Guitar Hero (PS2)

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GUITAR HERO!!!

Developed by Harmonix Music Systems and published by RedOctane, Guitar Hero was released on Playstation 2 in April 2006 across Europe and has proven to be a great success with one sequel already and another on the way… but before I get to far ahead of myself, let’s cover this first installment of the Guitar Hero franchise…

First things first, Guitar Hero is quite a unique game that ...
...the playing of an electric guitar in doing so.

“So… how exactly do you emulate the playing of an electric guitar on the humble PS2?” I hear you ask… Although the game is available on its own and allows the player to use the normal PS2 joypad to play the game (which must surely destroy the whole point of the game on practically every level) it is also available packaged with a guitar-shaped controller to allow a much more convincing ... more

Well… here I am trying to figure out my latest review as I type. I know what the review is on so I suppose that’s a good enough start! I just need to try to get back to the keyboard as often as possible… Anyway… moving swiftly along…

I’m going to review another Playstation 2 game (no PS3 on my horizon, I’m afraid - so it’s going to stay old-school and retro for the foreseeable future) that I’ve recently discovered… It is…

GUITAR HERO!!!

Developed by Harmonix Music Systems and published by RedOctane, Guitar Hero was released on Playstation 2 in April 2006 across Europe and has proven to be a great success with one sequel already and another on the way… but before I get to far ahead of myself, let’s cover this first installment of the Guitar Hero franchise…

First things first, Guitar Hero is quite a unique game that allows the player to simulate playing some very famous pieces of rock music (some of which that are absolute classics - and others not so) while emulating the playing of an electric guitar in doing so.

“So… how exactly do you emulate the playing of an electric guitar on the humble PS2?” I hear you ask… Although the game is available on its own and allows the player to use the normal PS2 joypad to play the game (which must surely destroy the whole point of the game on practically every level) it is also available packaged with a guitar-shaped controller to allow a much more convincing gameplay experience!!!

The guitar-shaped controller is crafted in such a way as to resemble a miniaturised Gibson SG guitar (apparently… though I probably wouldn’t know an actual Gibson SG if I were to trip over it… but that’s by the by). Though this controller is smaller than a real guitar, it’s still big enough to give the impression that you’re playing the game with a real one - which makes the experience of the game much more satisfying.

The guitar-shaped controller consists of several buttons that will be used when you power up the game. The controller is essentially designed with the right-handed player in mind (though I believe the follow-up Guitar Hero II would allow the left-handed player to flip the guitar over) and down on the right-hand side of the guitar (when you’re wearing it with the provided strap and are looking down on it) there is a start and select button which allow you to navigate the in-game menus with the controller and beside them you have the strum button. The strum button is used to simulate the movement of a guitar players hand when strumming the strings.

On the far end of the controllers neck, there are five buttons of different colours (green, red, yellow, blue and orange respectively from left to right - again when wearing the guitar looking down at them) that are used to simulate the playing of chords. The amount of buttons used during songs will largely depend on the difficulty level you have selected (more on that later).

There is another very fine addition to the guitar controller that I’ve saved until last… The WHAMMY BAR!!!

The whammy bar is like that on real electric guitars and allows the player to bend the chord as they see fit when a song has long chords. This is something I will no doubt touch upon later.

GAMEPLAY

The gameplay of Guitar Hero is relatively simple. On-screen you have the neck of a guitar which is in forced perspective toward the player. On the neck of the on-screen guitar, notes scroll towards the player - represented by the colour of fret button that needs to be pressed as it passes through a circle at the bottom of the guitar neck - if the right fret button is pushed at the right time, then great! You will be treated to the song unfolding as it should - with wondrous air-guitar friendly sounds aplenty… BUT if you miss the note when it passes through the circle - either by missing it, mistiming it, or just simply pressing the wrong button altogether, then the lush chord that should have greeted your ears doesn’t play and very often you get a really annoying little beep to indicate that the note has been missed. I say the beep is annoying not really because of how it sounds - but most likely because it’s a reminder that you’ve messed up and in that respect might as well be a sarcastic voice that says “DUH!!!”.

The game is very easy to get into - whether you know one end of a guitar from the other or not. It allows the player to ease into it relatively well and you’ll no doubt find that the learning curve is surprisingly gentle. This means that you’ll be getting the hang of playing this mini virtual guitar in practically no time!

