Gamespot hates games that aren't newb-friendly. Difficulty should be praised, not damned.
-Terrific tracklist
-Awesome detail
-Higher ratio of quality over crap songs
-Co-op options
-Addictive gameplay
-Overall better than Guitar Hero II
Here's what they didn't like:
-Insane difficulty on Hard and Expert
-Ugly singer
-Boss Battles and Multiplayer Battles
-Ads
-Dragonforce
Instead of verbally damning the game due to it's difficulty, I have yet to see any reviewers praising the game for it. Nobody has stepped up and actually stated that the difficulty level increase is actually an improvement, which is what I believe. Once you get passed Medium, Hard mode is what it should be: HARD. Not "Medium with the orange button", but HARD. I will admit, some songs are hard as HELL (no pun intended) especially the ones you literally play in Hell, such as Raining Blood. YET, this only ads to the experience of learning something new. Guitar Veterans will eat these challenges up and enjoy every minute of them.
Their review also did a verbal bashing of Dragonforce, saying: "It sounds a little bit like a Dungeons & Dragons dork singing over a tape of the Contra soundtrack that's been thrown in a blender and set to "liquefy," and it is so excruciatingly, arthritis-inflictingly difficult that you'll be thanking your lucky stars it's a bonus song and not something you're required to complete to advance." Now I know that not every person in the world likes Dragonforce and people have their own opinions, but it sounds to me that they just dislike it because they complain about it being the hardest song in the game. This is strictly BIAS. I know that even if you don't like Dragonforce, you might like the challenge the song gives you. I know for a fact that people think ths way. They also mentioned that it might "shy people away from completing Expert all together. Maybe this is incentive to complete it, instead of repellant?
Annother thing they did not like about this game are the guitar battles and Boss Battles. Some find them engaging and some find them nauseating. I for one think it's a step in the right direction for the game and it adds a newfound level of competition to this game. The old modes are still there, so why take off so many points just because of one feature that they happened to not like?
Sure the song covers aren't the best they ever have been, but at least the guitar work is still fun. They didn't give enough praise to the developers for including more original song tracks than the previous game, which only had a few. If the tracklist made this game so amazing, why still a 8.0?
Oh yes, the chracter models. I love the detail, but dislike some of the new designs. Johnny Napalm couldn't get any uglier if he tried (they gave him a monkey-esque look). Judy Nails looks like a skanky version of herself and pandora, given humongous cleavage. She does look more like her name implies, however. Being able to play as Slash and Tom Morello is interesting, yet they have no alternate costumes to enjoy playing with. The additional characters are fine, an Lou is self explanatory.
Yes, there are ads all over this game. TNT is hosting the playoffs at night, Pontiac has a stage on the back of a Tractor Trailer, and Axe has a guiar based off their new Clix spray (which is nauseating in large doses). I doesn't take too muc away from the enjoyment of the stages. While I do appreciate the desert stage, the Tokyo stage, the trailer stage, and the prison, I feel that Lou's Inferno and the first two beginner stages could use more than a few dancing girls in tight pants and more creative design.
Overall:
LIKES:
-Insane difficulty
-Guitar battles
-Awesome tracklist
-Playing as Slash
-Easier ability to do hammer-ons and pull-offs
-More original songs
-Addictiveness
DISLIKES:
-Some stages are not as creative
-Some characters are fugly
-Ads galore
I think that this game made GS feel inferior, so they couldn't give it at least an 8.5. For more on their feelings of inferiority and their hatred for non-newb friendly gaming, check my Disgaea:Afternoon of Darkness review.