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Wanna rock? Well, now you can, thanks to your PS2 and Guitar Hero from Harmonix. Based on the music game company's previous classics - Frequency and Amplitude - the concept is simple. Follow a vertical music bar while hitting buttons at the right time. The kick is that you're not using a gamepad here. No sir, you've got an axe baby. A guitar controller comes with the game and it's surprisingly well constructed and just about as fun to use as you think.
The guitar controller plugs into the controller port (grab an extra guitar, if you can find one, for two-player shredding) and is approximately 60% the size of a real electric guitar. It's got five colored "fret" buttons on the handle stemmy thing (sorry, I don't know the technical terms) and a switch at the strummy part. No strings, but it does have a wammy bar.  As your 3D avatar shreds, players assume a guitar playin' stance and watch the vertical music bar show you what to do. Notes appear as color-coded dots, they're coded to the fret buttons, and playing the game basically means pressing the correct fret with your left hand and flicking the switch (strumming). Long series of notes can be played by holding down the fret and flicking the switch up and down, and chords involve pressing multiple buttons on the handle. For long held notes you press the button, hold the switch up or down, and use your pinky to wammy that note for extra points. It even works well for lefties - which is just plain clever. But points aren't the goal here. Well they are, kind of... if score too low you can get booed off the stage and poor performance will earn you less money (to unlock stuff like new songs and cooler avatars, arenas, and guitars) but you'll care far more about not missing the notes for aesthetic reasons. See, when you hit the right note the song sounds great. Miss a few and you get horrible plonking noises. Oh, if you're on a role and don't miss a single note for a while, you'll get starred notes. Hit all of those and a bar fills up. Tilt the guitar vertical and you'll unleash your rock god energy (or something) and your avatar starts doing Jimi Hendrix style voodoo guitar, the crowd goes nuts, and you get serious point bonuses. You'll soon find that you have to use a guitar stance and you even have to move like a guitar player... seriously, it helps you keep time and play the game. Feels good too. Those are the mechanics of the game and once you develop the requisite muscle memory (when your fingers fly to the correct frets and chords without you thinking about it) the game because sublime. Almost as fun ﾖ but probably not ﾖ as playing the real thing. Obviously this game won't teach you to play guitar, but a 14-year old guitar wiz I invited over to play the game was very impressed. "It'll teach people the basics, the rhythm, and the role of guitar playing ﾖ plus it's awesome!" Nice endorsement, huh?  The music range should satisfy everyone, assuming they like bad covers. Well, that's not fair, the guitar work is excellent, but the vocals are suspect. Killer Queen is an abomination and I can do a far better Joey Ramone than the guy they've got here. Other inclusions are Incubus, Sum 41, Hendrix (Spanish Castle Magic), Motorhead (Ace of Spades), and more. Sadly no Van Halen or Led Zeppelin, but there's a blistering Stevie Ray Vaughn number and an Ozzie approximation barks at the moon. I'll never understand why artists and their management are so greedy. How much, really, should a 20 year old rock song be worth? I understand why Harmonix can't afford to license the real tunes but, honestly, why does Lemmy of Motorhead want some idiot messing with his song? Don't they realize that this game is effectively an advertisement for these forgotten bands? It's disappointing and seriously uncool. The difficulty level ramps up perfectly and the game is filled with in jokes. One example? The load screen consists of three Amp dials going ﾖ naturally ﾖ to 11. A newspaper provides detail on how you did at the last tune and advice crops up frequently. Good stuff like "Never let the drummer handle the money." I only have one complaint. Why isn't Eye Toy supported? It's surprisingly fun to watch yourself sing in Karaoke Revolution Party and it's even more fun for any spectators. I'd also like to see Internet multiplayer in the game and more options for party play. Heh, lets go crazy here. Why not also add support for Eye Toy, Konami's Karaoke Revolution Mic, and, what the hey, Namco's Taiko drums? Now add a DDR pad and let everyone play. Impossible. Absurd. But hey, it's all part of my rock and roll fantasy. The game is unfortunately rare, demand seems to be outpacing supply at the moment, but this is worth the search. It's a great game and the realization of Harmonix's stated goal. To give the feeling of playing music to those who don't know how to play. Yep, now anyone can play guitar. 
The ESRB has rated it T-Teen because of some mildly offensive lyrics but I think that's a little silly. Parents leery of rock n' roll know to avoid this one and almost everyone else isn't going to find this music all that offensive given what's on the radio these days.
Difficulty and co-ordination are factors, but kids over six who are already adept at rhythm games, or who are already playing real guitar will find a lot to like in this game. Parents will enjoy watching too, especially parents weened on classic metal. Some of the lyrics are questionable but they've avoided the Satanic stuff while also staying away from death metal and overt references to sex and drugs. There's nothing so shocking as what you find on MTV and modern radio these days. The game won't teach your kids to play guitar, but it'll get them off the couch, away from all that zombie killing, and forcing them to concentrate, practice, and work hard for the love of rock n' roll. What happens next? Maybe interest in a real instrument? Or maybe just a better appreciation of music in general. Now that's cool. Guitar Hero is good for kids over 6, but perfect for kids over 10. And a must for aging rock fogies who want to get the band back together! Comments? Chat about it in our forums! Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us | Buy This Game Browse Amazon.com's selection of "guitar" themed games Home > Review Archive > Video Games > Results: Guitar Hero |
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