There are eight available characters that you can play with in this game – with only six available from the start of the game and the other two that have to be unlocked in order to play as them. The characters are as follows:

AXEL STEEL

No Frills, no fluff. Axel Steel is a shredder from the old school. He was put on this plant for two things, to drink beer and to play some Rock N' Roll. Looks like he's almost out of beer.

Axel Steel reminds me a lot of the actor/musician Jack Black. This is probably no coincidence as the game was released after the movie School Of Rock had done the rounds!

Pity there are no Tenacious D songs in the game though!!! I bloody hope some future sequel to Guitar Hero has Tribute on it! If you don’t know Tenacious D or indeed their song, Tribute… Then you HAVE to do it ASAP!!!

CLIVE WINSTON

Inspired by the 70s British guitar gods, Clive Winston is a precious session commodity - Everything he plays on goes gold. He's got a unique and virtuosic guitar style and knows just how far you can bend a string before it breaks.

JUDY NAILS

Known for her experiments with unconventional guitar tunings and stunning solos, Judy Nails has been touring since she was 17. She claims that her Alternative Rock "saved her life", and now she hopes to return the favour some day.

IZZY SPARKS

A wild man on and off the stage, Izzy is famous for his guitar playing and infamous for his hard partying ways. The press can't get enough of this bad boy, who never leaves a crowd unhappy or a hotel room un-trashed.

JOHNNY NAPALM

Raw is the word that describes Johnny Napalm best. That goes for his guitar playing and his abuse of the English language. His energy on stage is unmatched. He's the true successor to the Punk Era and an awesome talent.

PANDORA

The girl scouts didn't want her, the ballet school couldn't handle her, but the world can't get enough of Pandora's awesome guitar! She plays fast and wild, and UberSound Magazine recently dubbed her the Dark Princess of Rock.

The two unlockable characters are:

XAVIER STONE

A musical prodigy, Xavier Stone's time in Egypt exposed him to African and Middle Eastern techniques which he weaves into his sound. In a recent interview he claimed to rock so hard "there's nothing left of a guitar when I'm done with it."

GRIM RIPPER

Yes!!! You can now play as the Grim Reaper… er… Ripper!!!

Tearing it up from the beyond, Grim is a full-on rocker. Grim has abandoned the stealing of souls for the rush of stealing the show and now tours the world laying down monster riffs.

SCORING

The game has a “Rock Meter” to allow you to track your progress when rocking! It has four areas that a needle can move to in order to get an idea if you’re a born rocker or need to rock harder and faster.

Green: This means that you’re rocking your socks off. The crowd will be shouting out for more when your in the green… you’d best not disappoint them!

Yellow: This means your performance isn’t amazing but doesn’t suck either. This is a fairly safe place to be… but aim for that green section!

Red: Uh-oh… You’re going to have to start rocking soon or it’s going to be all over! The crowd will be sounding very unhappy with you by this stage and will be booing like crazy. Believe me when I say that even though the whole thing’s virtual, an unhappy crowd will put you off and may prove the end of your rock career!

Flashing Red: This is last chance saloon, amigo! If you don’t rock with all your worth and do it NOW, you will feel the song. This is a bummer and then some… There’s nothing worse than playing badly and having a heckling crowd. Oh… yes there is. It’s called having the power pulled and standing with your little guitar feeling like an ass – while your on-screen alter-ego/guitar hero wannabe hangs his/her head in shame. Bad times!!!

Now onto the other elements of how the scoring works…

You rack up 50 points every time you hit the correct note. Chords are worth double what you earn for hitting a single note.

If you manage to hit 10 notes in a row then the points multiplier increases but be warned: Slip up and your multiplier will be taken off you again.

As well as the aforementioned “Rock Meter” there is also a “Star Power Meter”. This can be used in order to whip the crowds into a rock-crazed frenzy and send your score soaring! The way it works is great… You have to keep an eye out for groups of notes and chords that have a star shape around them. If you manage to hit every star-shaped note without dropping one, you will fill up the “Star Power Meter”

When you have the message on the screen telling you that you have Star Power available, you then have to tilt your guitar so that the neck is pointing up to the heavens… The game registers this movement and kick starts your Star Power!!! Make the most of it – it won’t last long – so hit as many notes as you can while the Star Power is running!!!

There are different modes of play – ranging from a quick play mode to full on career mode where you will earn virtual cash which can be “spent” at the Unlock Shop – where you can purchase many cool things ranging from the unlockable characters, new guitars, guitar paint jobs and new songs… All if you’ve earned enough cash though!!!

