I Wanna Rock

So, I haven't commented on it yet, but a good portion of the little time I've actually been at home these last couple weeks has been spent playing the new Guitar Hero game, Rock the 80s. I've heard a lot of the complaints that there's nothing really "new" about the game -- just new songs and a re-skin of some existing graphics. But that doesn't bother me one bit... new songs is all I was really looking for.

To that end, I'm mostly pleased with the game. There's only 30 songs total this time, which might not seem so low, but Guitar Hero II kind of spoiled me with so many. Like GH2, a few too many of the songs are "metal" for my tastes. The original GH1 was really the only game so far to nail the right mix of the thrashy metal you'd expect to have, while still having songs that you (well, I) would actually listen to and want to hear.

Gameplay-wise, most of the songs are a LOT easier to play through than anything in GH2. First-time through on Expert, I got five stars on everything the first time through, up until halfway through the game (well... there was one failed attempt at the diabolical solo in "Because, It's Midnite," but once I'd learned what was what, I used Star Power better to pull through). Still, there are actually some fun new patterns in there.

The Warrior might be my favorite Guitar Hero song now, period, in any of the games. I always had a soft spot for that song originally, and the designers gave it some really fun play patterns. And as a bonus, it's not a cover in the game -- it's the original master track. (Which explains why, strangely, it fades out at the end despite supposedly being played at a "live concert.")

I'm pretty amazed at how they've taken What I Like About You, a song that is stupidly easy to play on an actual guitar, and turned it into something that is crazy-harsh in the game. (In a way that does make sense, seeing the note patterns, though.)

They got a pretty damn good sound-alike for Danny Elfman in the Oingo Boingo song, Only a Lad. That's one of the more fun songs in the game, too.

I enjoy having We Got the Beat, I Ran, and Hold On Loosely in there -- even though none of them present any real challenge to play. They're fun anyway.

So far, I'm finding this game's final song, Play With Me by Extreme, even harder to beat than Free Bird. Haven't cracked it yet. Always bomb out in the same place, at 86%. Soon.... soon....

As I said, in all, I'm enjoying it. My enthusiasm for Guitar Hero really hasn't waned at all. We'll see if Activision can keep the fun coming with GH3, now that Harmonix (the actual software designers) have been cut out of the loop after this 80s edition.