| Game Title: | Guitar Hero II |
| Developer: | Harmonix |
| Publisher: | Activision |
| Review Score: |   |
| User Score: |
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Guitar Hero II (PS2)
By Tony 'Rulke' Kustro - Tue Jan 2, 2007 5:47pm
Imagine this scenario: a stadium packed to the rafters as tens of thousands of sweating, gyrating fans throw their screams of ecstasy and adulation towards the stage as you furiously belt you're way through Guns 'N' Roses 'Sweet Child O' Mine'. Far fetched? Of course it is. But at the risk of painting myself as a mullet-wielding bogan with a warped desire for glory, that's about as perfect a dream as it gets. Sometimes a stairway to Heaven is revealed, a message in a bottle giving directions on how to monkey wrench a way out of our institutionalized existences towards a mind-blowing nirvana.
Escapism has birthed its latest love-child and its name is Guitar Hero II.
It's been six months since I last fretted my way to the status of Guitar Legend. The original Guitar Hero had us tearing the shirts off our well-buffed bods, pouring water over our long, flowing blond locks and locking horns with the devil as we fought our way towards the gates of rock Heaven and leather-bound glory. It became a well-rehearsed excuse to grab mates together, drink copious amounts of rock n' roll mouthwash and boogie on down to some great melodies: fun times indeed.
Similar to its predecessor, Guitar Hero II comes with a beautifully modelled SG guitar (now cherry red), a swag of famous songs covered so well you'll swear blind were the originals (although nobody could ever sound like Axl Rose), along with the same easy playability leading to a pain-free and enduring experience from beginning to end.
What more could you possibly want?
Before I continue, let's get one thing clear; it's a guitar game, therefore it stands to reason you need to have the guitar peripheral. Playing without it would be akin to using a rolling pin to play cricket (the English might as well...) – completely useless. Face it; you don't have a choice in the matter. Players can either re-use the original SG from the first game and be stuck with just the one guitar, or purchase the complete package and (depending on the song) form a duo with a mate and choose between the rhythm, lead or bass guitar sections. Not having a second guitar, I wasn't able to try the multi-mode, but I'd imagine playing either the rhythm or bass sections wouldn't be as satisfying as the lead.
Getting into the game is a simple process - make a band name, choose an on-stage character and guitar, select one of the five songs available, turn up the stereo and fun ensues. For the beginners, playing the game on easy is an obvious first choice as only three of the five available frets are used, so giving a gentle introduction to the 40 or so tracks available. The five star rating system used upon completion of each song is again a means to cement your reputation as a true, crotch-grabbing, guitar-smashing rock legend, as striving for perfection requires practice and more practice.
An example of the game's more polished and streamlined approach, the practice mode is rather useful this time round. Think Living End's 'Carry Me Home' or Dick Dale's 'Misirlou' and expect to feel like a right tool when you score a 2 or 3, even on Medium level. Some of these tracks are bloody hard, so the ability to select any song, slowing down the tempo by varying degrees, or just repeatedly playing those particularly difficult sections of songs; you'll find yourself scoring those special hugs from adoring fans backstage in no time.
Having completed the game on both easy and medium levels, I was left exhausted, with what seemed like an onset of arthritis attacking my left fingers. Easy and Medium levels are somewhat similar to the previous games, with adequate amounts of challenging gameplay in both. But after having tried just the one song, Motley Crue's 'Shout at the Devil' on Hard mode, my fingers detached themselves from my left hand and made a dash for the door - clearly an indication of my skill, or rather a lack of... Any suggestion of a smooth transition between Medium and Hard is simply not the case. As such, a jump in levels personally equated to a sharp increase in both difficulty (much more than one would expect) and amounts of missed notes. Perhaps it's an indication that Red Octane decided to accommodate the hard-core, hung-over rock pigs stumbling over from Guitar Hero, satisfying their lust for a more intense experience. Not that I should have bothered, but on Extreme level, I was out of my element. No chance? I guess time will tell, as I mean to beat this sucker till it screams.
Of course, nothing gets more focus than the song line-up and somewhat regrettably, fans of Guitar Hero will quickly notice an obvious leaning towards the heavier side of rock. While still incredibly impressive, the line-up doesn't necessarily draw upon the huge palette of music available these days...something that will work in favour of the game's release on the Xbox 360 with its planned downloadable track list.
Despite this, my frustration meter never reached concerning levels. It just made me more intent on reaching the dizzying heights of the rock gods - obviously something that may take a while, but nevertheless, I'll get there. It's a significant measure of a game's success when perseverance becomes a factor. You'll actually walk away after a heavy dose of guitar work, appreciative of the hard yards required in completing the game – much more so than most games out these days.
An important addition to the game is the easy note changes. It's no longer a requirement to hold down the entire length of the notes as you'll find sliding between frets does you more favours than bashing them when required, especially when you hit the harder levels. This is as close to a real guitar as you'll get. Other changes worth mentioning include improved stage, crowd and character animations and effects as well as
As in its predecessor, Guitar Hero II maintains its focus on providing a host of unlockable features including new guitars, characters, songs and outfits on meeting particular requirements. Perhaps an irrelevance for the more extreme guitar legends, but for those casual players not necessarily striving for five-star perfection on each song on every level, theses types of rewards gives the game a wide appeal.
