Guitar Hero Reader Review

Maybe it's just me but surely sometime in your life you've strummed away at your air guitar envisioning yourself as some sort of rock god. Well now you don't have to look like a complete idiot anymore. Guitar Hero is a game with a difference. Not usuing the normal dual-shock controller instead you get your own plastic guitar! Complete with a strap and stickers for all you moshers out there who like sticking them on your schoolbags. The game comes with 30+ rock tunes to play including the likes of Motorhead's "Ace Of Spades" to Jimi Hendrix and "Spanish Castle Magic". You will notice that the songs are not from the original source but still have been recorded by imitators and it works fine you will hardly notice.

On your guitar you have a strum bar which you need to use in conjuction with the fret buttons. There are five fret buttons and depending on what difficulty you choose you'll have to use more or less. For example if you try the nails Expert setting you have to use all five fret buttons which is nigh on impossible. The buttons are used in different ways sometimes you will have to hold your fret button down on a long note for example or play a quick succesion of notes or play chords with two notes together at the same time. Anyone that has played Harmonixes previous games Frequency or Amplitude will feel right at home. However if you're not you can go to the tutorial mode to sharpen your skills.

The main game mode in Guitar Hero is Career mode which consists of 30 songs as you progress getting more difficult. To unlock things like songs, characters, and skins for your guitar (in-game) plus more you have to play on the medium difficulty. Now I'll be honest the game seems unfairly stacked against you and it seems impossible at first. But keep playing and eventually you'll know which fret button to play without even having to look at your guitar. Anyway you choose a character ranging from the likes of the mystical Pandora to the punk foul mouthed British guy Johnny Naplam. There are 8 characters in total including the Grim Reaper himself who has to be unlocked. You progress from small clustered basements to festivals and eventually to The Garden itself. Madison that is not some random garden in Carisle. The career mode isn't all that long in truth and you can have it beaten in a few days but the replay value of the game is massive. It's one of those games you can't put down. It's worth getting another guitar for the two player mode so you can rock out with you friends or family.

Guitar Hero in my mind is already a strong game of the year candidate. It may be frustarting at times but is so rewarding when you finally beat the tune you've been working on for the last 30 miniutes. Add to that a 2-player mode that extends the replay value even further and you've got a game well that.... ROCKS!!!