There are different difficulty levels to try out:

EASY: Well…. It’s the easiest option to start off with! This mode only uses the first three buttons on the guitar – so you won’t feel like you’ve been thrown in at the deep end… hopefully!

MEDIUM: A touch harder than the easy mode. The notes are faster and now songs use the first four buttons. Believe me when I say this is quite a bit harder!!!

HARD: All five buttons are used on this difficulty setting. This will make your hands wish they weren’t at the ends of your wrists!!!

EXPERT: Again using all five buttons, this mode will throw the fastest note and chord combos at you. Think you’re hard enough?

I have to confess that as I haven’t had this game too long, I am currently playing on Medium mode – and it’s difficult enough for now. Hard and Expert are at this moment in time distant nightmares! Thank God!!!

Another little point that’s worthy of mention here is that the game also allows the guitar to be flipped the opposite way for left-handed players which will no doubt make it more accessible to everyone! Hooray!

SOUND / SOUNDTRACK

Naturally, in a game such as this, the sound is extremely important. Not only in the general in-game sounds but naturally with the songs that are featured too. Let’s face it, if the sound in a game such as Guitar Hero is bad, then the game is going to instantly fall flat on its face and die a terrible death (that was dramatic!).

The good news is that the sound in Guitar Hero is very good indeed and compliments the game perfectly. Whether this be the sounds of crowds cheering or the sound coming from on-stage amplifiers (more on that a little later) just before a song kicks off or when it ends add more believability to the proceedings.

Now… what about the songs?!?

There are 47 playable songs within Guitar Hero. Some 30 songs are cover versions of songs made famous by well known bands and will be instantly recognisable. The remaining 17 songs are by bands that are not well known. Apparently some of these groups are comprised of members of the Harmonix development team while others are fledgling indie bands.

When a song is not an original version, this is reflected on-screen before you start playing a song (e.g. “Killer Queen - As made famous by Queen”).

All of the songs within Guitar Hero are within different setlists - supposedly within the projected difficulty level of those particular songs - though that might not always feel like it’s the case! You don’t have to play them in the order they’re shown in but in career mode, you have to successfully complete 4 out of 5 of the songs in a setlist in order to open up the next one. The songs are of varying styles and tastes. There are some I absolutely love and some that I just play in order to complete to get further in the game.

It’s possible that not all the songs in the game will be to everyone’s taste. Some of them are quite heard rock songs that for me just aren’t my thing but to each their own, after all!

The setlists are set out as follows: (where possible, I’ll give you my own personal opinions on the songs too)

1. OPENING LICKS

“I LOVE ROCK & ROLL” - JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS

This is a great rock song. Instantly recognisable and brilliant to play along with on the guitar controller!

“I WANNA BE SEDATED” - THE RAMONES

Not a band I know much about or much of their stuff - but this one I had heard before and again it’s a pretty enjoyable song to play along with.

“THUNDER KISS ‘65” - WHITE ZOMBIE

I’m not really into White Zombie or Rob Zombie (as a performer or a movie director) but this is one of those songs I could in all honesty take or leave. It’s fine within the game but I wouldn’t listen to it outside of the game. Nope… I’ll stick to Enya, thank you very much!

“SMOKE ON THE WATER” - DEEP PURPLE

Now… this IS a classic rock song! As soon as you hear the opening of the song, you’ll feel delighted that you’re holding a guitar-shaped controller - otherwise you’d be off like an idiot around the room giving your air guitar big licks! Fantastic!!!

“INFECTED” - BAD RELIGION

This is another game that really brings out the rocker in you when you play the game… Some seriously great rocking – virtual or otherwise lies in this song!

2. AXE-GRINDERS

“IRON MAN” - BLACK SABBATH

One that I recognise a lot (read on and you will find out why I always smile when I hear this one). Another ideal song to put into a game like this.

“MORE THAN A FEELING” - BOSTON

What can I say?!? I love this song! I’ve always loved it. It’s such a feel good song and is instantly recognisable… and now you get the chance to “play” it! An absolute joy to play along with…

“YOU’VE GOT ANOTHER THING COMING” - JUDAS PRIEST

Though I’m not big on Judas Priest, I do know this song relatively well and it’s really quite an enjoyable song to play.

“TAKE ME OUT” - FRANZ FERDINAND

Love them or hate them (I’m in the former category), Franz Ferdinand’s Take Me Out is a brilliant song for this game. There’s plenty of guitar action to be had in this one. Go on… Give it a try… You know you want to… You’ll love it!