Get past the somewhat heavier rock line-up, turn up the volume and you'll find a game that screams pleasure in a massive, frenzied way. This game rocks... hard!
) Smokin hot! |
Escapism has birthed its latest love-child and its name is Guitar Hero II.
It's been six months since I last fretted my way to the status of Guitar Legend. The original Guitar Hero had us tearing the shirts off our well-buffed bods, pouring water over our long, flowing blond locks and locking horns with the devil as we fought our way towards the gates of rock Heaven and leather-bound glory. It became a well-rehearsed excuse to grab mates together, drink copious amounts of rock n' roll mouthwash and boogie on down to some great melodies: fun times indeed.
Similar to its predecessor, Guitar Hero II comes with a beautifully modelled SG guitar (now cherry red), a swag of famous songs covered so well you'll swear blind were the originals (although nobody could ever sound like Axl Rose), along with the same easy playability leading to a pain-free and enduring experience from beginning to end.
What more could you possibly want?
Before I continue, let's get one thing clear; it's a guitar game, therefore it stands to reason you need to have the guitar peripheral. Playing without it would be akin to using a rolling pin to play cricket (the English might as well...) – completely useless. Face it; you don't have a choice in the matter. Players can either re-use the original SG from the first game and be stuck with just the one guitar, or purchase the complete package and (depending on the song) form a duo with a mate and choose between the rhythm, lead or bass guitar sections. Not having a second guitar, I wasn't able to try the multi-mode, but I'd imagine playing either the rhythm or bass sections wouldn't be as satisfying as the lead.
) One day the wind will change... |
Getting into the game is a simple process - make a band name, choose an on-stage character and guitar, select one of the five songs available, turn up the stereo and fun ensues. For the beginners, playing the game on easy is an obvious first choice as only three of the five available frets are used, so giving a gentle introduction to the 40 or so tracks available. The five star rating system used upon completion of each song is again a means to cement your reputation as a true, crotch-grabbing, guitar-smashing rock legend, as striving for perfection requires practice and more practice.
An example of the game's more polished and streamlined approach, the practice mode is rather useful this time round. Think Living End's 'Carry Me Home' or Dick Dale's 'Misirlou' and expect to feel like a right tool when you score a 2 or 3, even on Medium level. Some of these tracks are bloody hard, so the ability to select any song, slowing down the tempo by varying degrees, or just repeatedly playing those particularly difficult sections of songs; you'll find yourself scoring those special hugs from adoring fans backstage in no time.
Having completed the game on both easy and medium levels, I was left exhausted, with what seemed like an onset of arthritis attacking my left fingers. Easy and Medium levels are somewhat similar to the previous games, with adequate amounts of challenging gameplay in both. But after having tried just the one song, Motley Crue's 'Shout at the Devil' on Hard mode, my fingers detached themselves from my left hand and made a dash for the door - clearly an indication of my skill, or rather a lack of... Any suggestion of a smooth transition between Medium and Hard is simply not the case. As such, a jump in levels personally equated to a sharp increase in both difficulty (much more than one would expect) and amounts of missed notes. Perhaps it's an indication that Red Octane decided to accommodate the hard-core, hung-over rock pigs stumbling over from Guitar Hero, satisfying their lust for a more intense experience. Not that I should have bothered, but on Extreme level, I was out of my element. No chance? I guess time will tell, as I mean to beat this sucker till it screams.
Of course, nothing gets more focus than the song line-up and somewhat regrettably, fans of Guitar Hero will quickly notice an obvious leaning towards the heavier side of rock. While still incredibly impressive, the line-up doesn't necessarily draw upon the huge palette of music available these days...something that will work in favour of the game's release on the Xbox 360 with its planned downloadable track list.
) Nice axe, babe. |
Despite this, my frustration meter never reached concerning levels. It just made me more intent on reaching the dizzying heights of the rock gods - obviously something that may take a while, but nevertheless, I'll get there. It's a significant measure of a game's success when perseverance becomes a factor. You'll actually walk away after a heavy dose of guitar work, appreciative of the hard yards required in completing the game – much more so than most games out these days.
An important addition to the game is the easy note changes. It's no longer a requirement to hold down the entire length of the notes as you'll find sliding between frets does you more favours than bashing them when required, especially when you hit the harder levels. This is as close to a real guitar as you'll get. Other changes worth mentioning include improved stage, crowd and character animations and effects as well as
As in its predecessor, Guitar Hero II maintains its focus on providing a host of unlockable features including new guitars, characters, songs and outfits on meeting particular requirements. Perhaps an irrelevance for the more extreme guitar legends, but for those casual players not necessarily striving for five-star perfection on each song on every level, theses types of rewards gives the game a wide appeal.
Get past the somewhat heavier rock line-up, turn up the volume and you'll find a game that screams pleasure in a massive, frenzied way. This game rocks... hard!
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