GH fans should rent, Aerosmith fans should go crazy, and a combination of the two might faint due to sheer excitement.
+ Guitar Hero = FUN
+ Aerosmith guitar style fits the gameplay well
+ perfect for fans of the band
Negative:
- it's exactly the same as GHIII
- really short and not too challenging
Guitar Hero is a franchise that has established itself in the gaming world with some of the most fun and addicting gameplay out there. With the first band-centered game in the series, GH: Aerosmith does a great job of delivering to fans of the band, but for the rest of us it's just more songs to play.
There are several reasons the game is best for fans of Aerosmith. The first reason is that the game's story is totally centered on the band (obviously) and there is band commentary between each of the game's six sets. They talk about their career and the high points highlighted in the game. There are also little fun facts about the band on the loading screens sometimes. One of the other cool things about the game is how the motion capture was done with the band, putting their own stage presence in every performance.
And then there's the game's setlist. While being very short (as in only 30 or so songs plus roughly 10 vault songs) it's very fun. It is, after all, Guitar Hero. Guitar Hero is always fun! The gameplay is exactly the same as it was a year ago in Legends of Rock, nothing at all has been added. In fact, everything else is either exactly the same or close to it; the menus are just themed differently, and the multiplayer and online is exactly the same.
So we have established that the game is perfect for Aerosmith fans, right? So what exactly does it offer for those of us who haven't followed or even listened to the band? Well, we get more of the same fun gameplay like I said before. We also get some new songs, many of which are really fun. Most of the songs in the setlist aren't very hard to beat, but there are a few tough ones such as 'Train Kept A Rollin'.'
Aerosmith's guitar style is really quite good for the game. There are a lot of parts with chords, a lot of cool hammer-on sections, and some awesome solos that are very satisfying to nail down to the last note. So while the setlist isn't very long at all and offers little challenge (I beat the career within less than 24 hours of getting the game… on Expert), it is very fun.
The game's sound quality is pretty good. The quality of the songs is great, but the volume equalization is pretty bad. The game will be way too loud on the menu and then pretty quiet during actual gameplay, which is strange and annoying. Of course the guitar squeaks are still pretty annoying, and the crowd actually claps off beat to the song when you activate star power. Other than those few problems the sound quality is good.
The graphics, on the other hand, are either equal to Legends of Rock or possibly a tad worse. The Wii version of the game, at least, has visuals that could have been improved. Two of the big areas they could have improved on are those of hair movement and guitar playing. Some of the lighting effects are good, though. Overall the graphics could have (and should have) been better, the Wii is capable of more than this.
So to sum it all up, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is a good game. While it mainly caters to fans of the band it is all about, it's still an enjoyable, albeit short, experience for those of us who just like Guitar Hero. It's definitely worth a rent for fans of the franchise, worth a buy for fans of the band, and almost worth fainting over for any combination of the two.
Gameplay: 9.0
Graphics: 6.5
Sound: 8.0
Value: 6.5
FINAL SCORE: 7.4/10