Harmonix does it again by making music both accessible and fun!
Guitar Hero comes with a guitar controller that mimics a real guitar. It consist of five fret buttons, a strum bar that takes the place of the strings, and a whammy bar for creating different tonal effects. The game takes a very good approach into opening up the unique gaming feel of the controller to those of any level of gaming and/or musical experience all the while pushing up the difficulty at just the right pace.
The gameplay follows that of most other rhythm games by hitting the correct button or combination of buttons at the right time. Those who have played Frequency and Amplitude will feel right at home with the track style layout. Axe-grinders have a rock meter that serves the player's lifemeter. Hitting the tune right keeps everyone rock 'n rolling and in the green all night while missing the notes gets the player boo'ed off the stage. Points can skyrocket by maintaining long streaks of correct notes hit. A rockstar power meter is also in effect during play. When this meter is charged up enough, the player can activate the starpower by tilting his or her guitar controller up just like an Angus Young or Lenny Kravitz and watch as the point multiplier is doubled and the selected guitar hero character does some crazy animations on screen. Watch as the character Axel Steel starts to resemble the late Chris Farley. All of this together creates a very entertaining gaming experience.
I personally like the songlist for the game and hopefully look forward to expansion games with more songs to rock on to. The playlist includes classic rock standards such as Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water", newer rock by Pantera and Sum41, and even a blues tune by Stevie Ray Vaughn. There is a reason why Osborne's "Bark at the Moon" is under the section called "Face Melter's". All the songs are performed as cover songs but in many instances some of the songs are so well done that its hard pressed to tell some of them are covers. Breathe easy knowing none of the covers are of the quote unquote 'Kid's Rock' (not Kid Rock the singer)quality. The guitar track does seem to stick out here and there but . . D'uh!
The game's graphics bear a mention even though the focus is on sound and gameplay. The character models are nicely detailed and varied even though there are only eight to pick from with 2 un-lockable characters. The guitars in the game are all different versions of Gibsons' (Flying V, Les Paul). The character animations are entertaining, but not many and quickly become repetitive. The different venues are although richly detailed. This rich graphic presentation is mainly for the benefit of onlookers as the guitarist is much too busy watching the guitar track notes fly by.
The periphery guitar controller might make this purchase give some people a second though, especially if one is on a budget. I believe the fun had playing this game is well worth the price. Also, as of now there is no Guitar Hero 2 that I have heard about in the works, but I am welling to bet the purchase price that there will be.