“SHARP DRESSED MAN” - ZZ TOP

Now… although I certainly don’t have the beard for this song, it’s bloody great fun! A bit of ZZ Top is classic stuff!

3. THRASH AND BURN

“KILLER QUEEN” - QUEEN

Where can you really go wrong with a classic Queen song such as this? Even though it’s not Freddie singing, it’s still a top song and I never realised how challenging the guitar would be in this song. Undeniable proof that Brian May is both a complete and utter genius and a total git (since you’ll probably have a hard job keeping up with the guitar in this one in places… or is that just me?)…

“HEY YOU” - THE EXIES

I don’t really know much about The Exies or their music but if this song’s anything to go by, then they’re probably worth a look. The song just starts on great drum and guitar work that grabs your attention right away and sets you up for the song!

“ STELLAR” – INCUBUS

Another good song from a band I know very little about but this one rocks! It’s proof that there are quite a few songs from bands that are certainly worth looking into. I can hear the guitar in my head from this one already and want to load the game up and get out my wee pretend guitar right now!

“HEART FULL OF BLACK” - BURNING BRIDES

This one has great guitar right from the start of the song and makes get right into the feel of it. Great stuff!

“SYMPHONY OF DESTRUCTION” - MEGADETH

Okay… let’s be honest here. Megadeth aren’t exactly going to be everyone’s cup of tea but this is such a rough and gruff rock song that it’s a joy to play – certainly within the game!

4. RETURN OF THE SHRED

“ZIGGY STARDUST” - DAVID BOWIE

A bit of Bowie! Fantastic! This is one of those songs that has me in a total guitar playing posture and has to make use of the whammy bar in order to bring complete satisfaction. Bloody brilliant!!!

“FAT LIP” - SUM 41

A great modern song with some very cool guitar moments that will ensure you’ll be rocking while this one’s on.

“COCHISE” - AUDIOSLAVE

A great Audioslave song - with some very neat but borderline heavy guitar moments that will drive your neighbours/parents/other half batty in no time (very much like the rest of the game, no doubt!) but what the hell? ROCK ON anyway!!!

“TAKE IT OFF” - THE DONNAS

This isn’t a song I knew before I played this game but it’s a pretty good one that’s enjoyable to play along with. The question is: How long can you play this one without reaching for the whammy bar? Eh?

“UNSUNG” - HELMET

Another rough and ready rock track that takes no prisoners. Whether or not this is your cup of tea or not, you may just forget that when you’re wielding your mini-axe!

5. FRET-BURNERS

“SPANISH CASTLE MAGIC” - JIMI HENDRIX

A class piece of Hendrix guitar work… but you have to ask yourself why this song and not one of his more famous songs? Getting the rights is probably the answer - given that Spanish Castle Magic doesn’t feature lyrics in the game - just the instrumental stuff - although the real song has lyrics. It’s been guessed at that Hendrix’s estate were far from happy at having a sound-alike copying his voice for the game. The answer? Why not just let the game designers and producers use the real song? The song’s called Guitar Hero after all what should that have told them?!?

That said, that any Hendrix is pretty much guaranteed to let you rock your socks off… and this track is no exception – with or without vocals.

“HIGHER GROUND” - RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS

An old classic from Stevie Wonder that was covered by the Red Hot Chili Peppers and became a classic all over again! If this song doesn’t make you want to get on down with your guitar controller then you’d best check your pulse as you’re probably dead!

“NO ONE KNOWS” - QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE

This is a good song but I don’t really know much of the Queens Of The Stone Age stuff but again within the game, it’s totally cool with quite bouncy and funky guitar for you to get through!

“ACE OF SPADES” - MOTORHEAD

Ah. Yes. THAT Ace Of Spades!!! Motorhead… Lemmy & Co… Imagine this song in your head. Now imagine trying to play it - and keep up with it! Not an easy one but certainly a song that definitely belongs in this game! The ace of spades, THE ACE OF SPADES!!!

“CROSSROADS” - CREAM

Some classic sounding Cream to play. Excellent stuff!

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“GODZILLA” - BLUE OYSTER CULT

Not really a song that I know so well but I have to ask the question: Why, OH WHY didn’t the makers of this game get Don’t Fear The Reaper by The Blue Oyster Cult?!? Why? WHY?!? Oh well… this will just have to do then.

