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Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
You might spontaneously combust from all the fun
I really thought my life would turn out differently. Back in college in the early 90s, I was part of a 2-man cover group that played the local bar scene (with actual guitars, I might add). Today, I press plastic buttons on a facsimile Gibson SG, pretending I'm shredding to one slammin' rock song after another. I don't need to be told that this is pathetic, but damned if I'm not having a blast anyway. This is the reality of the Guitar Hero series, which has offered up addictive fun even while making you look like an enormous tool.
With the release of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (hereafter GH3), we've got a new developer (Neversoft instead of Harmonix, who moved on to develop Rock Band), a new publisher (Activision, via the acquisition of RedOctane), new guitars, new characters, new venues, new play modes, and more. But for all the new, GH3 does an admirable job of keeping overall gameplay consistent with earlier installments, so GH veterans will feel right at home. Before we dive in, let me preface this review by mentioning that I'm basing this review on the PlayStation 2 version of GH3, and with that as the stated case, you're not going to hear about any specialized controllers, online play, downloadable content, or characters that are only available on the next-gen (Wii, PS3, Xbox 360) versions of GH3. There's still a whole lot to cover even with the "quaint" little PS2 version, so on we go.
Gameplay
Assuming you've never picked up an "axe" and tried any of the Guitar Hero games before (a stretch, considering those things are set up in almost every big box and electronics store from here to Timbuktu), here's a brief rundown of how the thing works: Using a special guitar-shaped controller, your goal is to "strum" the guitar (using a rocker switch) while hitting color-coded notes to correctly play back the song. Hit the wrong combination, or strum at the wrong time, and you get a nasty sound where you should hear music. Your progress is measured by the Rock Meter, which goes from red to green depending on how awesomely you happen to be jamming during the course of a song. Miss too many notes, and the Rock Meter falls deep into the red, eventually resulting in you being booed off the stage. Hit enough notes, and you get to finish the song in a blaze of glory. Hitting special star combinations results in your Star Power meter being filled, and with a signature flare of the guitar towards the heavens your Star Power is activated, sending the crowd into a frenzy and quickly sending the Rock Meter into the green. Points are accumulated by hitting consecutive notes; for every 10 notes in a row your multiplier goes up to a maximum of 4, and that's where the big scores lie. Upon successful conclusion of a song, you are given a review (3-5 stars, depending on how you did), which in Career Mode determines your gig fee. Get enough coin, and you can purchase guitars, skins, characters, outfits, and songs in the store. Got all that? Figure 1 shows a typical screen during game play.
Figure 1
There are several modes of play to choose from. There's career mode, where you start a band and work your way up to superstardom, playing several different venues as you go. The songs get harder along the way, but even the hardest songs are approachable for any skill level thanks to the four difficulty levels (easy, medium, hard, and expert). Career mode in GH3 is slightly different than in previous versions, owing mostly to the three "battles" you do at various stages—the first with Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave fame, the second with Slash from Guns 'n Roses and Velvet Revolver, and the last with a character who shall remain nameless, lest I spoil the final venue for those who care about such things. I found battle mode to be quite engaging and fun; instead of star combinations, you have the chance to earn attack combos, which, when used against your opponent, cause broken strings and amp overloads and other mischief. Battle mode can also be invoked in a multiplayer setting, which includes a face-off mode as well as cooperative play (one player on lead with others on bass or rhythm; all multiplayer modes can be played with per-player skill levels). There's also a quick play option for when you want to get right down to business, as well as an enormously helpful training mode, which allows you to perfect performances before playing a live show.
So that's the gist of it. The gameplay in GH3 is almost identical to earlier versions, which is good. However, over time, I've found that GH3 feels more natural than its predecessors, owing mostly to the hammer-on and pull-off maneuvers (which are vital to successfully completing some of the more advanced tracks) finally working as they should have all along. GH2 made great improvements, but GH3 gets it right, and that makes the game a lot less frustrating as you try and improve your mad shredding skillz, as the children say these days. I'm also relieved that GH3 tones down the transitions between regular play and Star Power mode, which makes it less likely to mess up notes while the color shifts between the two modes.
Look
GH3 is one of those games where graphics are of very little importance in a practical sense; after all, you're there to listen to and play along with some rock music. However, in keeping with the series' penchant for making a caricature of the rock industry, the look of GH3 has been further "cartoonified," for lack of a better word, and now looks and feels very much like an episode of Metalocalypse. To whit: your new lead singer is one of the uglier dudes in this or any other virtual world (think Steven Tyler meets with a nuclear accident; fig. 2), you play in exaggerated venues such as on the back of a stunt truck (while making a music video, no less) and a Japanese arena straight out of the last five minutes of This is Spinal Tap, and you are taken through your career journey via a series of animated cutscenes instead of the simple (albeit amusing) van/map sequences in earlier versions (fig. 3).
