Great game and same play, but really let me down.
Everyone remembers GH1 and GH2 as a beautifully made game with the perfect game play and terrific graphics, but this time, it didn’t really float my boat.
The game play is still as strong as it was when it started in Guitar Hero I. The hammer-ons are still as useful as they were in two, so nothing tacky about that. However, the placement of the hammer-ons and offs don’t help at all. For example, you’re pulling off a wicked solo, and all of a sudden, bam! Where you thought a hammer-on was supposed to be was replaced by a regular strum note. Also, Guitar Hero I and II were both presented with beautiful characters and venues. The resolutions were terrific and the venues were sharp looking and more in-detail. In this installment, it really isn’t as remarkable as the other two. First, the singers and the drummer. The singers are absolutely terrific! They lip sync along with the songs, making them look much more realistic, and they even lift up the mic and stab the audience. While the singer is going crazy, the drummer is playing along to the actual song, which is a great idea gone rotten. The drummer looks like a doll whose only purpose there is to make the game look bad. Why? His arms look like moving sticks, making the animation really non-fluid and un-humanly, which makes even more horrible how the camera pans to the drummer and makes you stare at his stick-fu animation.
Here’s another stab into the graphics and overall presentation: star power. When you activate star power, you’d expect the guy or girl to go crazy with that guitar or start playing with it behind their heads, but that’s not the case in this one. The audience don’t clap along with you, and all the character does is maybe stomp on the stage, or simply smile and continue playing as usual. Also, the very notes that you play don’t give the same glow and pleasant lighting as the others used to be. Also, I remember the majestic flames that jump at you with every single note you play, which Neversoft surprised me too, replacing those flames with itty-bitty sparks that simply make you feel weak. Even with all of those setbacks stacked up against the whole feeling of the game, the game play is still worth all of those odds, and the song list is the very best of them all. All in all, I do recommend this game, if you are as big of a fan of Guitar Hero as I am.