits the spot. It has a great songlist, with tracks that I ended up really appreciating (although there are some genuine crappolas – that Lamb of God song comes to mind). The controls feel just about perfect (GHIII is too forgiving), and the difficulty is just about right, with the exception of the too-hard “Free Bird”. The achievements ranged from tough to ridiculous, but weren’t unfair like how GHIII became. Although I still prefer Rock Band to this game for the sheer amount of content, depth and diversity, this is still my preferred guitar-playing game.

Disappointing: The lost opportunity of downloadable content is just frustrating. I realize that Harmonix was probably knee-deep in Rock Band by the time this game finally hit the Xbox 360, but I really feel like we were left hanging with too little songs to download, and at outrageous prices. And the songs we did get to download were mostly taken from the first Guitar Hero, anyway. And you couldn’t download individual songs – you had to get the whole pack, take it or leave it. I only bought two packs.

90/100

Tyler:
Among the Guitar Hero games, I like this one the best. Mainly for Thunderhorse, but also for the quality of the entire track listing in general. Along with the usual coolness that is GH, when picking up this title we also got to get our hands on those Axe-grinding achievements. Graphics were narry a concern for me when experiencing the 360 version because, really, who cares about how good the character models look? I would rather assume the role of a traffic cone that doesn’t move if it meant that there would be a couple more songs in the game.

The good thing about Guitar Hero over other rhythm-based games is the difficulty settings. When I play GHII, I feel good when I pull off a particularly trying solo, because there are a lot of them in the game. The note progression is intricate and yet it makes sense. With Rock Band it feels more like they diluted the difficulty in order to make a more comprehensive “experience” with your friends. That way you won’t stand out? For the technicality and musical devotion found in Guitar Hero II, I give it a…

84/100

Well, Why Not?

Guitar Hero II = Juuuuust Riiiight.

If Guitar Hero games were the three bears’ porridge, GHII is the one that was “just right”.

I popped the game in for the first time in many months and was instantly having a good time all over again. It’s that perfect match of difficulty and accomplishment; not only that but as a guitar player, I think the layout of each song’s “gems” are placed in a genuinely compelling way.

Don’t get me wrong, I still prefer Rock Band for its content and drumming, but I must fault myself for not giving GHII its due credit. Well shit, Harmonix made both games so I’m still giving credit where credit is due, in a way.

Drum Kits A-Plenty

Honestly, I was a little annoyed with the Guitar Hero IV drum kit. Should I have to make room in my living room for two fake plastic drum toys?

And along comes Konami:

That’s the drum set for their new Rock Revolution game, coming out this fall. Look at all those pads! It makes the game seem like work or something. Not very fun.

Either way, Rock Band wins by default, because I really can’t see myself getting a whole new set of peripherals.

Guitar Hero IV Drum Kit

I’m not going to go on a tirade about how the game is called GUITAR Hero; instead I will just post their drum kit model, which was revealed in the latest Game Informer magazine.

I think the yellow “cymbal” is out of position to work effectively as a high-hat. And if the foot pedal isn’t colored, how will it be implemented?

Your thoughts?

ATDI on GHIV(?)

The gods have spoken, and I have once again influenced the planet. You may remember my Five Spazz-Rock Songs for Rock Band list from a couple months ago, which featured a song by At The Drive-In. I just read here that ATDI’s “One Armed Scissor” will be on Guitar Hero IV. Wrong song, wrong game, but it’s damn close.

The source is a bit sketchy, and the press release says that GHIV comes out in June, and it definitely doesn’t, that craptacular Aerosmith Guitar Hero is.

I’m not even sure if I’ll be getting GHIV, but I’m happy to see ATDI get some exposure. And just six short years after they broke up.

This Week in Slurpee Collector’s Cups

I went to pick up my second Iron Man Slurpee at 7-11 yesterday, and was surprised to see an unfamiliar stack of Guitar Hero collector cups juxstaposed to Tony Stark’s ugly mug. The ones I saw had Judy Nails’ face plastered all over them (side question: why do all the commercials and advertisements always show Judy like she is some major part of the game? I don’t know anyone that even plays as her. Axel Steel FTW!). Then I read on Joystiq this morning that it’s part of the new GH: Aerosmith ad campaign, although the band is nowhere to be found on any cup.

So it looks like I’ll be drinking my third Coke and cherry mixed Slurpee of the week later today, and my ever growing stack of collectable cups continues to get more impressive.

Guitar Hero Vs. Rock Band: What’s In A Name? Edition

Mark and Tyler have a longer history with the fake plastic guitar games than I have. They had the first two Guitar Hero games on the PS2, and then Guitar Hero II and III on the Xbox 360 before me as well. But I think it’s pretty safe to say that all three of us threevue.com editors have sided with the more recent Rock Band camp, for several reasons. Aside from its crappy guitar (pictured above), it has much more going for it with better songs, a better overall atmosphere, more instruments to play (drums! drums! forever the drums!) and weekly DLC. I could keep going. And really, preferring Rock Band over Guitar Hero III isn’t a betrayal or anything, since Rock Band was developed by the same makers of the first two Guitar Hero games.

So, imagine my surprise when I read this article on Joystiq.com, which says that Guitar Hero III has sold 9.1 million copies to date versus Rock Band‘s 1.5 million. That’s a huge difference. They attribute it to the massive brand awareness of Guitar Hero and the fact that it launched a few weeks before Rock Band last year.

Comparing the two, it’s an easy choice for me as to which is the superior game. Yet America is doing the exact opposite of what logic dictates. I feel like this has happened before.

Guitar Hero DS = Embarrassing

Contrary to what you might think, given my frequent rhythm-game postings, I didn’t realize they were working on a Guitar Hero DS title. Makes since, since Activision has has been trying to cash in on the franchise since day one.

The controller seems just a tad lame, and more than a tad embarrassing. Who in their right minds will be playing this, say, on the city bus? I don’t think I’d even play it on the crapper.

At least two people disagree: