Easy to pick up and a challenge to master - Guitar Hero II hits the correct note.
But then I happened to catch a bunch of flatmates all huddled around someone's room. I peeked in and my eyes lit up. 'The Beast and the Harlot' was blaring out of the TV speakers, everyone was smiling and cheering...everyone, of course, but the wielder of the mighty 'kiddie looking, plastic guitar'. The player's eyes were focused solely on the quickly moving graphics on-screen. This is Guitar Hero.
I was soon invited to have a go. I, at first, politely declined - before I was literally pushed into the path of an awaiting cheery axe. Scanning through the songs, I was impressed. "Oh, Message in a Bottle! Monkey Wrench!", and then of course my eyes caught a song by one of my favourite bands. "Alice in Chains! Them Bones!", I proclaimed with joy. I clicked the green button - one of five buttons on the Guitar's neck - and I am flung into the game. I received a quick tutorial from my flatmate, but as soon as I started - I failed. The reason? Not due to my horrible playing...well okay, maybe - but it was more me shouting out, "Oh my word, this isn't Them Bones! This isn't Alice in Chains!".
Yes, the first drawback of the game hit me. Guitar Hero II features, mostly, covers. For the most part, these covers are good - some are even as good as the master recordings. But...as a hardcore Alice in Chains fan, to hear 'Them Bones' being covered so poorly was very disappointing.
But anyway, I refocused. I do play bass, and a little bit of guitar - but I wasn't prepared for this game. Maybe it would have helped had my flatmate had it on the easiest difficulty, but nonetheless - I was up for another go. This time, I got told the controls properly.
Five buttons (coloured green, red, yellow, blue and orange) lie on the neck. These are to represent the frets of a real guitar. You must tap each button once it has scrolled towards the fretline at the bottom of the screen. While doing this, you also must hit the flexible strumming bar at the same time to play the note. "But what are those long notes?", I ask. "They are just notes that you have to hold. It's pretty easy.", he replies omnisciently - the cocky bugger. Already he thinks he knows guitar after playing with a flexible bit of plastic for a few hours. Yes, my irrational fear of pseudo-guitar playing taking over actual guitar playing was setting in yet again.
The songs begins. I'm off to a better start this time. I take note of the 'Rock Bar' to the side of the guitar neck on-screen. I'm in the upper half of the yellow section, which meant I was keeping it steady. There are three stages of the rock bar which literally mean: failing, keeping it steady and rocking - represented by the colours of red, yellow and green respectively. If the rock bar falls to far into the red, then you will fail the song. To keep the bar up, you must string together notes. If you make it into the green bar, the virtual crowd get behind you and begin to clap along.
I'm starting to find my feet. I'm now past the first chorus and I am rocking it on the second verse. I string together ten notes and see 'X2' come up in the mysteriously empty box on the screen. This, of course, was multiplying my score by two. If twenty notes are strung together, you received a 'x3' multiplier; thirty, 'X4'; and finally, forty equals a 'x4' multiplier. At this stage, I was struggling to keep it at 'X2'. It resets the multiplier if you screw up a note while on the run.
Some notes shaped like stars fly towards the fretline.
"What are those?", I ask.
"Star notes. If you hit all of them in a row, then it adds to your star power meter.", he responds.
As I learned, if you hit enough of these star notes then the power meter will begin to flash. At this point, you can tilt the guitar up in order to active the star power. During this sequence, the bar drains while all notes are coloured a sparkling blue. I notice that this time, my x2 multiplier is now x4. This is because during star power, the multipliers are multiplied - meaning that the maximum multiplier is at x8. The star power ends, and I'm at a much healthier score. As I head towards the solo, I have one last question for my jealous flatmate - he looks eager to get another turn...such is the addictive nature of Guitar Hero!
"Why am I not using the orange button?", the newfound rockstar inquires.
"You only use four buttons on medium. You use five on hard and expert, while you just use the first three on easy.", he spouts out.
I am about to finish the song, barely. An out of place solo appears at the end - something that throws me off and I am not familiar with in 'Them Bones'. I soon realise that this is to liven up the song and make it more suitable to the game. They aren't using the master recording, so why not screw it up some more and fling in a variation to some of the repetitive songs?
I finish, and the realisation hits me: I was stupid for despising the game. It isn't a guitar sim; it's a rockstar sim. It gives people the chance to live out their dream as a rockstar. Flaunting the guitar, strutting around the dark room at 3AM in the morning, licking the head of their perpendicular/vertical guitar as they sweep through the solo of 'Sweet Child O' Mine'. Okay, that actually sounds a bit worst than what it is...but no doubt, someone around the World is doing that right now.
There are 40 licensed tracks and 24 bonus tracks to play with here, so you are not going to get bored anytime soon. With four levels of difficulty to conquer, this is a great game that has a fantastic learning curve. I now own the title, and have recently completed the game on hard. I have even gotten to the point where I must stand a certain way to maximum my potential playing!
If that's not enough, there is also co-op if you have another guitar. Even though it's possible to play with the regular PS2 controller - it won't have the same effect. Co-op consists of you and buddy selecting a song and your own difficulty (so that you can even rock out with a beginner or an expert), and each song either has its own lead guitar and bass options or lead guitar and rhythm guitar.
This may sound like a great buy, but keep in mind that the game is also available for the Xbox 360 - complete with downloadable, yet overpriced, content packs that contain new songs. Not only that, the 360 version also includes 10 extra songs: including Iron Maiden's 'The Trooper'. Therefore, this is not the definitive version of Guitar Hero II - but is indeed a cheaper option if you are still stuck, or are still playing, with the last generation of consoles. The only drawbacks to the game are some of the covers of the songs; the punishing change in the level of difficulty when you reach the upper levels of hard; and the, at first fun but ultimately, average graphics. Despite these small criticisms, Guitar Hero II is the ultimate rockstar sim. If you have neither the talent nor the patience to learn guitar, or just want a bit of fun outside of your musical abilities - then Guitar Hero II will deliver. A game for everyone.
Rock out!