Guitar Hero III
Ok. First let me explain the miracle called internet and the small miracle called “play.com”. I have been looking for a copy of GH3 here in Cyprus but to no avail. I spoke with Micromania and Public and both stores said.
“We only received two 360 copies, sold them both and we don’t expect to get any more this year”.
Fine! I ordered from play on Monday and got my shipment on Friday. Who needs you local retailers anymore. The only thing standing in the way of complete domination of online shopping for games is the Cyprus post office.
Anyway enough of that. Now about GH3!
My first comment on Friday was. WOW! The guitar is brilliant. Wireless, perfect design and perfect weight. Fell in love with it.
Now the game. My first reaction was not that positive. The game on normal mode is now considerably harder than GH2. The notes are coming at you faster and there are more difficult combinations to play. I didn’t like that because i feel the game has moved towards a more hardcore audience when it should have been aiming to go more mainstream like Rock Band is apparently doing. It should be more of an easy pick and up and play game. Easy to get into but difficult to master. That was how GH2 was. Now it has lost that.
On top of that now the meter measuring the audience reaction is a lot more forgiving which means that although you are not playing well you still get through the song pretty easily although you actually played badly. It does not make sense.
One more thing which i feel made it a more hardcore game is the inclusion of battle mode against known guitarists. GH should be about playing and enjoying the songs. No less no more. By including boss battles Red Octane has made it more of a game when it could have been more than that. It should be about the music and making you feel like you are playing a real guitar.
That’s enough bashing the game. I love the tracks. It is going for the more hard rock theme which might turn some people off. But i love the songs. Almost every single one. After playing each song i kept saying “i want to get this song on my ipod”.
All in all it is a good game. Harder and more hardcore than GH2 which admittedly could make it more satisfying when mastered. But is should have been made more accessible not less.
It is still the closest one can get to the real thing at the moment in Europe however. A great buy for any rock fan.