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Just a few points ...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 80 / 85
Date: March 29, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Some of the most fun I've had playing games in the last few years was going a couple of rounds of Guitar Hero with a few friends. It's a fantastic party game and if you've never played it, you owe it to yourself to check it out. This, much like SingStar and Dance Dance Revolution, is a title that's going to appeal highly to your "non-traditional" gamer crowd. I could, honestly, fawn over how much fun it is for hours, but there were a couple of things about the 360 version of this game that I wanted to bring up.

First, I know there are a ton of you out there that have a PS2 version of this already. If that's the case, I'm not sure there's enough added content out-of-the-box to warrant buying the game a second time. The only difference would be about ten added titles to the soundtrack. Now, mind you, they're all great songs; but is what amounts to a CD enough for you to plunk down another ninety bucks?

Unfortunately, two of the features I was really pulling for on the 360 version aren't making the final release. I was wildly excited over getting a wireless guitar, but there was some kind of licensing hang-up with Microsoft over the use of their wireless technology. Red Octane has said that they're hopeful they'll eventually release a wireless guitar, but they couldn't get past the red tape fast enough. I'm a bit bummed, but, to Red Octane's credit, the wired guitar they included is really cool looking.

Secondly, I'm also a bit disappointed that there isn't an online multi-player competition. I thought it would have been awesome to have head-to-head rock-offs. I don't know if this is something they could work in later, but Microsoft's online play is so well done and so much fun that I'm always a little let-down when developers don't take advantage of it. It wound up being the only issue I dinged the game a star for. If that was included, this may have been as close to perfect as I could have hoped for.

The graphics for this aren't staggeringly better then the PS2 version, but on the other hand, they don't really need to be either. It's considered a high-definition game, but honestly, you'll probably only notice a small difference. In a game like this, you're looking at the play-ability. As long as the graphics aren't a distraction, that should be enough. The game play here is as addictive as any you'll ever hope to find.

The Co-op play with the bass-guitar mode is a lot of fun and a cool feature. I'm also really looking forward to seeing what song downloads end up being available on xBox marketplace. Jury's still out until we see the content, but that's a pretty cool feature that'll keep this game fresh for a long time.

As I mentioned before, if you're an xBox lifer, who's never had the chance to check out this former PS2 exculsive, you owe it to yourself to pick this up. If you already have the PS2 version, however, you'll be just as content to rock out with that for now.

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.

Step on stage and rock away!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 22 / 27
Date: April 03, 2007
Author: Amazon User

For the last few years, the Guitar Hero franchise has ruled the music video game world. A combination of great mechanics and stellar songs made the game irresistible to anyone who found Dance Dance Revolution a little less accessible. If you haven't been in a coma the last few years, you have to had at least heard of the game. If you're one of those people who haven't, however, this is as good of a time as any to pick up the axe and start shredding.

The Xbox 360 version of Guitar Hero II comes in at the steep price of $90, $20 higher than it's Playstation 2 predecessor. Of course, Xbox 360 owners are well accustomed to higher prices for their games. But if you're going to shell out close to $100 for a video game, you better hope that that money is well-spent. So is it?

Well, yes and no. If you already own the Playstation 2 version of the game, I really can't recommend this purchase. The game plays identical to that version, and the majority of the songs are the same. What the Xbox 360 version offers over the PS2 version, however, is high-definition graphics, an additional 10 tracks to master (with the promise of more to be available for download at a later date)and Xbox Live support of Leaderboards and Achievement Points. If wanting to see where you stack up against the rest of the world is important to you, or if you've already worn out all the songs on the PS2, you might want to consider making the jump. But still, $90 to play a few new songs is asking a lot.

Having played both versions, I'd say the biggest drawback to the Xbox 360 version of the game is that there is no multiplayer support over Xbox Live. Whether it's an issue of laziness or cost, I'm not sure. But $90 is a lot to pay when you're getting a bare bones version of what you're used to getting on Xbox Live. This is my biggest complaint about the game. Spending an extra $50 or $60 on an extra guitar for multiplayer is a big investment. The lack of Live support for multiplayer is extremely disheartening.

Overall, Guitar Hero II is still a fantastic game, and if you can afford it you definitely need to check it out on Xbox 360. Especially if you haven't played it yet. With the additions of Leaderboards and Achievement points, and downloadable content, this is definitely the best version of the game yet! But if you already own it on PS2, you might want to wait until a price drop comes around. $90 is simply too much for a game that you already own.

Presentation: 8.0 - New Xbox 360 Guitar looks and feels great. Game great game!

Graphics: 7.5 - Nothing special. Hi-Def graphics are nice, but it's still all about the music.

Sound: 9.0 - Some great covers. New tracks by The Toadies and Pearl Jam are awesome!

Gameplay: 9.5 - There's a reason it's so addicting. Sometimes you get lost in a solo and feel like you're actually playing a guitar!

Lasting Appeal: 8.0 - Hopefully the downloadable content will be constant. If you've already played the songs on PS2, there's not a lot to hold your attention otherwise.

Overall: 8.5

Completely worth it - long time guitar player.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: April 09, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I'm completely new to the Guitar Hero franchise, and having played the guitar for 15+ years, naturally I was a bit skeptical.
Guitar Hero II is a great game.

Pros:
-Very funny "in-jokes" for fans of rock music; hilarious charicatures of music stereotypes, ie: punk rocker, metal thrasher, gothic rocker
-Excellent interface; easy to navigate menus
-Various difficulty levels which greatly add to replay value
-Song selection has some great riff-based songs: "killing in the name of", "last child", "Strutter", "shout at the devil", which are TONS of fun to play.
-Song selection gets more challenging and exposes you to a few rock songs from bands you might already know, which you may not have heard before.
-downloadable content will extend replay value

Cons:
-The song selection, particularly towards the end, tends to lean towards a newer style of heavy-metal (ie: Lamb of G-d) which I don't find particularly interesting from a technical perspective, nor enjoyable to listen to. If we're talking about interesting guitar metal, I'd much rather riff out to old Metallica, ie: Master of Puppets
-Song selection lacks a lot of classics: Sunshine of Your Love, Purple Haze, Black Dog..etc.
-Not much to do in single-player mode besides play through songs on tour. I would have liked to see more single-player game modes.
-EDIT: very few downloadable songs for this edition of the game. There were supposed to be more.

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!

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. *********

Great Interaction, Great Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: April 19, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game is awesome! Play along to 90 classics on 4 levels. On xbox 360 you can download new songs as well to play. So far I can only beat songs on medium so I have a long way to go before I can even think about expert.

There are five buttons on the neck of the guitar and they break down by level as shown below.
easy: use 3 buttons
medium: use 4 buttons
hard: use 5 buttons
expert: use 5 buttons but faster and more notes

Anyway to beat this on expert you would have to play it every day for a long time so it is well worth the money.

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.

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.

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