For this review I’m going to be doing things a little differently. I’m going to make sub-categories. I will put in sections: game play, graphics, control, and replay value. I will give an individual score for each section and at the end average those scores together for the final score.
Game Play: Red Octane obviously felt like there was nothing wrong with Guitar Hero 2, and didn’t mess with the core mechanics of the game. Everything you learned to love, or hate in Guitar Hero 2 are back. It’s still a simple click the fret and strum the bar. Nothing crazy has come into play this time around. Even though the game is basically the same as the second installment, there are some nice perks to the game and well, perks that should have been there.
The career mode this time around has actually a little bit of a story behind it. Even though there is no dialogue there is clearly a story unfolding as you play. You start off in your friends garage and land a gig at a local backyard party. You get signed by a recording company and make it big. There are nice animations between each tier so you don’t get lost and for some type of amusement.
The character selection is back, but minus Pandora, Clive Owen, and a couple of others. You would expect this time around to have more customization options for your characters, but it’s simply not there. This game obviously lacks in customization options and giving the player the feel of it being their band.
As the title suggests, Legends of Rock, you do encounter Guitar “Gods”. You will battle against Tom Morello( Lead Guitarist for Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave), Slash(Guns and Roses), and the last one I will leave as a surprise. Each battle has a unique guitar battle that each boss came in and recorded exclusively for Guitar Hero 3. There are only three boss battles which is kind of a buzz kill, because you really don’t have fun with it until the final boss.
The battle system is the new feature for multi-player this time. Battling is about knocking your opponent around, and doing what you can to distract him or her from winning. Speaking of Multi-player, each platform except the Playstation 2 has online play to it now. You can now challenge anyone around the world, to fight for the top spot. Best part of all, is the ability to link your account to www.guitarhero.com and keep track of your scores online. You and your buddies can make your own rock band, gain groupies, and compete for title of Rock God.
Score: 8.5
Graphics: For the PS2, Guitar Hero 3 looks like Guitar Hero 2. The character models do look a little better but nothing to earth shattering.
When it comes to the next gen-systems, I’m not impressed. The notes and boards look a little sharper, but how much better can you make those look in the first place? As for the character models, they are an improvement from PS2 but nothing to brag about either. I understand the game is meant all about the notes, and playing the guitar, but it would be nice to have something to look at while listening to the drum solos.
The venues this time around are really cool and innovative. Some of them seem familiar as previous venues, but you will catch yourself looking at everything happening around the band and how gorgeous the venues look.
Score: 8.0
Control: Not much to say in this department. Controls are the same as the other Guitar Heros. As for the PS3 version, there are some problems . The instructions seem easy enough, but don’t exactly play out the way it should. It will take a couple of minutes to get set up, and reading the receiver. As for the control and response in the game, if you are running an HDTV, you will have to fix the lag calibration. There will be problems, but once you deal with the Calibration, it will work like a charm.
Score: 8.5
Replay Value: Guitar Hero has always had a replay value even playing the same song over and over. If you are into the series, you always had this itch to out do your last score, and hit more notes in a row. With Guitar Hero 3 having over 70 songs off the bat, this installment is no exception. The songs this time around are much harder than what you have experienced before, so it will take more time to master each. Now with the addition of having more songs to download, and the leader boards you will find yourself picking this up more often than you think.
Score: 9.0
Game Play: 8.5
Graphics: 8.0
Control: 8.5
Replay Value: 9.0
final score: 8.5
Tags: Activision, Guitar Hero, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3