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For as long as the series has existed, Guitar Hero has fascinated me. Whenever I would walk by an open demo station in my local Best Buy, I couldn’t resist stopping and playing a song. Or three. But, as my console ownership has a history of both brand loyalty and generation skipping (I went from the original NES to N64, running both into the ground before buying a Nintendo Wii), I had precious few opportunities to get more acquainted with the high concept game. All that changed last week when the series’ newest member, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, came to the Wii.
The addictive qualities of the game transfer just fine between store and home. I spent upwards of 5 hours with the game the first day I got it, quickly beating the career path on easy mode and quickly switching to free play to perfect the songs on which I had tripped up. I’ve since beaten the medium career mode and am terrified to make my way up to hard.
Your experience with Guitar Hero will rely heavily on your affinity for the track listing, and Legends of Rock puts together a nice mix of fun, poppy songs and more technical work. I bought the game for Weezer’s “My Name is Jonas” and Tenacious D’s “The Metal;” both are a combination of the two categories. I have to say, though, that I prefer songs that are just as fun to listen to as to play, and so tracks from Pat Benetar, Heart, the Killers, Guns ‘N Roses and ZZ Top are more interesting than those by Slayer and White Zombie. The heavier songs, naturally, are towards the top of the ladder in career mode, and so finishing it becomes more tedious as you begin to come across songs you don’t know and have no inclination to play.
One of the very cool features of the game is the boss battles, in which you play against Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello and GNR’s Slash to earn the right to play their songs and Lou (the devil) to beat the game. The difficulty of the first two battles seems switched, and so it’s annoying to try to beat Morello just to play “Bulls on Parade.”
The very best part of the game, though, is the guitar, which connects to the Wii remote and feels completely natural and sturdy, ready for your hardest rocking.
With great gameplay and an overall solid track listing, Legends of Rock is a worthy addition to a name that has become synonymous with video game success. I can’t speak for longtime players, but as a newbie, it’s additively fun and already has me licking my chops for new releases.