Published: Tuesday, 1st July, 2008 12:00
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith
By Narin Bahar
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With the plethora of music-focused games coming out at the moment my wireless guitar has never been so busy. But with so many different games giving you the chance to harness your inner rock god (or indeed goddess) all vying for your cash, is Guitar Hero: Aerosmith worth opening your wallet?
For the uninitiated, Guitar Hero gives you the chance to play your favourite songs on a guitar shaped controller. You select your song, choose a difficulty and away you go. A fretboard scrolls down your screen with coloured notes on it, and you hit the notes by hitting the corresponding colored button and strumming as the notes scroll toward you. The better you are the more points you get - and the less likely you are to be booed from the stage by your fickle crowd. So far so absolutely fun.
In a lot of ways this is pretty much the last Guitar Hero game with an Aerosmith makeover. The menus are the same. The tutorials are the same. The characters you can play as are the same right down to the clothes they wear. All of which makes for a familiar - if slightly boring - introduction to the game. But there are some major new additions - six new arenas based on real locations played in by the band during their career, and some great new animation.
The game is broken up into six levels (for the most part mostly free of the annoying boss battles) which culminate in the important moments of their career from their first gig in a local high school to playing the Super Bowl. Each level starts with a (skippable) video interview with the band about why the gig was significant. You play two support (ie non Aerosmith) songs, and then the crowd starts screaming for Tyler and the band for two songs and an encore.
Overall the difficulty level is a bit smoother which means your natural ability stretches a bit further - great for casual gamers for whom the hard and expert levels have been shrouded in mystery until now.
The biggest strength of this game is also the biggest weakness. Because let's face it, the clue is in the title. While Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is not completely made up of the band's back catalogue - it throws in rock songs that Aerosmith were influenced by or liked - 29 of the 41 tracks are Aerosmithy. If you don't like the band then this is going to get dull quickly.
However it's fun enough and should tide even the most rocking gamers over until Guitar Hero 4 comes out at Christmas. Although in the meantime I'd like to put in requests for Guitar Hero: Bon Jovi, Guitar Hero: Guns and Roses or even Guitar Hero: Green Day please.
Three stars if you're not a major Aerosmith fan, five stars if you are.
* Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is out now on XBox 360, PS3, PS2 and Wii.
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