Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
Reviewed by Daniel MacKenzie
Creator: Aspyr
http://www.aspyr.com/
Released: December 20, 2007
$79.95 USD, $81.35 CND, 54.56 Euro, 41.23 GBP
Comes with the game, guitar strap, stickers and the game
itself. |
|
Strengths: Loads
of fun, good graphics, great for all ages, wide range of difficulties.
Weaknesses: Quits
occasionally, unable to add your own songs, requires an Intel machine, little
to no downloadable content. |
Introduction
Do you want to be a rock star? Do you want thousands of fans
cheering you on as you shred some major chords on stage? Do you want that huge
cheque from your sponsors for doing what you love? Well, then this game is for
you! You get to do this and more from the comfort of your computer. Rock out to
some of the best rock songs in history from bands like Alice Cooper, Kiss, The
Killers, Scorpions and lots more.
Let’s start off with the game play. It’s excellent. You can
create your own band and choose your character. Customize your character’s
clothing with outfits purchased through the Guitar Shop. There are thirteen
characters and many outfits for each. But don’t worry; you don’t buy them with
a credit card. The better you do in your career, the more money you earn.
Buy
additional songs, characters, guitars, finishes and outfits to make your band
the best in the world. After you have decked out your character, you can start
to rock.
I started on easy and it became pretty challenging as I reached the
end of my career. I suggest that everybody, even the hard-core gamers, should
start on easy. If you aren’t very good at first, don’t worry! You will get
better as you go along. With four difficulty levels you won’t get tired of this
game. I didn’t! You travel from show to show, gaining fans and cash as you go
along. It’s a lot of fun and has solid game play.
Now, let’s look at the graphics. They are cartoons with a
mix of realism. This allowed the animators to get creative with the characters
and the show sets. Most of the small clips in between shows are straight
cartoon but that shouldn’t be a bad thing. The developers integrated them well.
The menus are really impressive but they look like rock posters, stickers, etc.
I’m glad they spent more time on the game than on the menus. The graphical side
should function properly on any new Intel machine.
Unfortunately, everything isn’t perfect. There are some
glitches in the game. Occasionally, while playing Quick Play, the game will
unexpectedly quit after you finish the song. You can’t put in a high score; it
just quits. Now this may have been patched by the update they released but they
should have caught that earlier. Another downside is that it’s Intel only.
Sorry Power PC owners, you can’t play this game yet. This is a huge drawback
because a lot of Mac users haven’t switched yet. I believe that they should
have made the game universal so that everyone can play it. Something that I
would like to see is the ability to add your own songs to the library. I don’t
know how hard it would be or if there would be a copyright issue but it would
be pretty cool. Also, there isn’t a lot of content you can download. There is a
page in the songs menu that says “Downloads”. This suggests that you will
eventually download songs from the Internet to play in the game. If this is
true, I can’t wait for it to happen.
Let’s get back to the good stuff. This is a game that
everyone can play and enjoy. If you think you are too old for this game, think
again. Kids and adults alike will enjoy this game. A good thing is that those
of use who are right handed, you can turn off the “Lefty Flip” so the keys are
in the right position on the screen. I have tried it the other way and it can
get pretty confusing.
Something else that might be interesting is that the
keyboard is fully functional with the game. If you don’t like the guitar, use
the keyboard instead. Here is a warning. It is not as fun as with the guitar.
Not even close. It’s hard to get into the music when you have to keep your hands
on the keyboard instead of rocking out with the guitar.
Still want more of a challenge? Take the battle online and
play against real people. This should only be used by seasoned rockers and
people who have done hard or expert on the career. There are people who will
obliterate you if you try. I tried and was disappointed with my skills. I
thought I was okay but I was wrong. Still, for more fun, give it your best
shot.
Conclusion
Overall, this is a very solid game. Awesome game play backed
up by decent graphics and great music make this game a must-have for any
family, casual gamer and hard-core gamer. Some tweaks need to be made and maybe
a few features but overall a great game. Great job, Aspyr!!!!
