'Guitar Hero III' brings rock legends home
Price: about $99.00 (includes one guitar controller and game)
ESRB Rating: T (Teen) lyrics, mild suggestive themes
Print
Email
Save
Share
Del.icio.us
Digg
Facebook
Reddit
If the video game on your TV screen looks awesome, sounds amazing and everybody in the family wants their turn, it’s probably Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock.
The genius marriage of a dazzling video game, great music and lots of action, the Guitar Hero series has been around for a little over two years. Its latest incarnation is Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock.
And we do mean rock. In fact this game covers 40 years of rock music. Alice Cooper’s “School’s Out,” The Killers’ “When You Were Young,” Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Suck My Kiss” and even The Rolling Stones’ “Paint It Black” are on the diverse list of over 40 songs.
With stunning graphics and the addition of a wireless game controller that looks like a scaled-down guitar, players push colored buttons on the guitar neck and “pick” in sync with colored buttons passing by on the screen. Instead of actually picking or strumming real strings, you flip a plastic bar up or down in time to a song’s notes.
There are five buttons on the guitar neck — green, red, yellow, blue and orange — and using them all requires athletic fingers. If you miss notes, you’ll hear a ‘clank’ and the guitar will go silent till you hit the next note. If you miss enough notes, the whole song comes to a grinding halt and the crowd boos you off the stage.
The game part of Legends of Rock involves earning scores based on how well you play the songs. Good scores and completing the songs on your set list unlocks new tunes and gigs for you and the band. You also earn money for playing gigs, so you can buy new guitars, songs, band outfits and more with your play money. Using real money, you can buy more songs for the game at about $2 each.
Players have to win guitar battles to continue advancing in the game. The main opponents are Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave and Slash of Guns N’ Roses. You can also battle friends in multiplayer battle mode and online.
Thankfully, there are several difficulty levels to the game, which relates directly to how many notes and combinations of notes you’ll have to play. Remember, practice, practice, practice. There’s a training area where you can work out songs at your own pace before you hit the stage.
Being the leader of your own rock band commands your undivided attention. One woman we know is so intent on watching the screen and pushing the right buttons, her contact lenses have dried out, curled up and fallen out of her eyes — twice. You rock, lady. So does this game.