This is another one of those tracks that begs for you to use the whammy bar and then some!

“TEXAS FLOOD” - STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN

This is quite a relaxed sounding track (though don’t think it’ll be a walk in the park to strum through!) but fits the game perfectly.

“FRANKENSTEIN” - THE EDGAR WINTER GROUP

Another fine example of guitar use in a cool track that makes great use of the guitar controller.

“COWBOYS FROM HELL” - PANTERA

A nice and relaxing guitar track… Oh… Okay… Of course it’s not! It’s Pantera for goodness sakes! It’ll have you strumming like a crazy fool on your guitar controller!

“BARK AT THE MOON” - OZZY OSBOURNE

Ozzy… Everybody’s favourite stumbling and mumbling feller! Here is one of his famous songs that will challenge your digits with your guitar controller or sprain you hand. You have been warned!!!

So – there are a mix of some all time great songs, some very good ones and a few that you might want to just play through in order to progress. The other 17 bonus tracks are listed below for your viewing pleasure…

BONUS TRACKS (unlock able during career mode)

“FIRE IT UP” - BLACK LABEL SOCIETY
“CHEAT ON THE CHURCH” - GRAVEYARD BBQ
“CAVEMEN REJOICE” - THE BAGS
“EUREKA, I’VE FOUND LOVE” - THE UPPER CRUST
“ALL OF THIS” - SHAIMUS
“BEHIND THE MASK” - ANARCHY CLUB
“THE BREAKING WHEEL” - ARTILLERY
“CALLOUT” - THE ACRO-BRATS
“DECONTROL” - DRIST
“EVEN RATS” - THE SLIP
“FAREWELL MYTH” - MADE IN MEXICO
“FLY ON THE WALL” - DIN
“GET READY 2 ROKK” - FREEZEPOP
“GUITAR HERO” - MONKEY STEALS THE PEACH
“HEY” - HONEST BOB AND THE FACTORY-TO-DEALER INCENTIVES
“SAIL YOUR SHIP BY” - COUNT ZERO
“STORY OF MY LOVE” - THE MODEL SONS

If nothing else, you have to salute some of these bands for their names! The funny thing is I was once a drummer in a heavy metal “band” when I was about 15 (so quite some time ago now!). We also had a crap band name. We were called PLEED INSANITY… See what we did there? We deliberately misspelled the word PLEAD!!! ROCK AND ROLL!!! Funnily enough, I do remember us playing the song Iron Man - which features in Guitar Hero - so whenever I hear it, I can’t but help think back to my all-to-brief venture into being in a band.

I sold my drum-kit to the music department of my school shortly thereafter - ending my stint as a drummer and a musician. Perhaps it was all for the best when you consider that drummers are always the bottom of the food-chain. Only just slightly above the humble roadie - simply because they can hit things in rhythm! Joy!

Anyway… I digress… I’ll get back on topic now.

GRAPHICS

Obviously, graphics are still an important factor in a game like this – although not any where near as important as the sound.

The graphics here are absolutely fine though and more than do their job in complimenting the aural goings-on.

You have of course the afore-mentioned guitar neck with the notes that you have to hit at the point they pass through the circles at the bottom of the screen… but there’s more.

You also have a visual representation of “your band” on stage. The career mode of the game will take your band to different venues and allows for a bit of visual variety – ranging from small and dingy night clubs to a outdoor festival!

A lot of the time, you won’t have the time to watch what’s going on with the band graphics as you’ll be watching the oncoming notes like a hawk. For those watching rather than playing, they’ll be able to watch the other graphics and enjoy some of the things that happen – like when star power is activated, your on-screen guitar player will start to show off in different ways depending on the character you’ve selected at the start of your game.

CONCLUSION (AT LAST!!! ARE YOU EVEN STILL AWAKE?!?):

Well… What can I possibly say that I haven’t already? This is easily one of the longest game reviews I’ve written. As you can probably tell from what I’ve written above, this had to be a detailed review as it’s too complex a game to write about in a nutshell (nutshells are also a bit cramped as far as writing conditions go, in my humble opinion).

The review has no spoilers despite being in-depth as there’s nothing to spoil. You’ll feel a bit weird when you first stand there with the mini-guitar in your grasp – but trust me… it’ll feel natural in no time at all!

In short:

BUY IT. PLAY IT. LOVE IT. ROCK YOUR GODDAMNED SOCKS OFF!!!

Thanks for reading…

Derek. 

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