Although there are some odd design flaws, Guitar Hero 3 is another rocking entry in the series
Cons: Bonus song list leaves much to be desired; New character designs may infuriate old players; Sketchy connection online; Game isn't as beginner friendly as previous installments; Lag? In a Rhythm Game?!; Axe-branding in the game; Boss battles don't work out as well as they sound; Battle mode often ends too fast; Covers aren't quite as good as previous installments; Cramps from playing Through Fire and Flames on Expert
When Harmonix moved on to make Rock Band (awesome game by the way, you should totally check it out), you wouldn't have been alone if you were worried about the future of the franchise. The music game franchise handed over to a company that makes skateboarding games!? It couldn't work could it? Thankfully Neversoft has stood up to the challenge and gotten most of the formula right.
Clearly some people at Neversoft were big Guitar Hero fans, and they wisely chose not to fix what wasn't broken. The game still revolves around hitting scrolling notes by pressing buttons of the same color and strumming with a strum bar.
All the features are still there too. Hammer-ons and pull-offs (notes that you don't have to strum), Star Power (lets you double your multiplier, and regain more health for hitting notes), and even whammying (moving a whammy bar up and down to gain more star power).
Again catering to the fans, Neversoft also decided to boost the difficulty. Here's where things start getting a little messy. Big time players of the first two games are going to love songs that will challenge every skill that they've loved, but on the other hand, the songs just aren't as beginner friendly, having mildly tricky solos even in the 1st tier. Occasionally the developers even took a song and used a bunch of confusing chords to make the song even harder (see songs "Before I Forget" and "The Way It Ends").
Another point of debate is the new hammer-on and pull-off system. It sounds great in concept: instead of having the game put in hammer-ons and pull-offs automatically, the developer put them where they were and/or sounded like they were in the song. However, in practice it can get confusing. Again, this will raise difficulty a little extra, because most people won't be thinking which notes sound like they should be strummed or not while playing.
Finally the last nasty quirk is boss battles. These are supposed to be epic confrontations with guitarists such as Slash and Tom Morello, where you trade licks back in forth in a guitar competition. Unfortunately you have to use power-ups (explained more in detail when I talk about battle mode) to make the other person fail, so your goal is to actually hear less of the song, which sucks. On a side note, the three tracks that you play battles on are set to be released downloadable so that you can play them separately later this month. It seems that those on the PS2 and Wii are stuck without those though.
Otherwise the single player is the same as it has always been. You'll still progress through 8 tiers that gradually ramp up the difficulty until you are almost breaking your guitar controller on the last tier. Co-op on the other hand is a little better in this game. Instead of sticking to Co-op Quickplay, Neversoft actually rearranged the setlist to create a co-op career that gets harder for both player instead of having one player's parts go all over the place in difficulty. Unfortunately, you are stuck on one difficulty the whole time, or you have to restart the campaign. Have a friend who can pass the first 5 tiers on Expert, but just can't seem to face "One?" Too bad, you have to start over if he can't keep up. Another odd decision is the lack of co-op quickplay. Although Xbox Live players got a patch to add that feature, every one else, again, is stuck playing the campaigns…
The other new multiplayer mode, Battle mode is a mixed bag. Your goal is to make the other opponent fail. Instead of getting star power, you get power ups which you use to sabotage them into failing. These range from broken string (where one button stops working until they randomly mash it) to lefty flip (which flips the person's screen temporarily) and can really screw people up. Unfortunately, like the boss battles, you wind up hearing very little of the song because of this, and often rounds end within 30 seconds.
The other modes, Face-Off (where you trade parts with an opponent and try to score highest), and Pro Face-Off (where both players play the entire song on the same difficulty and try to score highest) are the same. A very nice addition is online. Here you can take on random people who often know what they are doing. It's a nice feature that adds a lot to the game, although there are a few connection issues sometimes that are rather annoying.
Backing away from the negative things for a moment, I have to give props to Neversoft for scoring a killer setlist that is up to par with the first two games. The songs range from classics (such as Paint It Black or Welcome to the Jungle), to newer, but still awesome songs (such as Knights of Cydonia) and even some that fit both categories (more specifically Cult of Personality, which the actual band rerecorded for the game with an insane new guitar solo). Even better yet, over half of the setlist is master tracks (tracks from the original band). Although unfortunately, the covers on this game aren't quite as good as the other games which is disappointing since there are less of them as it is. The only other large complaint I have is that the bonus songs aren't quite as good in this game, without the Harmonix bands backing them.
The other area that this game really nailed is the controller. The Les Paul controller by Red Octane may just be the best yet. It's wireless, has removable faceplates, the buttons and the strum bar feel really nice, the neck is removable, and the buttons are black on the front, looking a little less dorky. All in all, you will want to get the game with the controller.
Though the controller looks cooler, the look of the game itself will split fans into two groups. There are those who like the new art style and what the characters look like, and those who miss the old characters and styles. It's not necessarily a bad art style, it's just different. The venues however are top notch. They are outlandish, having you play in places such as a prison, in front of a fire breathing dragon, as well as in a Japanese city that has cardboard monsters rampaging in it, but they look really cool. On a weird graphics related note, at the time of writing, the game has a few slowdown issues if you use star power in areas with a lot of notes. It's a dumb issue and shouldn't be in a rhythm game of all things, but until a patch fixes it, you'll have to deal with it.
This has to be one of my more negative reviews, but it's not because Guitar Hero 3 is a bad game. Far from it. It's just that most of the good things are the same exact strong points from the first Guitar Hero games. There are a ton of odd design decisions and quirks, but all you really need to know is that this is another worthy entry in the Guitar Hero franchise with a strong setlist, and a great controller. Fans should definitely pick this game up.