Figure 2
Figure 3
In short, GH3 doesn't take itself too seriously, which is good, considering the absurd juxtaposition of the reunited Sex Pistols performance of a new version of "Anarchy in the UK" with GH3's in-your-face product placement. That's all kinds of delicious "fight the system" irony. I also found myself enjoying the (unintentionally?) hilarious combinations I could come up with during career mode (or those that happen all by themselves during quick play mode); for example, Midori (the Japanese girl band character) bopping about to White Zombie's "Black Sunshine" during a gig staged at Shanker's Island prison is always good for a laugh (fig. 4), as is the hideous lead singer having the actual voice of Billy Corgan during "Cherub Rock." Speaking of characters, familiar ones such as Lars Umlaut and Judy Nails return, mixed in with new (albeit locked; you have to earn them) characters such as Metalhead (a robot) and Elroy Budvis (a caricature of The King) as well as playable versions of the aforementioned Tom Morello and Slash. But I digress: the bottom line is that while graphics aren't terribly important in the grand scheme of things, it's nice to see an appropriately absurd "world" for all the rock insanity to take place in.
Figure 4
Set list
In a word: wow. Not only are there some incredibly fun songs to play, many of the songs are by the original artists (rather than the "as made famous by" covers that blighted earlier versions). This is the strongest set list yet, and judging by GH3's popularity, I fully expect GH4 to include 100% original tracks. There really isn't a stinker in the bunch, even amongst the songs that are covered. In other words, there's no equivalent "Killing in the Name" debacle that was the laughingstock of GH2; indeed, GH3 sports Rage's "Bulls on Parade" in all its original glory in what can only be considered an apology. Ironically, the weakest song in the list is the aforementioned 2007 version of "Anarchy in the UK"—the Sex Pistols (insert Viagra joke here) sound old and tired 30 years later, and while I applaud the effort, it nonetheless makes me feel old as well. On the flip side, a new version of Living Colour's "Cult of Personality," re-recorded especially for GH3, is incredibly well done. The band still sounds fresh (and it's hard to believe that song is 20 years old), and there's a brand new solo to boot. In any event, as with GH1 and GH2, there are several "bonus" songs by lesser-known artists; some fun, some not, but overall, the GH3 set list is remarkably strong. PS3 and Xbox players also have bonus packs to look forward to, featuring the likes of Foo Fighters and Velvet Revolver, while us PS2 old-schoolers are stuck with what's in the box. It'll have to do.
Apropos of nothing, I highly recommend the following songs, as they combine big fun with lots of replay value:
- "Bulls on Parade"—Rage Against the Machine
- "Lay Down"—Priestess
- "My Name Is Jonas"—Weezer
- "La Grange"—originally by ZZ Top
- "Cherub Rock"—Smashing Pumpkins
- "The Metal"—Tenacious D
- "Pride and Joy"—originally by Stevie Ray Vaughn
- "One"—Metallica
- "Cult of Personality"—Living Colour
- "Cliffs of Dover"—Eric Johnson
Get off the stage
I'd be remiss if I didn't inject some bad vibes into this gushfest, as there are a few things about GH3 that irk me somewhat. The first is a warning: playing Guitar Hero will NOT translate to actual guitar skills! You may pick up some rhythm you may not have had before, and your fingers may be more nimble for your efforts, but you're not suddenly going to pick up a real guitar and know what to do. So consider yourself duly informed.
The second item on the list is another warning: GH3 can be fun for kids (though it is rated T for teen), but in keeping with its ESRB rating there's some definite PG-13 level content strewn about that you may want to keep from younger eyes. For example, one of the characters, Casey Lynch, sports a visible thong riding up above her stereotypical rock-star leather pants, and this is in addition to her seemingly wearing only a bra as a shirt. Also, one venue may as well be a commercial for Axe body spray, complete with gyrating young females and the "bow chicka wow wow" slogan featuring prominently. Not that I'm trying to be the Church Lady here or anything; this stuff doesn't really bother me, but it was good to be able to inventory some of the parts I don't want my six-year-old seeing for when we play a co-op concert together. There are perfectly appropriate venues, characters, and songs for young players, but again, in keeping with the rating, parental guidance is definitely suggested.
Lastly, the only place GH3 suffers from the change of developers is in the myriad little things that are glaringly missing from GH2. This seems like an ideal place for a bullet list, actually:
- I miss the flushing toilet when entering high scores, but more importantly, I miss the persistent name entry that was in GH2, meaning that I have to enter a name every time after a system restart instead of the game remembering the last player entered.
- The redesigned Star Power and Rock meters seem redesigned for the sake of it, as they're harder to read at at glance in the heat of a song.
- No more crowd chanting for an encore? That bites! Nothing got you pumped up for an encore like the crowd chants in GH2, and they're just gone here.
- Ditto for the sparks that flew off your character's hands after achieving a 4x multiplier in GH2—that was a nice touch, and it's gone in GH3. Don't tell me that they were going for realism here.
All in all, not much to complain about. The good far outweighs the bad, and once you've nailed some of the solos in "Cliffs of Dover" with the improved hammer-ons and pull-offs you'll forget all about the small things that were inexplicably removed.
Play some Skynrd!
The verdict is that GH3 kicks some major tail. Despite the few annoyances, it's a solid improvement over its predecessors, and definitely washes away the bad taste of the Guitar Hero: Rocks the 80s money grab from a few months back. Buy-in may be a bit steep if you want controllers (and you do), but considering the sheer number of hours of entertainment you're apt to get out of GH3, it's worth every penny.
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock is available now for PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii, and ranges from $50 for just the game to $90 and up for any of the various game/controller bundles.
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