VGM Fusion

Review: Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Xbox 360)

There was some obvious trepidation when gamers found out Harmonix would not be working on the next version of Guitar Hero, the venerable music game that turned us all into wanna-be rockers, no matter how much we looked like douches. Thankfully NeverSoft/Red Octane/Activision were up to the task (it’s actually quite the banner year for Activision!).

There’s not that much more I can say about the game than I have in the past, so I’m going to keep this review short and sweet.

Guitar Hero III is basically an evolution upon what we had before, and make it that much better. New this year are battle mode, guest star-rocker appearances, more fully-licensed tracks (by actual big-name bands), online play, co-op “single player,” and on the peripheral side of things, wireless.

When you list them all out, you really start to realize that they’ve put a lot into this new version, and the game plays the best it’s ever played. The songs are chosen very well, from the easy (Slow Ride – Foghat), to the impossible (Through the Fire and Flames – DragonForce), and there’s quite a few more than the last time around too.

In addition to all the tracks included in the game, they’re also offering different track packs that can be downloaded after the fact. Right now these are available for the PS3 and Xbox 360, with the Wii out in the cold (but that may change).

As far as complaints, it’s really hard to find fault. There are some changes to the way the game interprets you playing notes, which can make it more forgiving, but in some cases I had a hard time convincing the game that I was registering a note when I wanted. They do include an HDTV Lag calibration if you’re finding this a large problem for you though.

If you’re new to the Guitar Hero series, you’re definitely going to want to pick up this game if you’re at all interested. If you’ve got the first 3 (yes, including 80’s edition), then this is a logical pick up for you, though it’s more of the same.

If you’ve got the last two, mastered them, and are looking for new challenges, you might almost want to wait out for Rock Band (which launches very soon), though as I stated, it’s a bit of a different overall experience.

Happy Rocking!

Game Details:
Available: October 28, 2007
Publisher: Red Octane
Developer: Neversoft Entertainment
Genre: Music
ESRB: Teen
VGM Rating: 4/5