Activision Guitar Hero III with Gibson Les Paul Guitar Controller for Xbox 360

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keep the original design. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" must not be something heard around Neversoft's head honchos.
I have to say, playing GH3 for the first time, it was fun. As much fun as playing either of the other Guitar Hero games. That is, until I found what all was different. If you are allowed to either hammer-on or pull-off to the next note, you don't have to time it at all, which doesn't even make sense. One major problem I find with the game, is the fact that Neversoft decided that expert difficulty is going to be harder than anything else. How? By making any audible guitar noise a "note," and the influx of three-note chords. Of course, that's the only way to make some of the songs challenging, seeing as every single song (except the battles) were singles at some point. Why is this bad? Because instead of choosing a song that would be good for Guitar Hero, a more popular song was chosen (specifically Miss Murder, Paint it Black, When You Were Young, and My Name is Jonas).
As for the guitar controller, Neversoft decided it would be for the best if the guitar had a detacheable neck. As for why, the only reason I can think of is for easy transport. But if you take the neck off, that's just one more thing to carry, and the neck doesn't stay in the body snugly, it jiggles around, ruining any long note you hit. The guitar I received has a jiggly neck, messed-up star power, and a slightly broken whammy bar. Star power is completely messed up. Sometimes it'll activate if I turn the guitar in any direction, and sometimes it won't activate unless I swing the guitar around like a maniac. Normally, I press the Back button, but even that doesn't work! As for the whammy bar, there's a "dead spot" in the middle position where it doesn't register, so I have to pump the whammy bar all the way down and all the way back for it to work.
Specifically for 360 owners, the achievements are ludicrous. They expect some kind of being with super-human Guitar Hero-playing powers to be playing GH3, because those are the only things that'll be getting the crazy achievements, such as beating Through the Fire and Flames on expert, using star power three times on TtFaF on expert, gold star (get 100 percent on) 20 songs on expert, and buying everything from the shop, which requires getting five stars on all songs on all four difficulties. Neversoft has completely ruined Guitar Hero for me, and I will be buying Rock Band 2 when it comes out instead of Guitar Hero: World Tour. Neversoft has completely ruined Guitar Hero for me

Activision Guitar Hero III with Gibson Les Paul Guitar Controller for Xbox 360

...

favor is a new version of "Anarchy in the UK" recorded by the Sex Pistols just for this game. Slash, Tom Morello, and Brett Michaels also make appearances in-game which is sweet. Score one for the Legends of Rock.

However, the fun of playing drums in RB should not be underestimated. It's pricey, but if you've got the dough and a little bit of rhythm and aren't tone-deaf (like me) than RB is like 3 games in one: guitar/bass, karaoke, and drums. Plus there is an amazing and ever-growing selection of downloadable songs (priced about $2 each) from bands like The Police, Grateful Dead, The Clash, and Metallica. So for a few extra bucks you can increase the game's replayability even more. Not a big fan of the "nickel-and-diming", but to play "Complete Control" and "Synchronicity II", it's worth it. Plus, did anybody say "ultimate party game?" My friends and family aren't gamers so I don't get to indulge the multiplayer nearly as often as I'd like (though the wife does enjoy singing on occasion and this marks the first time she's enjoyed a videogame not named "Tetris") but I can assure you that the Band World Tour career mode is outstanding and much better than the lonelioness of the Solo Tour. GH3 also features downloadable songs, but they aren't particularly enticing to me even though the game itself features the most rockin' collection of songs humanly possible: thrash, hardcore punk, blues, avant-garde alternative rock, and much more. I've also gotten 4 songs ("Dream On" and 3 Dropkick Murphy jams) for free by keeping an eye on xbox live so hurray for Activision on that one.

Now the bad. It's annoying to have to beat every single song to progress on solo modein RB. I've been stuck on the insanely long and difficult "Green Grass and High Tides" by The Outlaws on drums and I don't really have time to practice a 10-minute song over and over. GH3 let's you skip a song on each difficulty level if you choose and is easily the more challenging game when it comes to the guitar. The notes come fast and hard even on normal difficulty and the final run of songs will make you head spin and fingers hurt if you're not one of those inhuman gamers who can do this stuff blindfolded. And if you are, I'd like to eat your brain and gain your powers like Sylar because I've got only slightly more talent for this than I do real guitar playing -which is significantly easier than playing expert difficulty on GH3. I play these games to relax, not to go all Pete Townshend on my gaming equipment. Normal difficulty on RB is absolute cake after playing GH3, and the timing on notes often isn't right either, but when you go into hard difficulty the game goes from slightly challenging to impossible for me about halfway through the solo career mode. At least GH3 ramps up the difficulty slowly. There is no such problem on Band World Tour mode, by the way. YOu can pretty much pick and choose what you want to do and what songs to play. RB's flaws and a very cool, over-the-top style make GH3 the king of guitar games. But, again, if you want to drum or sing RB is the only game in town. Unless you get American Idol , that is. And if you do, you suck. Majorly. And still can't drum.

