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For those about to rock....

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 24 / 27
Date: April 12, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Rocker wannabes and air guitar virtuosos, this is your game.

It's hard to imagine that anyone that might be reading this hasn't already heard of or seen the PS2 game in action. Basically this is a rock guitar "simulator" for lack of a better explanation. While not nearly as complex as picking up and playing a real guitar, it is going to require some nimble fingers and a sense of rhythm. This game is not for the faint of heart of the chronically uncoordinated - you will be sorely disappointed if you find that you can't really progress through the game. I wouldn't recommend this game for most younger children (under 10), as they probably lack the manual dexterity to play with any degree of success. Since you only unlock songs by first completing a very small set of songs, you may feel cheated if you are not coordinated enough to soldier through the first 4-5 songs.

In this game, you use the special guitar-shaped controller (you can use a regular controller, but I can only imagine that it would be oodles harder than it already is if you did) to play along with a song. On the screen you see a scrolling guitar neck that displays "notes" that must be played at the correct time by holding down the correct fret button and strumming on the guitar's strum bar. As the difficulty increases, the number of notes in use increases from three to five and the combinations and chords become more difficult to hit as the tempo increases. There are special notes that appear occasionally which give you "star power" that allows you to perform special tricks that fire up the crowd and increase your score. As you complete enough of a bracket of five songs, the next bracket opens up and unlocks a new venue for your band. At the end of each song, you get a review and rating along with details of how many notes you hit and a breakdown of the sections of the song, so that you can go to practice mode and work on the sections of the song you did poorly on.

The game includes a Career mode where you unlock songs by finishing them successfully, as well as a Quick Play mode where you can just play along with songs you've unlocked without worrying about a score, a Practice Mode which allows you to play all or just parts of a song as well as slow it down so you can nail the particularly tough parts at a slow speed before working on them at full speed. There's also a multiplayer mode that allows you to cooperate or compete with another player. In Career Mode, you can also earn money (on Medium level or higher) that allows you to unlock different guitars and guitar finishes, additional songs, and other characters and outfits.

I would tell you what this game looks like, but when you're playing it's almost impossible to see anything else happening because you're so intent on watching the notes and playing along. I generally see the scene before and after playing the song, and while the song is playing I barely catch anything else besides the notes. Overall, the graphics and animation are very good. If there's one complaint I have, it's that the notes in Star Power mode are sometimes very difficult to see because the whole thing gets wsahed out in the same blue color. That's my shortcoming, though, not the game's, really.

There is a really nice cross-section of rock music here, from Heart to Iron Maiden and Reverend Horton Heat, spanning hair/glam metal, heavy metal, surf/rockabilly and straight-up rock. The XB360 version will have additional downloadable content, supposedly including all of the songs from the original Guitar Hero, and probably many new tracks in the future. A representative of the publishers claims that GHII will ultimately offer more downloadable content than any other XB360 game, and the potential is certainly there.

I am a bit bummed by the fact that practically minutes after the long-awaited release of GHII for the 360, they also announced the upcoming release of GHIII for this winter and a new game called Rock Band which will incorporate not just guitar controllers, but a microphone and drum controllers, allowing multiplayer action as an entire rock band. Seems like I'll still be trying to master GHII by the time the other games come out... they ought to have spaced out the releases a little better.

Rock On!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: April 12, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I have played the PS2 version of both Guitar Hero I and II and just finally got my own version for the Xbox360.
This game is fantastic, that is just the best way to explain the overall play. I am sure you have read or seen many reviews of this game so I will keep this kind of short.

Pro's
Graphics are smoother than the PS2, not a huge improvement but they are prettier.
Unlimited replay value more or less.
Tons of Achivements to unlock.
Soon to have downloadable songs
I like the new guitar over the PS2 one.

Cons.
Wired guitar.

Yeah that is about it.

