Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock

No offense to Richie Valens, Buddy Holly or The Big Bopper; for many rhythm game fans, the day that it was revealed that Harmonix was to be bought by Mtv and would not be producing the third entry to the wildly popular Guitar Hero franchise was truly the day the music died. With Harmonix working away diligently on their brand new franchise for Mtv (Rock Band, perhaps you’ve heard of it) and Tony-Hawk-developer-cum-rhythm-game-noob Neversoft handling Guitar Hero III, it was hard to say what the future would hold for the series.

However, not only has the series transitioned beautifully into Neversoft’s hands, the third entry ranks as the most polished one yet. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock is an absolute blast to play, offering all of the elements that hardcore fans of the series have been clamoring for years, from a full-on co-op career to a ton of online features as well as some subtle yet important tweaks in the gameplay to make it more accessible to newcomers, yet still fun to play and challenging for masters of the game.

Guitar Hero III introduces some story elements to the career mode, told through cartoon cut scenes in between tiers. These show the rise of your band from dingy basement shows to world (and ethereal) fame. They don’t really add a whole new element to the game’s presentation, but don’t really take anything away from the game.

Guitar Hero III features a bevy of new tracks from a variety of different musical eras throughout the history of rock. While the first few tiers are predominantly ruled by classic rock tracks (with tracks from the Rolling Stones, Alice Cooper, Heart, Foghat, Cream and so on), but the game gradually begins to crank out some newer tunes from artists like Muse and Queens of the Stone Age modernizing the rock.

The amount of master recordings featured in the game quite impressive. Whereas the masters were sprinkled around a little bit in Guitar Hero II, they seem to be all over the place in Guitar Hero III, making for a much more authentic experience. The game even managed to score some actual artist likenesses, with Bret Michaels, Tom Morello, and Slash making appearances (the latter two being unlockable characters that you can play as).

One thing that Guitar Hero fans will notice is that the response times are a lot more lax in GH3. You’ll have a lot more leeway when it comes to hammer-ons and pull-offs, making it easier to hit some of the more complex solos. While some GH enthusiasts will likely be pretty pissed off about this change, rest assured that the game has no shortage of difficulty on Expert mode. Even though the game has been made more accessible, Guitar Hero 3 has the some of the most difficult songs ever in the series, with tracks like “Raining Blood” by Slayer, “One” by Metallica, and the notorious “Through the Fire and Flames” by Dragonforce bringing painful memories to my hands as I write this sentence.

Another key addition to the series is the inclusion of the new Battle modes. In Career mode, the Battles are original compositions written by Tom Morello and Slash for the game (as well as a Steve Ouimette rendition of “The Devil Went Down to Georgia on behalf of “Lou”) where you’ll have to beat them at their own song, causing them to fail. You do so by employing Mario Kart-esque power-ups to fling challenges their way, like a mid-song lefty flip or causing all of their notes to double up.

The Battle mode is a great idea, but unfortunately falls prey to some problems. For starters, the power-ups that you gain aren’t terribly balanced and tend to randomize the gameplay a bit too much. While some power-ups are very easy to rebound from (the “Whammy” power-up only requires you to push the Whammy bar a bit until you restore your fretboard), others like the double notes will murder you. This is a huge problem during the final battle with “Lou”, since you’ll go through about half the song before he gets the first power-up, and if it’s a double note, you might as well restart right then. At this point, the game is no longer about skill, but becomes a luck situation where you just hope that “Lou” won’t get the double note.

Another issue with the Battle mode is that they’re a bit few and far between. It seems like this was an idea that the developers wanted to test, but were leery of going all out with. I say this since there are only the two other battles throughout the career, aside from “Lou”. For a game called “Legends of Rock”, it seems to be a little bit lacking in the star power.

However, minor grumblings aside, this version of Guitar Hero is pretty great, and the best new feature in this package is the wireless controller. The wireless Les Paul controller keeps with the series’ licensing tradition of using Gibson guitars as their body models, and this is the best looking and best feeling GH controller yet. The controller is extremely responsive and accurate, the strum bar has more give to it and the buttons feel great. For modders, the game has detachable faceplates for switching up the look. Additionally, the neck is detachable for easy storage and transport.

Another great new feature is the more fleshed out multiplayer elements. There’s a full-on co-op career mode with a few new songs picked out with co-op in mind (like “Sabotage” by Beastie Boys and “Reptilia” by The Strokes), as well as the aforementioned Battle mode (unfortunately, you can’t do the boss battle songs with a friend), and face-off modes. Oh yeah, and you can play all of these modes online, too.

Graphically, the game looks much improved over Guitar Hero II. The character models look much cleaner and detailed (not just PS2 models with a high-def boost), and boast some impressive lip syncing.

Ultimately, the biggest challenge that the game faces (or that the series has ever had to face) is direct competition from Rock Band, set to release next month. While many gamers are on the fence as to which one to pick up, I would state that missing out on this year’s Guitar Hero would certainly be a mistake for rhythm game fans.

Gameplay: 9.0
Even with a new developer at the helm, Guitar Hero III doesn’t skip a beat. The gameplay is a nice improvement over Guitar Hero II, with more responsiveness during solos and some fun new features. Even though it could stand to be fleshed out a bit more, the new Battle mode is a great competitive touch.

Graphics: 8.0
A marked improvement over Guitar Hero II, the character models look great and the singers actually have some impressive lip syncing this time around.

Sound: 9.5
A varied and diverse soundtrack spanning several decades of rock, Guitar Hero III has some great songs and some of the most technically complex that you’ll find in any entry to the series.

Difficulty: Medium

Concept: 8.5
Guitar Hero III introduces some great new features, but could’ve seen them through a bit more (like the career Battles).

Multiplayer: 9.0
The co-op career is a fine addition, as are the two-player Battles. All multiplayer modes in the game are now playable online.

Overall: 9.0
A great addition to the series, Guitar Hero III offers some great new tracks for hardcore fans, while the more responsive controls are great for newcomers. While the series faces some stiff competition from Rock Band this year, it would be a shame for any rhythm game fan to miss out on Guitar Hero III.