By all accounts Rock and Roll should have been finished by 1959, and the Playstation 2 should have be a ‘dead’ platform by 2005 –but somehow, both refuse to die.
We still listen to a surprising amount of four chord sixteen bar riffs, and the PS2 continues to be the highest volume games console of all time. Guitar Hero III ‘Legends of Rock’ masterfully exploits both anomolies. Guitar Hero is available on a number of formats – including Nintendo DS, Xbox, PC and PS3 HOWEVER the humble PS2 is still in the frame and capable of providing if not endless hours of entertainment, at the very least, a distraction during a wet Bank Holiday weekend.
It’s entirely possible to play the PS2 version using the standard controller – although it isn’t that much fun. The game revolves around adopting a character – and playing a series of ‘live’ gigs, earning money, and working ones way up to eventual rock stardom. If you wanted a synopsis in 6 words it would read ‘Rockstar ate my hamster meets dancemat’
To get the full experience of the game you need the PS2 ‘Guitar’ – it’s a plastic controller in the basic form of an electric guitar – on the fretboard are six coloured buttons, these correspond directly to the right hand controls on a standard PS2 controller, indeed this can still be used as an alternative.
Where you’d strum the strings is a broad switch, a tremolo arm and a couple of pushbutton switches where the volume and tone pots are usually positioned complete the illusion.
Two versions of the guitar are available – a ‘cabled’ one – which you can get at TK MAX for £14, and a ‘wireless’ one for about £25. Beware of the small print, it was only AFTER I got mine that I noticed ‘game not included’ on the carton.
The controller plugs straight into the joystick socket, you put the disk in the slot and you power up and play.
The opening sequence is fairly promising – it shows animation of concerts and plays some of the backing tracks contained in the game.
A few clicks later and you’re selecting your avatar – your onscreen character. The idea is that you perform at a number of ‘gigs’ – with increasingly complex scenarios, and ‘play’ your instrument.
You don’t need to know ‘real’ chords – as the backing track proceeds, you hit the buttons in time to the beat, resulting in the lead line playing correctly (or – as in my case, very badly!)
The player is shown a representation of a guitar fretboard, you press the appropriate coloured key and ‘strum’ at the right moments – depending on how accurately you manage this task, you earn points, which are translated into game ‘cash’.
As I hinted before, the format is almost identical to a ‘dancemat’ game. In my case, the appeal of the game lasted precisely 15 seconds – but I’m hardly the target audience. There’s a ‘practice’ mode which allows you to get ‘straight to the action’ and for most people that will probably be entirely sufficient.
Whether anyone has the stamina to do the game ‘properly’ is anyone’s guess, I’d say ‘get a life!’
It’s a bit of harmless fun, it certainly isn’t good enough a game to warrant dashing out and investing in a PS2, but if you’ve no intention of buying yet ANOTHER console, it’s well worth it for the novelty.
Shop around – GHIII was on sale at my local HMV shop for £15 for a brand new copy, new controllers can be had for just about the same price, and at the very least it isn’t yet another ‘beatemup’ or driving game.
Check the other reviews for the full track listing, you’ll probably recognise most of them, and does it really matter if you don’t?
It’s harmless fun, and can appeal to adolescents and ‘drunken uncles’ alike. Whilst it doesn’t justify going and buying a ‘new’ PS2 – it certainly gives you an excuse for keeping hold of the old one!
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May 26th, 2009
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