Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock is the 2007 edition of the Guitar Hero series. Guitar Hero III introduces the world of ROCK to the Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii, and continues the tradition for Playstation 2 and the Xbox 360. This version of the game introduces wannabe rockers to wireless guitar play and online action. Highly rated in reviews, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock has been the most anticipated edition of the series to date.
How the Game Works:
Gameplay remains virtually unchanged from earlier editions in the series. Gamers play along with songs via a guitar controller (now wireless for this edition) as they push fret buttons on the guitar controller's neck and strum on the strum bar to play notes in time with the song that scroll down the screen. Players receive points for correctly playing notes. Notes are either quick or sustained (sustained notes require the fret button(s) to be pressed during the entire length of the note), and also include chords consiting of 2 or 3 notes being held simultaneously. For realistic guitar play, gamers also complete "hammer-ons" and "pull-offs" during fast sequences of notes.
Players are judged by the crowd on their performance via a performance meter. The more correct notes you play, the better your meter reading. Missing consecutive notes, especially long stretches of consectuive notes, will result in a low meter reading and inevitable, shameful booing of the crowd and the player being kicked off the stage.
Players earn points for correctly playing notes, and playing consecutive notes can increase your score by a multiplier. The multiplier increases based on correct notes played in sequence, and resets upon incorrectly playing a note.
Star power is earned by playing specially marked starred notes (go figure). Once enough star power is earned, a player can raise the guitar neck vertically. Star power doubles the points multiplier and increases your performance meter.
As in the previous versions, players can still play using a standard controller, instead of using the guitar shaped controller. This is frowned upon, however, by true Guitar Hero rockers, and may result in ridicule if done in the presence of others.
Game Play Modes:
Similar to the other Guitar Hero titles, Guitar Hero III features a Career mode, in which a player progresses from rock star nobody to rock star god through 8 series of gigs. Each gig takes place in a different rock venue, in front of escallating crowd sizes as you advance, and requires a certain number of songs be performed correctly prior to advancing to the next level. Song requirements differ on the varying skill/difficulty levels of Easy, Medium, Hard, and Expert. New in Guitar Hero III Career mode are boss battles. Boss battles feature head-to-head battles versus the likes of Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine), Slash (Guns & Roses, as well as several subsequent, but never as good bands) and Lou the Devil, in which a player must prevail to continue their rock journey. If you can't beat the boss in three attempts, players are allowed to skip the battle if they choose, but what's the fun in doing that?
As always, there is an in-game store in which players can purchase additional characters, songs, guitars, clothes, and other rock-licious items with the cash they earn for completing songs at their gigs.
New to Guitar Hero III is a cross-platform shift that allows completed songs at any level of career mode be available for single (quick) play and practice mode.
Need more motivation to become a rock star? Guitar Hero III also introduces a storyline into the game. Enjoy watching your band climb the rock star ladder through animated shorts depicting the rise of your band from garage wannabes to rock legends.
For guitar players needing a wing man, Co-op Career mode allows axe throwers to join forces in a super band and play simultaneously through Career mode. One player gets the glory by throwing down the lead guitar parts, while the other is left with groupie seconds sporting either the rhythm guitar or bass parts. One benefit to this game mode, however, is that each encore song is only available in Co-op mode (but is unlocked after completion). One drawback to this game mode is that it is not compatible with online play. You must be on the same game console. All self respecting rock stars will need their own guitar to compete in this game mode. If an extra axe is not available, we suggest giving the game controller to the lame person who wants to play bass or rhythm guitar.
Another new feature for Guitar Hero III is Battle Mode. Battle mode pits two axe-smiths against each other in a scenario similar to the Pro Face Off mode in Guitar Hero II. The new twist is that Star Power notes earn different attacks that can be used against your competitor. Players can store up to 3 attacks at a time, and activate them by tilting their guitars upward (just as they would activate Star Power normally) during their opponent's attempt to complete their notes. The attacks are short-lived, but cause the other player to miss notes in a variety of ways. Attacks include: (1) Broken string - requires opponent to rapidly tap fret button of string broken to fix problem before they can continue playing; (2) Difficulty up -increases skill/difficulty level for a short time, unless on Expert; (3) Amp Overload - causes opponent's fret board to shake and causes notes to blink making it very difficult to play the correct notes; (4) Whammy bar - blocks strings w/ whammy bar and requiress whammy bar repeatedly pressed to fix; (5) Double notes - opponent must play notes as chords and 2 button chords as 3 button chords for a while; (6) Lefty/Righty flip - the fret board switches to invert strings; and, (7) Death Drain - once in sudden death mode, this is the only attack...it increases the value of your mistakes, and eventually causes you to lose by covering up the notes you are supposed to play. Online gamers unite! Battle mode IS available for online play!
Guitar Hero III also includes several exclusive features for Nintendo Wii gamers. The Wii version requires the Wii remote to be inserted into the guitar controller. This allows the Wii remote's internal speaker to be used to humiliate players by emitting horrible noises when you fail to play the correct note. But, the Wii remote's rumble feature also kicks in when Star Power is activated. As you would expect from a gaming console that boasts wireless controllers to begin with, the Wii guitar controller is wireless. One Wii drawback is that downloadable content is initially delayed. However, the Wii does include somewhat different graphics and sounds than Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 versions.
Soundtrack:
As usual, the Guitar Hero III Legends of Rock soundtrack does not dissappoint. It features 71 songs in total, including 46 songs in the main setlist. The remaining songs can be unlocked or puchased in game. Additional songs will also be available for download in time. For a detailed listing of songs you can rock out to on Guitar Hero III Legends of Rock, please visit our Soundtrack section.