Difference in Opinion

Tunes those strings, put some more gel in your mohawk and stretch out your fingers because Guitar Hero is back in force with the third installment in their series, Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock. Ever since the first Guitar Hero launched around this time 2 years ago, the series has exploded and found its way into the hand of any person who calls themselves a gamer. For this release, it was the first time the game has found its way on to all the consoles simultaneously (Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, Playstation 3 and Playstation 2), and offered wireless guitars in the box with the game.

Since the premise of Guitar Hero stays relatively the same (if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it right?), the best way to rate and talk about GH3 is to compare it to the other Guitar Hero games. Let’s start with the controller, and what differences it has. A wireless controller was offered with the game which makes it much easier to play the guitar in between your legs and slide across the floor on your back. I think Marty McFly had the right idea. The look of the controller is different as well. With each new game, another style/brand of guitar is showcased. Guitar Hero 3 comes with the Gibson Les Paul, or the Kramer Pacer if you get the PS2 version. The guitar is very responsive, good quality, and now offers interchangeable faceplates. With the snap of a switch, you can remove your default faceplate and replace it with a Guns N’ Roses or Sex Pistols one, or a number of other different bands. Also, this opens up the window for all sorts of customized faceplates.

There are some in-game differences that seperate this version from the previous ones. A lot of online capabilities have been added to fully utilize these next gen consoles. You can play a set of co-op songs with a friend, or challenge them to a guitar battle. If you really want to test your skills then you can go into ranked matches online and spar against random opponents. RedOctane added website integration that allows you to check your stats on their website, similar to Halo stats on Bungie.net. The biggest complaint I have is that you can’t play the Co-op Career with someone online. You can play songs with them, but to actually do the career you need to have two people on the same console. I think it would be a great idea if they came out with a patch that allowed for that later.

Everyone is talking about the songs that are in GH3. I think it is the best set lists so far in any of the games. There is a perfect blend of classic rock and new alternative rock. There are going to be plenty of songs to download in the future, which should only make the game better. One of the coolest additions to the game is the guitar battles that you do throughout the solo career. In some song sets, before you do an encore, you are challenged to a guitar battle. Once you win the guitar battle then you get to play the encore song for that set with the person you battled. It is awesome to rock out to some Bulls on Parade with Tom Morello and Welcome to the Jungle with Slash. It makes you seem like you really hit it big in the game.

I highly recommend this game. Like the Guitar Heroes before it, it will have a ton of replay value, not to mention all the songs that will be available for download. You may want to pick up some hair gel and get some tattoos while you are at it. For those about to rock, we salute you!

Final Score
Gameplay: 9 out of 10
Graphics: 8 out of 10