Guitar Hero 2 was released today in the UK. Tomorrow, my job is to demonstrate it to the public and sell as many copies as possible. Not bad! However, it got me to thinking about how I feel about the game.

I've played Guitar Hero 2 since just after the USA launch. I was VERY disappointed. I don't think it feels like a sequel at all. I could stand that the track list was really poor in comparison to the first game (subjective). I could stand that the two player co-op was very very dull for the second player. I could even stand that due to the tracks being boring, the brilliant practice mode was made pretty much useless, and you couldn't use it to pop in the GH1 disc and practicing those too. I was even predicting that the UK GH2 would come with the GH1 black guitar and not the lovely red one (the proper SG colour).

No, here's why i'm truly disappointed. It's like an add-on pack! Nothing new in the way you play the songs. What I wanted was more techniques, more things to do in the harder difficulties to make it more satisfying. In the unlikely event that someone from Harmonix is reading this, i've got some ideas for things that should have been in Guitar Hero 2 and should be in Guitar Hero 3. If you see these in GH3, you know where they came from, and Harmonix should at the very least have the decency to put one of my songs in the bonus tracks... or more likely give me a free game and guitar hehe

So, techniques. By now we've mastered hammer-ons and pull-offs, so how about these?

1. Vibrato - That's when a note wobbles. You can't vibrato the 'string' with the guitar, so how about during the vibrato periods, pressing and releasing the button quickly.

2. Dive-bombs - make more use of the tremolo arm and press it down slowly when indicated, or use it for simulated tremelo gymnastics.

3. Slides - A slide up or down the string could be simulated by pressing an indicated button then sliding your finger along the other buttons to another button end-point.

4. Bends - I've never been a fan of tilting the guitar for Star Power. Move Star Power to pressing all 5 buttons at once (or just the select button as usual), and have the guitar tilt as a bended note, or holding a button then pressing another one as well, when on a bending note.

5. Widdling! - or double hand tapping. That's where you hear someone doing stupidly fast riffs, by using two hands for pressing the notes. - hold a button then press other indicated buttons quite fast with your other hand.

6. Pinched harmonics - The screaming notes. Hit the paddle just as you're letting go of the button.

Also, for co-op mode, solo duets please.

If I can think up these things, being a lowly minimum wage worker, that's the real reason why i'm disappointed in Guitar Hero 2.