The bottom line is this: if you love rock music, save up whatever you can and buy both. Even if you have to buy them piece-by-piece like I did, both games are awesome for rock music fans. If you're into the hard stuff like Slayer and Dead Kennedys and do most of your gaming singleplayer than go for GH3; the game's song selection adn challenge is unrivalled. If you prefer more mainstream alternative music like Radiohead and REM than RB is your ticket. While GH3's guitar battle mode is very cool, RB definitely gets the win on the multiplayer aspect. If you've got 3 friends or family members who are into it, there is no better way to enjoy some great music together than with RB. There is some song overlap as both games feature "Sabotage", "When You Were Young" and others which is annoying and there should never, ever, EVER be a rock game -much less two- with no Jimi, no AC/DC, and no Van Halen. It's just not right. But all is forgiven because these are two killer gaming franchises that will keep us busy (and broke!) for years to come. Rock on!

Activision Guitar Hero III with Gibson Les Paul Guitar Controller for Xbox 360

...

favor is a new version of "Anarchy in the UK" recorded by the Sex Pistols just for this game. Slash, Tom Morello, and Brett Michaels also make appearances in-game which is sweet. Score one for the Legends of Rock.



However, the fun of playing drums in RB should not be underestimated. It's pricey, but if you've got the dough and a little bit of rhythm and aren't tone-deaf (like me) than RB is like 3 games in one: guitar/bass, karaoke, and drums. Plus there is an amazing and ever-growing selection of downloadable songs (priced about $2 each) from bands like The Police, Grateful Dead, The Clash, and Metallica. So for a few extra bucks you can increase the game's replayability even more. Not a big fan of the "nickel-and-diming", but to play "Complete Control" and "Synchronicity II", it's worth it. Plus, did anybody say "ultimate party game?" My friends and family aren't gamers so I don't get to indulge the multiplayer nearly as often as I'd like (though the wife does enjoy singing on occasion and this marks the first time she's enjoyed a videogame not named "Tetris") but I can assure you that the Band World Tour career mode is outstanding and much better than the lonelioness of the Solo Tour. GH3 also features downloadable songs, but they aren't particularly enticing to me even though the game itself features the most rockin' collection of songs humanly possible: thrash, hardcore punk, blues, avant-garde alternative rock, and much more. I've also gotten 4 songs ("Dream On" and 3 Dropkick Murphy jams) for free by keeping an eye on xbox live so hurray for Activision on that one.



Now the bad. It's annoying to have to beat every single song to progress on solo modein RB. I've been stuck on the insanely long and difficult "Green Grass and High Tides" by The Outlaws on drums and I don't really have time to practice a 10-minute song over and over. GH3 let's you skip a song on each difficulty level if you choose and is easily the more challenging game when it comes to the guitar. The notes come fast and hard even on normal difficulty and the final run of songs will make you head spin and fingers hurt if you're not one of those inhuman gamers who can do this stuff blindfolded. And if you are, I'd like to eat your brain and gain your powers like Sylar because I've got only slightly more talent for this than I do real guitar playing -which is significantly easier than playing expert difficulty on GH3. I play these games to relax, not to go all Pete Townshend on my gaming equipment. Normal difficulty on RB is absolute cake after playing GH3, and the timing on notes often isn't right either, but when you go into hard difficulty the game goes from slightly challenging to impossible for me about halfway through the solo career mode. At least GH3 ramps up the difficulty slowly. There is no such problem on Band World Tour mode, by the way. YOu can pretty much pick and choose what you want to do and what songs to play. RB's flaws and a very cool, over-the-top style make GH3 the king of guitar games. But, again, if you want to drum or sing RB is the only game in town. Unless you get American Idol , that is. And if you do, you suck. Majorly. And still can't drum.



The bottom line is this: if you love rock music, save up whatever you can and buy both. Even if you have to buy them piece-by-piece like I did, both games are awesome for rock music fans. If you're into the hard stuff like Slayer and Dead Kennedys and do most of your gaming singleplayer than go for GH3; the game's song selection adn challenge is unrivalled. If you prefer more mainstream alternative music like Radiohead and REM than RB is your ticket. While GH3's guitar battle mode is very cool, RB definitely gets the win on the multiplayer aspect. If you've got 3 friends or family members who are into it, there is no better way to enjoy some great music together than with RB. There is some song overlap as both games feature "Sabotage", "When You Were Young" and others which is annoying and there should never, ever, EVER be a rock game -much less two- with no Jimi, no AC/DC, and no Van Halen. It's just not right. But all is forgiven because these are two killer gaming franchises that will keep us busy (and broke!) for years to come. Rock on!