Guitar Hero III features the same gameplay many have come to expect from the series, for better and for worse.
For those who aren't familiar with the Guitar Hero series, think of this: You dream of rocking out in front of a large crowd of people, yet all you got is an air guitar. That's where Guitar Hero comes in. Guitar Hero first came out in 2005, yet it was so innovative that it spawned a whole generation of "rockers." You basically play it with a guitar controller and play through a famous rock song by pressing the buttons in the order they appear on a fretboard that takes up the majority of the screen. There are four difficulty levels - easy, normal (medium), hard, and expert, in order of difficulty, obviously. There is a single-player mode, in which you play through five songs - four regular songs nd one "encore" song. There is also a multiplayer mode, where two players can play a song together, competitively or cooperatively, and this can be done online or locally. That's basically Guitar Hero in a nutshell.
The song list consists of several famous rock songs that are regarded by many as some of the greatest rock songs ever composed. "Paint it Black" by the Rolling Stones, "Anarchy in the U.K." by The Sex Pistols, and "One" by Metallica are some of the songs you'll find yourself playing. For the most part, these are all very fun to play. Also, there are several downloadable songs, though none are currently available. Unlike previous Guitar Hero games, most songs are not covers, meaning the form they took when they were first released is the form they take here. And the songs that are covered are covered to make them more Guitar Hero suitable, and are done so well that every detail that made them awesome in the first place has remained.
Those who are familiar with the series might recognize a few of the series' mainstay characters, such as Axel Steel, Johnny Napalm, Judy Nails, or Izzy Sparks. However, there are a few unlockable characters, and many are famous rockers, such as Slash, the guitarist for Guns N' Roses, or Tom Morello, for Rage Against the Machine. There are also a few other unlockable songs and a few unlockable guitars that you can get by purchasing them in the shopby paying money you earn from performances.
Like other installments, when you play enough notes correctly, you earn "star power," which is something that, when used, will quadrouple how fans react to you playing a note right. This is especially useful when you're playing a very tough guitar solo, or when you have trouble playing a certain riff. This is a welcomed staple of the series and it's still there.
The graphics are not necessarily the games greatest asset, but then the Guitar Hero series has never been about flashy effects. The look of the game is colourful and polished, and there is definitely a markable improvement over its predecessors. Other than that, there isn't much to comment about here.
There is,sadly, a major flaw with Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock. The game is the same basic game as every other Guitar Hero before it. There is nothing new in this edition, it's the same gameplay once again. It might come as a dissappointment to those who would have hoped for something original this time. While the rocking gameplay of Guitar Hero still rocks, there isn't anything here you haven't experienced before if you've played other Guitar Hero games.
What makes Guitar Hero 3 truly excellent is just how fun it is to play each and every one of its songs. The feel of rocking out in front of a large crowd of people is still evident here, and the gameplay is as good as ever. The only real problem is its lack of originality, which hinders it from getting something in the range of 9.0-9.5. However, when you look past this flaw, you'll find that Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock rocks even harder than previous Guitar Hero games, and definitely worth a purchase for anybody interested in the series or the genre.