Having been given a Nintendo Wii console for Christmas (OK, OK! I bought it for myself!), Guitar Hero III was my first real intro to a guitar based game.
I have to say upfront; I love it, despite the fact that my wife and daughter can both beat me hands down at it!
Back to the game. One of the neat things about Hero is that it involves the use of most of the techniques a real guitarist would use. However, the main feature of Guitar Hero is its unique controller.
The 'Guitar'
With a high-octane game like hero it would be a real shame to make do with a boring conventional controller. Well, if you haven't tried it yet you are in for a treat with the Wireless Gibson Les Paul Based guitar controller.
The Gibson has 5 coloured fret buttons, a strummer to simulate the strings, and a whammy bar (so cool!)
The guitar is a little smaller than a real one so, if you play guitar you may find this a little weird until you get used to it. But it is worth persevering, in fact you may find yourself getting addicted.
Pull-ofs, hammer-ons and up and down strumming all work wonderfully with this device so it won't be long before you are feeling just like your favourite Rock God (I'm already growing my hair and the lycra body suite is on order).
If you play this with your friends in 2 player mode (and I guarantee you will!) don't be cheap; get yourself a second controller.
The Game
So, the guitar peripheral is great; what about the game itself? The track list is absolutely incredible (I may be showing my age!). There are a range of ver 70 songs including such classics as Anarchy in the UK, Ruby, Paint it Black and Paranoid to name a few. As a player you are presented with a guitar fretboard and a vertical bar with 5 coloured sections. As the song plays the bar scrolls down the fretboard and the different coloured notes appear in the relevant section.
As the bar hits then you press the corresponding coloured buttons on the fretboard of your guitar (in the correct sequence - damn, I knew there was something I was doing wrong) and strum.
Green, Red, Yellow, Blue and Green are the five colored fret buttons
The strumming is done on a long bar that represents the strings.
You will also find a whammy bar. You use this to bend any notes that have to be held.You'll recognise these by the long coloured lines that go on until you need to release the note.
Hero has 4 main play modes;
Quick Play
This lets you get straight into the game and play the songs.
Tutorial
In this mode you can learn how to get the most out of the features of the guitar controller.
Career
Here you gradually build up your career by playing gigs to earn money. Once you've done this you can unlock more songs and buy new guitars.
This is the main focus of the game. You start by picking a performer. There are many to choose from covering all rock eras. Next you pick your guitar and finally select the level of difficulty. There are 3 to choose from; Easy, Medium and Hard.
Easy uses only the first 3 fret buttons. This is great for getting used to the game and the controller but you will soon want to move on.
Medium level is much more fun.It uses one more fret and the songs are more challenging. More importantly it allows you to unlock songs and guitars. In other words you are rewarded for playing well.
Multiplayer
With Multiplayer you can challenge your friends to a serious rock god battle.
This mode is a bit lacking as it's basically one person playing one part, than the other person picking up where the other left off and then both playing the same part simultaneously. Its ok but not as much fun as it could be.
In order to check out how you are doing keep your eye on the Rock Meter. The colours on the meter let you know what the crowd think of your performance.
• Green - If the meter is in the green, it means you are a rock god The crowd loves you!
• Yellow - Ok you're doing pretty well and the crowd likes you, but you could do better.
• Red - Well, you're a bit rough. The crowd is dispersing and, if you are not carefull they may throw things at you.
• Flashing Red - Practice or give it up! Regardless of the mode in order to play well ,just like a real instrument, you need to practice.
Above the Rock Meter is the Star Meter. By hitting the labeled notes you can add power to this meter. Once it fills to the halfway mark, you'll be allowed to use Star Power. This gets the crowd on your side and multiplies your score
To use this power you tilt your guitar towards the ceiling, jerking the instrument upwards as if you really were rocking with the song.
There is a tilt sensor in the device that allows the game to know when you've done this and once you have, you have Star Power and god it feels great!
The final meter is the Score Meter. It has 2 elements, a gauge shows you your current score, as well as your current multiplier.
The more notes you play without mistakes the better your multiplier and the higher your score. Ideally, you want to your multiplier to be as big as possible before activating Star Power
At the end of the song, if you make it all the way through, you will find out how well you did. This will include:
• Your Grade - 1 to 5 stars. This tealls you how well you played; the rock meter plays a big part in this.
• Your Score - This is your final score for the song.
• Your Note Performance - How many notes you hit in a row without making a mistake.
• Your Notes Hit - The percentage of correct notes hit.
Thirty songs are available to play from the start, although there are a lot more to unlock at the "Unlock Shop" as you progress through the main game. These songs were created specifically for the game and while they might not be as memorable as the thirty classic titles, they are still great fun to play.
The basic look and feel of the game is awesome.
Each gig you play at has a different location and the characters are quite well animated and presented. The detail is a little weak and fuzzy in places but this doesn't really affect the play.
The music is great Cream, Boston and Ozzy, to name a few.
In summary Guitar Hero is a really fun game. It's great at parties where your friends all try and outdo each other and you will find that what started off as a quick bit of fun ends up as a late night marathon in which you are determined to be THE Rock God.
Gerald Peters
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