Guitar Hero Review

Guitar Hero

Thank the gods of gaming, we finally get a new rhythm game in the States that isn’t another Dance Dance Revolution sequel. Just when you were getting tired of moving your feet to the music, Harmonix, the company behind the fantastic Frequency and Amplitude, brings you Guitar Hero, a rhythm game that features, you guessed it, playing a guitar. How does it do this, you ask? With a controller shaped like an actual guitar. Complete with a strum bar, whammy bar, and five different colored buttons on the neck.

The strum bar is a little plastic flipper that clicks up or down, simulating the strumming motion you would make when plucking strings. The five buttons on the neck represent the different frets, where holding down one of the buttons is equivalent to holding down that string. And then there’s the whammy bar, which acts exactly like a whammy bar should. You push it in and out repeatedly to distort the music, thus producing a totally rockin’ wail sound that will make old people hate you. All in all, it’s a pretty loaded package.

Video Game Rock: 101

If you’ve ever played any rhythm game, especially one of the earlier Harmonix releases, then you shouldn’t have any trouble getting the hang of things here. You’re given a moving track, in this case a fret board, in which multi-colored notes will scroll by. As those notes scroll by, you hold down the matching fret button (matched by color and order on the controller) and strum the strum bar as the notes approach. It’s all about timing, as you would expect. Some notes have a line following them, which means that you have to continue to hold down the fret button after you strum the bar.

There a meter in the bottom right corner of the screen, which measures your level of rock. There’s red, yellow, and green, with red being horrible and green being the best, naturally. Go too far into the red and you’ll eventually lose the level. Keep the meter in the green by successfully hitting notes.

Getting perfect streaks builds will activate multipliers. Every streak of 10 will up the multiplier by one, up to a maximum of four. Miss one note, and it’s back to zero.

There’s also a feature called “Star Power”, which is actually the little charm that sets Guitar Hero apart from other rhythm games. Every now and then, you’ll get star shaped notes coming at you on the track. Successfully playing these notes will net you star power, which goes into your star power meter. Once your meter is at least half full, you can active star power by either tilting the guitar vertically or hitting the select button. You‘ll get double the points for the duration, which lasts until the star power meter runs out. Hit star power once you’ve already activated a 4x multiplier for maximum points! The addition of star power really adds a nice strategic element to the game.

Gameplay Modes

The main gameplay mode is career mode, which allows you to work your way up the rock star ladder from lowly basement shows. Career mode is really the best way to play the game, as the pace at which the game progresses is well suited for building up your rocking skills. Once you can master some of the songs on expert, you will feel like a rockstar.

There is also quick play mode, which allows you to jump into the game, choosing any song that you’ve already unlocked. The game also offers a short tutorial, which perfectly eases the new player into the art of rocking out.

The game also offers a multiplayer mode, provided you have a second guitar controller. (Well, actually, you can play with a controller, but come on!) Words can’t express how fun it is to jam with a friend with two guitars.

Visuals and Audio

For a game that’s all about gameplay, Guitar Hero sure boasts some mighty fine graphics. Your character looks really good as he (or she) is bopping around on stage, as do the rest of the band. The audience looks really good, although it is pretty dark.

The audio, as if anyone had any doubt, is phenomenal. Guitar Hero features an assortment of popular rock songs, new and old. Granted, it isn’t the actual artist performing them, but the covers sound damn close. The sound effects in Guitar Hero work extremely well also. From the “twang” sound it makes when you strike a wrong chord, to the different crowd reactions, it all combines nicely to make Guitar Hero really an experience not to be missed.

Rock-Up

Why are you still reading this? Go pick up Guitar Hero NOW! I can't remember the last time I got as much fun out of a game. Aside from being possibly the best rhythm game ever made, Guitar Hero is one of the best experiences you’ll have gaming, period. And with countless unlockables and an expert difficulty that will best even the most experienced guitarist, Guitar Hero will keep you busy for a long time.