Guitar Hero Rocks!!!

Who hasn't done air guitar in the privacy of their own home at one point or another? Guitar Hero is the coolest new game out for Play Station 2.

Basic DescriptionThis game comes with the game itself and what makes it so special is the included Controller. Its a half size Guitar! You plug it into the standard PS2 controller. On the neck it has five fret keys of green, red, yellow, blue and orange. On the body, there is a controller that acts as the strings that you hit up or down to play. Two buttons where volume and effects would be on a real guitar serve as the start and select button. The guitar also has a whammy bar that affects the note you play just like a real whammy bar! It also includes a strap, so you can wear it just like a real guitar. It even plugs in where a regular guitar would have the cord attached. It is modeled after the Gibson SG.

I wanted to get my son something different for a video game than the standard shoot 'em up and this game fit the ticket. He was psyched to find this game under the tree, and it was his favorite present, plus the first one he played with when he was done opening everything up.

Game Play Basics The game starts up and allows you to pick EASY, MEDIUM, HARD and EXPERT. Easy just uses the first three fret bars, medium uses four and is a little faster, and Hard features all five fret bars. Expert has you using all five fret bars at a frenetic pace. Think Jimi Hendrix here.

You select quick song or career mode. Career mode allows you to complete songs, rack up points and gradually progress from basements to arenas in your rock star career.

Starting Characters You get to choose a guitar hero from seven spunky looking guitar gods, three women, and four men. Here are their names and my brief descriptions:

Axel Steel Large brutish looking metal dude
Pandora Goth Chick
Johnny Napalm punk rocker complete with green spiked hairdo
Clive Winston British Rocker
Izzy Sparks Metal Hair band rocker
Judy Nails Metal chick and
Xavier Stone Reggae dude.

Later you can unlock the Grim Reaper himself as a guitar hero.

Starting Guitars Gibson SG, Gibson Les Paul and Flying V.

You can unlock more guitars like a double neck Gibson and things as you progress through the game. Your choice of character and guitar have no effect on the game play except of course that is the character and guitar you see jamming on the screen.

Playing the Game! My son started off his career with Axel, in EASY mode with a set list of five songs; I Love Rock N Roll by Joan Jett; Infected; Deep Purple's Smoke on the Water; Thunder Kiss by Rob Zombie or The Ramones I Want to Be Sedated!. At first he was frustrated as could be, but once he figured out the basics of the game, he was smoking just like Ritchie Blackmore dum dum dummmmm dum dum da dummmm Smooooke on the waaaterrr Fire in the skyayee. The notes come at you as colored circles on a giant fret board, and as they cross a line, you hold down the fret, and pick the note, just like with a real guitar, except simpler (no complex chord structures here). The colors also come down in rows in the same order that they are on your guitar. (i.e. green notes come down on the left most side, then the red notes in the middle and the yellow notes to the right on the easy mode) If a note is sustained, the note is followed by a line, you hold the note until the line is gone. A meter on the right tells you if you are rocking or failing! On the left, a meter tells you how many points you have racked up, and how many notes you have nailed. If you nail a note, it sounds just like the song, if you miss it, well, it sounds like you missed it and soon the crowd starts to boo. Miss too many and the song is over. Your character appears on stage with the band in decent animation jamming out the tune.

Here's the real beauty part. When you hit the notes right and get the rhythm of the song, you feel like you are really rocking! The notes sound just right and the crowd cheers, and it's way better than playing air guitar. I played Smoke on the Water, and I Love Rock N Roll, and once I had it down, it just felt natural. My son caught on quicker than I did (why is it ten year olds are so much more adept at video games?) and loved the songs as much as I did. Soon he was onto the next set cranking out Black Sabbath's Iron Man. On those long sustain notes in the beginning is a perfect time to go crazy with the whammy bar, hit it and it really bends those notes. You will feel just like Tony Iommi as Ozzy shouts I AM IRON MAN!!!. Hitting a number of notes in a row racks up Guitar Power points, and so does using your whammy bar. When your guitar power bar is at least half full, you can tilt the guitar to unleash guitar power! You literally tilt the guitar so it is pointed straight up, just like a metal god posturing rock star guitar hero! When you do, the crowd goes crazy, and your meter goes into the good zone. This is the first controller I've seen that responds to how it is held. I can't tell you how many times, I have leaned into a turn in Gran Turismo or Need for Speed.

Some of the Rocking Tunes on GUITAR HERO

I won't list them all here, but they put some GREAT classic rock songs on this game. In addition to the ones I listed above there is Franz Ferdinand's Take Me Out; Killer Queen by Queen; Boston More than a Feeling; David Bowie Ziggy Stardust; Motorhead's The Ace of Spades; Dave Mustaine's Symphony of Destruction, Blue Oyster Cult - Godzilla; Stevie Ray Vaughn Texas Flood; Edgar Winter Frankenstein, Eric Clapton- CrossRoads; ZZ Top - Sharp Dressed Man and for the real guitar hero Jimi Hendrix Spanish Castle Magic.

Graphics Graphics are average, the notes are very easy to see and follow (perhaps not so easy to hit, but hey thats the joy of the game). Your guitar hero and band have about the same graphic quality as the dancers in Dance Dance Revolution. It is cool to see your hero hit the notes just as you do.

Sound It's a guitar hero game! The sound rocks! Not only are all the songs faithfully reproduced, you definitely hear your input (good or bad) into the game as the guitar player. Properly played notes rock. Whammy bar bends the notes just like with a real guitar, and well, missed notes don't sound so good! The crowd is rather generic, but aside from that, this game sounds great.

Controller Feel Get this version of the game with the guitar controller, I seriously doubt this would be the same fun game with a regular playstation controller. That would be like Dance Dance Revolution without the floor pad. I felt like a guitar hero playing the game, and the last time I took guitar lessons was over 20 years ago! My son, who's never played guitar, quickly picked it up and was belting out tunes like Ritchie Blackmore, Billy Gibbons and Tony Iommi!

Other Stuff I understand you can get a second guitar controller game and rock side by side in a classic guitar duel! You can also switch the controller in options so you can play left handed! Can you say Jimi Hendrix with an upside down StratoCaster!? Scuze me while I kiss the sky! (okay Purple Haze isn't on here, but Spanish Castle Magic is) This is a fun game, and I think would be great at parties. Stickers of flames, a skull and lightning bolts are also included to add a little flair to your guitar.

Summary If you can't tell, both my son and I loved this game, its very fun, and a nice change of pace from shoot em ups and RPGs.

Guitar Hero now has a sequel!

Guitar Hero II