Guitar Hero

You've probably wondered if there was a way that you could play guitar without actually having to learn all those complicated chords and finger movements. You've also probably run across a game called Guitar Freaks, a game released in Japan. Guitar Freaks had 3 frets and a strumming bar and was a fairly simple game. According to the color fret moving up the screen, you push down the fret button and strum when it hits a certain point. Basically, it's Dance Dance Revolution but on guitar.

Guitar Hero takes Guitar Freaks to the next level. The Guitar controller that comes with the game has 5 fret buttons and a strumming bar. That means more finger movement and more totally spazzing out on the frets hoping you hit the crazy amount of notes coming at you.

The concept of this game is very simple. You are a guitarist starting a new band and you have to play your way to the top of the food chain. You first start out playing gigs in a basement, later moving on to grand theatres and outdoor festivals. As you move up the chain, the songs get harder and harder. For each song you play you earn a set amount of money, depending on how well you play, and you can use the money to unlock stuff such as new characters, new songs, and new guitar skins (for the guitar in the game, not your controller).

The main thing about this game that some people don't like about it is that it does get difficult as you advance in difficulty levels. While this would seem blatantly obvious to anyone with a 40+ IQ, I really do mean it. Travelling from "Medium" mode to "Hard" mode isn't as easy as one might think. In order to do so, one must be absolutely incredible at Medium to the point where it's just boring and too easy. Once you do that you can move up to Hard mode which is, obviously, Hard. Expert mode is out of the question, as they become realistic and every single note played in the actual song appears for you to play and that makes the solos impossible.

Take a late song in the game by Ozzy Osbourne, Bark at the Moon. In the song, if you've ever heard it, there is a crazy solo that requires a lot of finger movement to do successfully. This is finger movement I don't have, and neither will you. If you're thinking to yourself, "But I play real guitar very well, I should have this finger movement!", you may want to think twice. Real Guitar skills don't carry over to Fake Guitar skills, or vice versa.

The graphics in this game are mediocre, and they don't have to be more than that. The game focuses more on the actual guitar playing than the way it looks because that's what it is supposed to do. Guitar Freaks had NO graphics, just some 2D images that popped up during the songs to resemble something of a music video. This game however has 3D models and shows the character you picked to play guitar playing guitar and doing classic moves such as the windmill.

The controls in this game are as simple as they can get. When a note scrolls down the screen, you push the fret with the color of the previously mentioned note that is scrolling down the screen and strum when the note hits the correct place. Again, this game is very similar to Dance Dance Revolution except that you get absolutely no exercise from this game.

A problem I personally have with this game is the colors. Now before you say this is a ridiculous reason to have a problem with this game, I have to inform you that I am part color-blind. I have a condition called red-green color blindness and that forces me to not recognize some colors as they are, some blues look like purples to me is an example. Now with each guitarist you pick as a character they have a different color scheme for the strip of scrolling pictures that the notes scroll down upon. One in particular, the guitarist named Pandora, has a mostly blue-themed strip. There is also a blue note, and frequently I find myself missing entirely the existance of this note because I can't see it at all. Other times I miss the red notes, or the orange ones. Don't think this is a problem only to do with the fact that I'm part colorblind, my friend (who as far as I know isn't color blind in any way) says he also can see that sometimes it's hard to see some notes because of the scrolling strip.

Despite the color issues I have with this game, I still think this game is a really great game. One of the major things that keeps me hooked is the large song selection I have. From The Ramones (I Wanna Be Sedated) to Black Sabbath (Iron Man) this game has a wide selection of classic and some recent rock music. The next best part is the feeling of playing those songs, solos and all. Being able to successfully hit every single note in that one impossible solo leaves you with a feeling of candy and rainbows inside of you, and I use that metaphor because it makes me giggle and it gets the point across to you because it's ridiculous.

Overall, Guitar Hero is a fun game to play by yourself and with a couple of friends. Just buy a second guitar controller and battle head-to-head against each other and try to get the best score. Sure you'll looko ridiculous, but once you get over that you will find yourself trying to do crazy stunts while trying to play it. I still find myself jumping around and flailing the guitar like crazy. You probably will too.

4 star(s) out of 5

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