If the original Guitar Hero was an acoustic Tegan and Sara
show in an Austin coffeehouse, and Guitar Hero II was a Pearl
Jam concert circa 1994, Guitar Hero III is the electronic
equivalent of that Black Sabbath gig that left an innocent bat
headless. Everything about this latest iteration of the series is
bigger, more attractive, and sounds better than its predecessors, and
even on “easy,” it manages to rock you like a hurricane.
The game itself is extremely similar to previous Guitar Hero games—if you’ve played either of the earlier ones, you already
know how to play this one. The majority of actual changes are extremely
subtle and minute, though the drastic increase in the number of
original recordings for the tracks in the game is worth a
mention—we all loved Guitar Hero II, but being subjected
to those glorified karaoke warblings during Nirvana’s “Heart-Shaped
Box” was almost as painful as Cobain’s suicide.
In addition to the songs actually sounding much better, the
soundtrack itself melts faces at an astonishing rate. The final tally
includes some 70-plus songs from groups like the Rolling Stones,
DragonForce, Bloc Party, the Sex Pistols, and Slayer, cramming in a ton
of kickass guitar songs without focusing on any particular era or
subgenre too exclusively—you couldn’t really ask for more without
sounding like a petulant dick.
In addition, the developers managed to add guest appearances by Rage
Against the Machine’s Tom Morello and Guns N’ Roses’ Slash as secret
characters. I’m not going to say this is the greatest decision since
Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves, but I would like to point out that
“November Rain” has never caused a civil war.
With all of the above and the online multiplayer that instantly adds
months to the lifespan of the game, unless you have no arms with which
to strum the now-wireless guitar, you must buy this game. EARNEST “NEX”
CAVALLI