This is the reason why I took my friend's PS2...and oh was it worth it.
Gamplay ||== I gave this a 10 because personally, I thought this game was a blast from once I turned on the ps2 until my hands cramped up and I had to stop and I still think it's a blast till this very minute! The controlls are simple, you bascially have a guitar that is modelled after a Gibson SG, on the fret it has 5 buttons, on the body it has a flipper which you use to strum with and below the flipper is a whammy bar.
There is actually a tutorial menu which you can go to to actually get the guitar lessons from this mysterious guy that happens to have toured with Metallica. You see that there will be little circular shaped figures comming down the fret board shaped screen on your tv and depending on where it is. is basically where you put your fingers on the fret board. While doing that, you strum the flipper. There are also alot more complex things to be dealt with there, but i won't spoil it for you.
Now onto the whammy bar, you will see notes that actually are very long, you basically hold onto the note and wiggle the whammy bar back and foward to get a higher score and to add on to your star meter.
Which actually brings me to my next point, you build a star meter when you hit notes that are glowing and when you hit the whammy bar, once you get the meter filled up, you tilt your guitar up perpendicularly and that enables you to get more points...and it's pretty fun doing that also.
Might I add that once you get into the higher difficulties, expert mode, it is so sattisfying and fun doing solos and riffs to your favorite songs, makes you feel like you're actually shreding in real life.
Graphics ||== The graphics are actually pretty nice! They suite the mood and feel of the settings in Guitar Hero. You can see the singer actually moving his lips while singing, the drummer actually hitting the corresponding symbols, snares etc. and you see your avater strumming and placing his or her fingers on the fret boards as what you would be doing. Not the best graphics in the world, but it's still pretty good!
Sound ||== The sound is fantastic, if you havn't heard already, these songs are actually covers. So they aren't done by the actual artist themselves which is extremely amazing since the songs sounds almost 100 percent alike. Also, the soundtrack is awesome too! You got some RHCP, Black Sabbath, Pantera etc. The sound effects are also pretty slick.
Value ||== From all of the unlockables to the modes to the music to the pure fun factor of the game. You will probably be playing the game for a while! If you have some friends that are having a party, this is a great game to bring over, just make sure you have 2 guitars now.
Thanks for reading my review, I hope it helped you on deciding whether or not you will be purchasing this game. I hope you do, or you will be missing out on alot.