***** One thing I would like to add after owning this game for a little while now. The Guitar itself is kind of annoying. It seems a couple of the buttons like to stick a few times within a song. Now coming from a game where perfection matters this does get a tad on the frustrating side from time to time. I still stick to my guns on this is a great game but I will be purchasing another guitar in the future. I hope a 2nd company makes a wireless one. *********

Addicting game for hard rock fans!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 12
Date: May 03, 2007
Author: Amazon User

My cousin owns this game he got me to play it. At first I thought it would be very hard but it wasn't that hard I got into it and beat several bands and went almost to the top. Im not really talented in playing the guitar but this game shows the skills of ambition to playing the guitar and bass. It requires fast finger movements and more guitar riffs for the guitar experts in higher levels. You get to play bands like DANZIG/NIRVANA/ALICE IN CHAINS/BUTTHOLE SURFERS/ & MORE. Honestly I don't know too much about this game but it is an awesome game with more huge guitar playing challenges and it gives rap the perfect name crap.

Same thing, yet refreshing

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: April 12, 2007
Author: Amazon User

To start off, I relize I'm being assumptious, but if you're reading reviews for this game, you've either never played it, or are bored... and that's ok.

In a nutshell: Guitar Hero II is a DDR (Dance Dance Revolution) with a guitar controller. 5 different color "notes" come towards you on the screen towards the corresponding color holes, your goal is to "hit the note" right when it reaches the hole. This is done by pressing down on the colored button on the guitar and "strumming" (or flicking, for you non-guitar players) the button-lever thingy near the bottom of the guitar (to mimic a guitar pick).

You go through campaign mode, playing "live" concerts, earn cash thus being able to buy additional songs, guitars, characters and costumes. While playing you must keep your "rock meter" in the green/yellow or you will fail the song. (the more correct notes that are played, raises the rock meter towards the green. Wrong notes move it down towards yellow, then red, then a "song failed"). Star power can be activated by lifting the guitar up, this not only drives the fans crazy (it can save your "rock meter" from failure) but it doubles whatever point combo multiplier you currently have.

A Little more complicated: As far as song difficulties range, it's extremely well balanced. There are some songs that are so slow, and so easy, it's almost boring to play. There are others that are so fast and hard that it could take as much as 2 weeks to pass a song! (Mind you, you can adjust the difficulty; easy, medium, hard or expert)

If you're looking for something different from the PS2 version, sorry, you're outta luck. Other than a few new songs and the "achievement points", this game is identical to the PS2 version. Graphics are still nice though :)

For the people who care ALOT about achievements (myself being one of them) there are ALOT of them! Again, the challenge ranges. Some are incredibly easy (fail a song on medium, reach a 8x combo, beat easy mode, etc.) Others are much more difficult (buy all guitars, get 500k points in single player, get a 1000 note streak in multiplayer, 5 stars on all Expert level songs, etc.)

And finally, the Co-op. Co-op mode is fun. You can go head to head against another player to see who is the "true guitar hero" or you can team up (one on lead guitar, one on bass or rhythm)and try to get an awesome highscore on a song. (Many achievements lie in co-op mode...) The unfortunate part is that the guitars are so expensive, not many people have two. Also, after about 40 hours of gameplay, it gets old. Same thing, over and over again. Other than that the game is great. A Great Buy/ Must Get!

The most fun I've ever had in a video game.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: May 02, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Guitar Hero 2 is simply a blast to play -- it's that simple.

The makers of this game seem to have done everything they could have done to make this a complete experience.

First of all, the difficulty level scales from ridiculously easy to insanely hard. I consider myself to be someone with pretty good hand-eye coordination, but I'd never played a rhythm game like this before. Medium was just about right for me to start at. Each track gets progressively a little bit harder (even within each difficulty level) to the point that when I finished the medium difficulty I was ready to work on the hard difficulty level. The point is, this is a game that can offer everyone from the idiotically uncoordinated to masters of the original guitar hero a comfortable level of challenge, and still be fun a lot of fun. That's not an easy thing to do.

