Guitar Hero III: "We Tried Too Hard"

User Rating: 7.5 | Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock X360
Guitar Hero III for me is a bit hard to describe. On one hand it's still the same lovable gameplay that made the first two incredibly popular. Although on the other hand it feels like Neversoft tried a bit too hard to aim the game at a sole demographic: the more intense, "professional" Guitar Hero player. I don't mind the amped up difficulty, though I'm no master at the game, but the song selection and emphasis on competition rob the game of it's predecessors' charm.

One thing I liked about the previous games were their large variety of song lists. Unfortunately for me, who preferred songs like "Soy Bomb" and "Jessica" in Guitar Hero II, seemed to feel empty with the heavy metal/hard-rock approach of this third installment. The developers seemed to mainly cater said genres of music, although there's nothing wrong with "Paint It Black" or Reptilia, in my opinion.

Another aspect of the game that I really thought we could have done without was the battle mode, and the focus of it during campaign and multiplayer. When I want to play Guitar Hero, I'm hoping to just have some friends jam together in a little co-op or the occasional face off. Instead I'm now subject to, for some reason, people's urge to play battle mode.

Maybe it's just me, but Guitar Hero used to be more fun. The core gameplay still follows the same formula, so I still appreciate it for what it is, but who said that it needed to be changed. Neversoft added their own spin of Harmonix's baby, but for some reason it seems they tried too hard to outdo the previous developer.