Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock for PlayStation 2 Reviews by Gamers

Have you had enough Guitar Hero yet? The sales totaling into the millions and growing every day say you haven't. Activision agrees. In 2007 alone we've already seen Guitar Hero 2 release on Xbox 360 and Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the '80s on PS2, but that hasn't stopped the demand for more. Enter Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, the first in the franchise made by development studio Neversoft after the former team, Harmonix, was snatched up by MTV Games. You can toss out any fears you might have had about a new developer ruining your favorite franchise right now. Guitar Hero III is another great reason to slip into some tight leather pants and rock out with your friends.

For music rhythm games, it often begins and ends with the soundtrack. Guitar Hero III has nothing to worry about. From top to bottom, this is easily the best lineup yet. Metallica, The Rolling Stones, Slayer, Iron Maiden, Aerosmith and more are all in with master recordings no less. Activision even got the Sex Pistols to re-record Anarchy in the UK just for the game. The same goes for Living Colour's Cult of Personality. The songs that were performed by cover bands, as usual, don't live up to the originals but there are less of them than ever before. This time, when you start up a Guns n' Roses track (Welcome to the Jungle), it will be Axl Rose belting out the words to accompany your shredding. And that makes all the difference in the world.



Unlike Rocks the '80s, this is indeed a full sequel. The list of additions reads like a wishlist compiled from fans across the world. A full cooperative career has finally been added, complete with its own songs picked specifically for their great bass or rhythm guitar parts. A battle mode is in as well, inspired in part by the Ralph Macchio movie Crossroads, where players duel against each other by throwing attacks at each other in an attempt to make one another miss notes and fail out. We've had a great deal of fun with this new way to go head to head with a friend. It may sound a bit odd, but don't write it off.



While the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii versions of the game have all seen the addition of online play, the PlayStation 2 version sadly lacks this feature. It also doesn't tie into

www.guitarhero.com like the other games, so you'll still be playing this one by yourself or with a friend in the same room.



Each version of the game ships with a brand-new wireless controller. The Les Paul that ships with the PS3, 360 and Wii versions is great, but unfortunately (and very surprisingly) the Kramer guitar that ships with the PS2 version is downright terrible. It's wireless with the help of a dongle, yes, but the buttons are extremely clunky and can be rather unresponsive at times. The problem here is that the construction of the buttons simply isn't anywhere close to what you'll find on the Les Paul, or even the original SG that you'll find on the PS2. If you have the option, skip on the bundle and pick up the game by itself. If you don't have a guitar yet, either pick up the existing wireless guitar or the old SG - they're both much, much better than the Kramer.



The game isn't subtitled Legends of Rock for nothing. Slash, of Guns n' Roses fame, is in the game as a playable character. So is Tom Morello and a few other imaginary avatars, but we'll say it again: You can play as Slash in Guitar Hero III. If you don't think that's cool then there is something wrong with you.



Guitar Hero III was built from the ground up by Neversoft (with the PS2 port handled by Budcat Creations) without access to any of the code from the first two games. The work done to ensure the game plays like its predecessors is admirable, but this title does play a tad different than what you're probably used to if you've been following the series closely. For starters, the window of time in which you can successfully hit a note has been extended by quite a bit. Guitar Hero experts may see this as blasphemy because of how much easier it makes the game, but this was actually a great move by Neversoft. The difficulty on the lower tier songs has been reduced, making the game much more accessible to new players. It also makes it so that intermediate players can feel like a rock star right from the get-go, a feeling that really is the entire point of playing the game.





There isn't any need to worry that the game has been made too simple. In fact, the songs that come towards the end of the campaign are the most difficult we've played yet. Even with a bigger window to hit the notes, most will find themselves with a huge challenge. Songs like Metallica's One and Slayer's Raining Blood are ridiculously hard on the Expert difficultly. If you can beat Dragonforce's Through Fire and Flames on Expert then you have our utmost respect.



The challenge has been put in largely through a new approach to how the scrolling notes are laid out. Quick changes between two and three note chords are now the status quo. There's also a greater emphasis on strings of notes that can be played with hammer-ons and pull-offs, a technique that allows you to play notes without strumming. It's a bit different than what we're used to, but the notes are laid out well enough that nearly every song is fun to play.



While the songs are a blast to play, most everything around the game could use some work. The character models have been given a new art direction and its one that we're not particularly fond of. Although a lot of motion capturing was done to get the signature moves of Slash and Bret Michaels, as well as to nail the singing animations, the way the band and crowd move just doesn't feel like rock and roll. All of the motions are stiff with the drummer as the most animatronic of them all.



The standard campaign mode has only been slightly tweaked for Guitar Hero III. The game still plays as a list of songs broken into tiers with a surprise encore at the end of each one. It's about time for an overhaul -- this presentation is feeling dated at this point in the series' life. The small addition comes in the form of three boss "fights" that make use of the new battle mode. Each one has a track recorded just for Guitar Hero III and they're all great fun. This is one feature we'd love to see fleshed out in the future.



Little vignettes have also been added between each tier. They're a decent addition and nice to watch, but they also highlight a facet of the game we could do without. One of the little scenes shows the band getting upset at accusations that they've sold out. That's fine, except that Activision clearly sold Guitar Hero out in every way it could. The story is rather hypocritical. An entire stage was sold to Pontiac, and there is even an Axe Body Spray guitar. Sponsorships are nothing new in the Guitar Hero franchise, but in the past they were kept strictly to music related brands. These are the sort of ads that don't bring anything to the game and really have no place. Not cool. Not cool at all.



With all that has been added, there is still a lot missing. Several songs can only be unlocked by playing the Co-op Career so you'll have to get a friend over with another guitar (or controller, blech) if you want them. Also, the three boss battle tunes you play in the Career mode can't be tackled outside of that mode. How cool would it be to play The Devil Went Down to Georgia against a friend in a battle? Well, you can't, so try not to think about it too much.

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