Guitar Hero II (PS2)
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ESRB Rating: T for Teen
If you don't have the game, or the system, you'll find both at www.noobiegames.com.
The insanely addicting Guitar Hero surprised everyone last year by selling over a million copies, despite the fact that it came bundled with a plastic guitar controller that made it more expensive than most games. Yet anyone who has played it understands why the game was such a hit. Simply put, the success of the Guitar Hero series boils down to the fact that it allows players a chance to play out their wildest dreams of becoming a rock star. Now it has a sequel of its own, in Guitar Hero II, that continues to provide the same experience that caused its predecessor to become a runaway sensation.
Developer Harmonix and publisher RedOctane, with name recognition and a bigger budget now backing them up, were able to go after much bigger music licenses this time around. All the Career mode songs are still cover versions, however, with the exceptions of Primus' "John the Fisherman" and Jane's Addiction's "Stop". Luckily, nearly all of these covers end up mimicking their original versions very well. Either way, the song list boasts a larger and some would argue improved selection than the first game's list. There are classics like Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child O' Mine", along with lesser-known songs such as Reverend Horton Heat's "Psychobilly Freakout".
The improvement of the track list might be subjective to some, but a definite improvement and a much-welcome feature comes in the new Practice mode, which allows players to work on those very hard songs, even allowing them to practice specific sections at slower speeds. A Practice mode was the only thing that the original Guitar Hero was severely lacking, and it will come in very handy once players run across the sequel's increased difficulty. As if the first game wasn't hard enough, Harmonix decided to raise the difficulty to ridiculous levels, and there are songs in Hard mode that are just as difficult as songs in the previous game's Expert mode. The increased difficulty, in fact, may end up being too hard for some, and though the hammer-on and pull-off system has been made easier, it can still be difficult to master.
Thankfully, the multiplayer Face-Offs now allow players to pick their own difficulties, and the Pro Face-Off mode allows for both players to play the exact same notes and see once and for all who is better. A new Cooperative mode lets both players to play either lead, bass, or rhythm guitar and jam together on a song. Both players share the same Rock Meter and must depend on each other's performance to win, which makes for an immensely fun experience that simulates playing in a band together.
It's this "rock star" experience that made the original Guitar Hero one of the best games of 2005 and into something almost short of a phenomenon. Guitar Hero II manages to make an amazing game even better, and gamers are sure to be playing it nonstop up until its eventual sequel arrives to whet their appetites.
War Canoe Grade: A+
If you don't have the game, or the system, you'll find both at www.noobiegames.com.
The insanely addicting Guitar Hero surprised everyone last year by selling over a million copies, despite the fact that it came bundled with a plastic guitar controller that made it more expensive than most games. Yet anyone who has played it understands why the game was such a hit. Simply put, the success of the Guitar Hero series boils down to the fact that it allows players a chance to play out their wildest dreams of becoming a rock star. Now it has a sequel of its own, in Guitar Hero II, that continues to provide the same experience that caused its predecessor to become a runaway sensation.
Developer Harmonix and publisher RedOctane, with name recognition and a bigger budget now backing them up, were able to go after much bigger music licenses this time around. All the Career mode songs are still cover versions, however, with the exceptions of Primus' "John the Fisherman" and Jane's Addiction's "Stop". Luckily, nearly all of these covers end up mimicking their original versions very well. Either way, the song list boasts a larger and some would argue improved selection than the first game's list. There are classics like Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child O' Mine", along with lesser-known songs such as Reverend Horton Heat's "Psychobilly Freakout".
The improvement of the track list might be subjective to some, but a definite improvement and a much-welcome feature comes in the new Practice mode, which allows players to work on those very hard songs, even allowing them to practice specific sections at slower speeds. A Practice mode was the only thing that the original Guitar Hero was severely lacking, and it will come in very handy once players run across the sequel's increased difficulty. As if the first game wasn't hard enough, Harmonix decided to raise the difficulty to ridiculous levels, and there are songs in Hard mode that are just as difficult as songs in the previous game's Expert mode. The increased difficulty, in fact, may end up being too hard for some, and though the hammer-on and pull-off system has been made easier, it can still be difficult to master.
Thankfully, the multiplayer Face-Offs now allow players to pick their own difficulties, and the Pro Face-Off mode allows for both players to play the exact same notes and see once and for all who is better. A new Cooperative mode lets both players to play either lead, bass, or rhythm guitar and jam together on a song. Both players share the same Rock Meter and must depend on each other's performance to win, which makes for an immensely fun experience that simulates playing in a band together.
It's this "rock star" experience that made the original Guitar Hero one of the best games of 2005 and into something almost short of a phenomenon. Guitar Hero II manages to make an amazing game even better, and gamers are sure to be playing it nonstop up until its eventual sequel arrives to whet their appetites.
War Canoe Grade: A+
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