Next, I really have to talk about the music in this game. As someone who has only the most casual interest in music, I wasn't even familliar with the titles of most of the songs in the game (which I'm sure are pretty familliar to most of the people thinking about buying this game). Once I actually played through them, though, I kept recognizing these as some of my favorites from my local classic rock radio station (I've ended up downloading about half of them from I-tunes). Trust me on this -- most of these songs are great. There are a few heavy metal songs that I'm not personally that crazy about, but I understand that it's hard to make everyone happy, and that some people out there probably like these the best. (Plus, they include a lot of free bonus songs which aren't part of the regular game, and even more songs that you can download from the original guitar hero.) There's a lot of material to work through here.

The controller they give you is also pretty well made. Having tried DDR once and having had two pads break on me, I can attest that the Xplorer guitar controller holds up to hours and hours of playing. It has a lot of cool features, too. For example, you can tilt the guitar a certain way to activate "star power" (you'll understand if you buy the game), and it has a whammy bar that you can activate on certain long notes. Hell, they even threw in some stickers you can put on it. It's not a big deal, but that's just an example of how the makers of this game are really generous with what they give you.

I've talked about how I give high marks to the individual aspects of the game -- the music, the controller, and the scalable difficulty level, but I haven't really talked about why this is all so much fun. The thing is, once you start to get better at some of the songs, you really start to feel like you're playing along with them, and you almost lose yourself in them. It's fun, really fun. There is a reason this thing is so popular. So, do yourself a favor and pick this one up. You really won't regret it. I promise.

Game fantastic. Minor changes needed to guitar controller.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: April 30, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Having played the Playstation 2 version of this game I was delighted when this came out for the Xbox. I'm not at all disappointed in the game, it's as fantastic as the PS2s version, plus has more songs, and with the Xbox Elite it's in HD and looks superb. If I could change anything though I'd modify the guitar slightly. I find the whammy bar is too closely placed to the string paddle. So that when playing your hand actually rests on part of the whammy bar. Also compared to the PS2 version this guitar's Start button (used for pausing the game or deploying Star Power) is miniscule(about the size of a pencil eraser compare to the PS2's quarter sized button). That very important when you are forced to pause the game and notes are streaming past you while you're looking for the pause button. The button is also placed closely to other buttons making finding it by feel more difficult. The overall length of the guitar also feels shorter - so my arms feel as though they are tighter to my body (as if playing a bass guitar vs an electric guitar). The guitar itself feels high quality, the buttons and paddles feel tight and more crisp (which I prefer) compared to the PS2's looser feel. Also this guitar's expansion port with a foot pedal accessory planned makes this version all the more exciting. Having played both game versions and guitars this is ultimately the better in both cases.

The Most Fun You Can Have Playing a Plastic Guitar

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: May 18, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I would first have to say, Guitar Hero 2 is one of the reasons I bought an Xbox 360. I had heard many good things about it, such as an awesome soundtrack, and great multiplayer. All these are true, and more. There are so many great things about this game, the soundtrack, the unlockables, and the guitar. The guitar has an excellent design, very true to the real Xplorer guitar. The buttons are, in my opinion, in a better position than the SG controller. Also, the soundtrack is just great. Songs like Warrant's "Cherry Pie" have great covers, very true to the originals. The unlockable songs are great, too. Songs like the insanely hard "Jordan," and the screaming metal tribute "Trogdor" top of the list. The multiplayer now includes a co-op (bass or rhythm guitar) mode, and an improved vs. mode. All in all, the new game is just as great, or better than the last.

Rock On!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: June 14, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game is a load of fun. Not 'Guitar Sim', more 'Arcade'(it's not like playing a real guitar). Stayed up until 3am playing first weekend I got it. I do wish there were more songs, and VERY disappointed they are not going to make the 80s pack available for the XBOX 360. I hope they release those for GH III. No wireless is a bit of a drag too, but the game is still so much fun, I have to give it 5 stars.

