Who would have thought in just three short years, a game about pressing coloured buttons on a child sized guitar would become one the hottest video game properties in the world? From living rooms to bars around the world, Guitar Hero has taken the world by storm as Neversoft quickly try to churn out the next title to meet the ravenous demand. Now personally, as a Harmonix fan from way back, I've been more than a bit sceptical of the series since it left their finely musically tuned hands. My copy of Guitar Hero 3 has lay neglected in the corner since I reached the final tier on Hard only to find the songs had become a ridiculous mash of buttons rather than anything remotely enjoyable. The next title in the series is finally here, so have they learnt from their mistakes? Read on and find out.

Don't be fooled, Guitar Hero 4 this is not. The tracklist is all-new, but the gameplay is still the same with a fresh coat of paint. At its core it's a second expansion for the series, in the same vein as Rock The 80's. Characters and menus have been re-skinned, but essentially it's the same game we saw in Guitar Hero 3, injected with a liberal dose of Aerosmith.

Playing through career mode takes you from Aerosmith's first gig at Mendon Nipmuc Regional High School right up to their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Your progress is accompanied by simple animated sequences, much like those seen in Guitar Hero 3, spliced together with documentary footage of the band, as they reminisce on the stand out moments in their career and generally go off on an often hilarious nonsensical tangent.

Each set kicks off with two opening tracks, from bands that either opened for Aerosmith in the past or influenced their style, to warm up the crowd. Complete these and it's time for Aerosmith to take the stage and take the stage they do, in full motion captured glory. Each tier of career mode consists of two warm up tracks, two Aerosmith tracks and an encore of more Aerosmith that all must be completed before you can move on. Your chosen guitarist gets the flick when its time for the band to play, who are depicted in the very same semi-cartoon style as Slash and Tom Morello from Guitar Hero 3. RUN DMC gets the star treatment too for the legendary mash up of 'Walk This Way', but it seems like they did things on the cheap, with only DMC represented in game.

My one disappointment with the career mode itself is that the songs never quite seem to match up to the moments in time that they represent. Loading screens are littered with trivia that remind you of what songs they played at specific events, but it seems that that they never match up. Songs don't necessarily follow the timeline of Aerosmith's career, but nor are they necessarily in a logical order of increasing difficulty. The difficulty curve seems to vary across the board, rather than following an exponential curve like you'd expect. It really would have been all the more satisfying to play out their career as it happened, rather than just merely a greatest hits mix.

The most important factor in any music game is always the soundtrack. Playing songs that you know and love can really make or break your enjoyment of a title. two-thirds of the tracklist in Guitar Hero: Aerosmith naturally comes from the titular band themselves. What is unusual about the song choice is the fact that many of the band's biggest tracks, the likes of 'Dude (Looks Like a Lady)' and 'Janie's Got A Gun', are notably absent with a focus placed largely on tracks from the 70's (think 'Sweet Emotion' and 'Train Kept A-Rollin'. The decision to look over the chart-toppers is by no means a bad choice though. I could imagine the band's biggest hit 'I Don't Want to Miss a Thing' being absolutely hopeless in Guitar Hero. If you're a fan of the band, then the tracklist will come as a god-send regardless, but if you're not too familiar with the band outside their hits (previously myself included), the best way to describe the game is a disc of pure rock and melodic riffs. Their music style creates some great rhythmic note progression that feels a treat to play and really suits the style of game. On the non-Aerosmith side of the things, the selection of 'warm up' tracks included isn't half bad at all. We're talking tracks from The Clash, Cheap Trick, Slash and Lenny Kravitz, with some great hits on offer like She Sells Sanctuary and Dream Police. They certainly don't feel like mere filler and, best of all, only 4 tracks in the game are cover versions.

Playing through the game, I was delighted to see not a guitar battle in sight... well that is until I reached the final tier and it was time to face off against Joe Perry, the lead guitarist of Aerosmith. Battle mode was undoubtedly the most criticised new addition to Guitar Hero 3 and while its return isn't exactly greeted with open arms, it has been heavily improved, making it a whole lot fairer and in turn more enjoyable. It's now much more about holding on until the end, where you are now given the chance to make the final blow. Even still, if you really can't stand the battle and get stuck, you can just skip the battle and leave it for later.

Also responding to other outcries from gamers, the difficulty of the game has been toned down. It might be largely due to the riff-friendly nature of Aerosmith's style, but it has certainly been a conscious decision. Note layout does feel a little easier and tweaks have been made to fix the faults in the hammer on/pull off mechanics. If you completed Guitar Hero 3 all the way through on Expert and show off your 'Through the Fire and Flames' skills just for fun, you should fly through Guitar Hero: Aerosmith without ever really getting stuck. It does make the game less frustrating, but the more serious fans out there might find it a little too easy and over too fast with only 41 tracks available.

Apart from the new tracks and the inclusion of Aerosmith into the game, there isn't a whole lot new introduced in this one. In fact it's all pretty much the same as we saw in number 3, with no major inclusions. No new gameplay modes have been included but also, Co-op Career gets the boot sadly. Guitar Hero: Aerosmith can either be bought standalone, or in a bundle. The guitar included this time around is a repack of Gibson Les Paul controller included in Guitar Hero 3, with a special red and white Aerosmith faceplate.

In all honesty, for most of you, you didn't need to read this review to decide whether Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is worth the purchase. The title is self-explanatory. Music is a very personal area and the enjoyment from playing the Guitar Hero series really comes from rocking out to hits that you know. If you detest Aerosmith with a passion, then it's next to impossible to recommend the game. The selection of secondary non-Aerosmith related songs available are pleasantly surprising, but these only make up about a third of the game. If you're just straight up not too familiar with Aerosmith's work outside their chart-topping hits, their style of music lends itself well to the nature of the game, with pure rock and roll that's great fun to play. Neversoft have definitely learnt from their mistakes since taking reins of the franchise and it certainly shows in Guitar Hero: Aerosmith. Boss battles are all but gone (with one minor exception), back-up dancers have been given the flick and the overall note structure has been improved. Still for the better players out there, Aerosmith's apparent lower difficulty will seem like a walk in the park, even on Expert. As much as you love Guitar Hero and Aerosmith, the tracklist is glaringly short with a mere 41 songs on offer compared to GH3's 70 odd tracks. When you're charging full price for a game so short and there's nothing new on offer, it just seems criminally expensive. Unless you absolutely love the tracklist or are dying for your next Guitar Hero fix, you're probably best sticking with the plentiful downloadable content already out there... or wait for Guitar World Tour... or wait for Rock Band... or wait for Rock Revolution...