Despite that over the years I have amassed a sizeable collection of video games for various games consoles; very few of those games have had me more anxious to purchase them than “Guitar Hero 5”. Even though it has only been a short time since the release of their best of game “Guitar Hero: Smash Hits” the wait for the games was next to unbearable for me.

Finally the release date of 11th September rolled around and my then newly purchased Rock Band: Beatles found its self taking a backseat even though I had only just purchased it two days beforehand on “Beatles Day”.

How to Rock

So for all of you who have never experienced this fantastic gaming series and genre here is a brief explanation as to what it’s all about. Basically the game revolves around you press various buttons in time to a pattern of dots that move along the screen, as you press the buttons correctly the song that you are playing will sound correct but if you should miss a button press then the song is interrupted. Sounds really easy and receptively boring when you say it like that now doesn’t it, but do wait there is more.

Firstly lets do away with the regular gamepad controllers and instead replace them with mock instruments, that’s right instead of pretending you are playing a guitar or drums you actually do just that. With the guitar the buttons that you press are located on the neck or fret board of the guitar however this would be too easy and not like a guitar at all so in combination with pressing the buttons you must also strum the bar in the main body of the guitar at the same time to play the note. In a similar way the buttons on the drum kit are activated by actually hitting the different drum pads in much the same way as a proper drum kit. Along with the guitar and drums all you budding singers can get to join in as well as courtesy of a USB microphone you can wail along with the songs as well.

Do I look like a Rockstar?

As with all games that are available on the 7th generation consoles the Wii version will never keep up with its big brothers the Xbox 360 and the PS3 as far as graphics are concerned, however this being said in comparison to the previous Guitar Hero titles graphically wise the game is becoming far slicker looking with much better animation from the band as they perform the songs you play on stage. Along with this the ability to generate the look to your performer has been given a greater array of options with the addition of a large number of additional hairstyles, clothing and accessories available.

So Much Music and Only Two Ears

As you can imagine the whole point to a game like this is the music and without a doubt this game certainly provides for all on that side. Alongside some classic oldies such as “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting” by Elton John (I know Elton John’s not exactly all that hard core rock but what can I say this tune absolutely rocks hard) and “2 Minutes to Midnight” by Iron Maiden a good majority of newer tracks are included as well, such as the fantastic Kings of Leon with their song “Sex on Fire” and Beck with the song “Gamma Ray” from his 2008 album Modern Guilt. With the exception of the live tracks that are included in the song list all of the tracks are master recordings meaning that unlike some of the earlier games in this genre all the songs are performed by the original artists. Alongside the already extensive 85 songs that are included with the game those of us who have their Wii hooked up to internet are able to download a number of additional songs for use on the game, the only downside to this is the fact that a good majority of them will cost you the princely sum of 200 Wii points. This being said though there are a few tracks on their which are free of charge such as Stan Bush’s “The Touch” from the original Transformers movie. Now if you are a real Guitar Hero freak like me and have the games “World Tour” and “Smash Hits” there is also the option to download a number of the songs on to this game as well, this is great for those of us who only have the “Rock Band” drum kit as it now allows you to play songs from “World Tour” on the drums as well. There is still a charge for downloading these extra tracks as well but the price is much better with the 35 songs from “World Tour” costing 350 points and the 21 songs from “Smash Hits” costing 200 points.

For a full list of the songs that are available on this game you can check out this list on Wiki

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_songs_in_Guitar_Hero_5

You will also find information on the available songs for download as well.

How long can I Rock?

Even with just the 85 songs that come with the game itself this game has a lot of room for playing especially when you take into consideration that there are four different instruments to master with difficultly levels ranging from beginners to expert. In addition to this the game also allows for four players to join in together to play with each other this ability has been enhanced over the previous games with the addition of a new gaming mode for this edition of the game called “Party Play” which allows players to jump in and out of a song as they desire. The game also allows the players to use any combination of instruments they want so no longer is there a fight over who gets to play the guitar as long as you have enough controls everyone can play guitar or drums or sing.

Is it a Hero or Zero?

With each and every time that a new game in this series is released the enhancement over its predecessor is very quickly apparent and this game is no exception, the addition of the ability to combine any combination of instruments is a great addition to the game. However the one thing that stands out more than anything else is the fact that Activision have been kind enough to get my set of “Rock Band” drums working with this game which has really added a new level to the game for me as now not only do I have to try and get to hard level on the guitar but my drumming ability now needs a heck of a lot of work on it to make it past medium level. With the inclusion of the downloadable content this game in my opinion is by far and away the most comprehensive in the range and with new tracks becoming available each month it just keeps getting better and better. The only downside to this is the cost of tracks and the fact that I am going to have to go and buy a 32GB SD card now to hold more songs on it .