Amazing!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: April 06, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I love my Xbox 360! I don't buy Sony products so I was out of the loop when it came to Guitar Hero. I love interactive games like DDR and love Rock and Metal music so naturally I was drawn to the game. I played the PS2 version at Best Buy and I was actually pondering buying a PS2 just for that. Then I heard a scant rumour that 360 owners will be getting GH2. I was immediately excited and I tracked every day the date which it was coming out. Finally April 3rd came and it was finally out!

The guitar is amazing. The colored frets are perfect. The pressure it takes to make them work is a little less the PS2. The strumming bar is very strong and is fairly quiet. The whammy bar is well made and looks to be able to withstand a lot of abuse. The guitar is not wireless like many had hoped. Microsoft refuses to give out their wireless controller secrets and that has stopped Harmonix from making a wireless guitar. Anyways, the USB guitar X-Plorer is still a great wired guitar. It's sleek and stylish and matches your Xbox.

The game itself is tons of fun! Any skill level can appreciate the game. There is Easy, Medium, Hard, and Expert skill levels. There is also easier songs and harder songs. You can also go through career mode and get money to buy the bonus songs. When you go through Medium mode you get more songs disguised as an encore. The career mode is very deep with many clubs. You tour and work your way up the line with sponsers and such. Then you get money from each gig which is about 4-5 songs. You can spend the money in The Store which has new outfits, characters, guitar finishes, guitars, and many other things.

The visuals are excellent. It's very cartoonish so don't expect much on that end. The visuals are cleaner then PS2 and supposedly High Def. Really, do you need HD to play a music game? No way. The audio is excellent and you hear the crowd and the guitars and the music. That brings me to the music selection. A different mix of Rock and Metal is the center of this game. There are 3 songs that are done very poorly though. Rage Against the Machine, Nirvana, and Lamb of God's vocals sound nothing like the originals. Nirvana is the worst of the bunch and makes me sad for Kurt Cobain. Whoever said this guy sounded good needs to get their head checked. There are 10 new songs in all and they are for the most part excellent choices.

Extra features on this game include Leaderboard, Acheivements, HD, Training, downloadable songs and possible multiplayer in the future. They also have a Xbox Live Communicator on the guitar which could mean live support and also they show in the manual that there could be effects pads on their way that hook into the guitar as well. What I wish they could add is like a sand box mode where you can craft your own songs and play them like you are actually playing a real song on a real guitar.

Is it worth the 90 dollars? I would say yes it sure is! You get downloadable songs, possible multiplayer, a sweet guitar, and 10 new tracks to jam out to. If your PS2 I would still say you should pick this up because you will reap the benefits later. Sell your GH2 for PS2 and upgrade to this. You won't regret it. And for 360 fans like myself, this is a godsend and just another reason Microsoft is beating the pants off Sony in the console wars.

Even fun for an older rocker!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: April 07, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Who could avoid all the hype around GHII? I was thinking to myself that this was a game for just the late teen or early twenties gamers. Man was I wrong! The minute I tried my first song I fell in love. The game is easy to pick up if you're a noob and difficult to master even for you hardcore shredders out there.

It's graphically pleasing to the eye and the sound is excellent. I mainly listen through my fairly expensive headphones and it sounds fantastic! I can't wait to hook it up to my main stereo system. To say that this game is addicting is like saying that it's a bit chilly at the north pole. The game will suck you into it. You'll find yourself wanting to improve so you can raise your percentage of notes hit for a given song. There are times when I play that I feel like I'm really performing a live concert, it can be completely engrossing!

I'm an 80's gen guy so I would love to find more of an 80's pop selection eventually to download from the Xbox live marketplace. There are plenty of songs included though that will keep me happy for quite a while.

The only minor issue I take with the game is its overuse of the "evil" theme that has for such a long time has been needlessly part of the lexicon of rock. You'll see zombies, skulls, devils, demons, 666 references etc. and of course there's the song lyrics that echo the same. Not too surprising, but it's a point that is often overlooked.

Overall, the game has a very broad appeal to it. If you're one of those guys or gals that doubts they would like a game like this sort I would say just give it a try. You won't regret it!

It's time to ROCK!

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