The best game ever to rock out with!
What sets Guitar Hero apart is the plastic guitar that comes packaged with the game. Replacing the strings on the upper part of the neck are five coloured fret buttons. Green, Yellow, Red, Blue and Orange are the colours, and when they come down the screen as little circles, you need to hit the right button. Along with that, you must strum, using a little bar placed at the bottom of the neck. There is also a whammy bar, which is a little metal rod connected to a roller inside the guitar, and this is used on long notes in order to increase the points you earn on that single note. The aim of the game is to attain as many points in each song in order to attain a rating from three to five stars, and in the later difficulties, money, which will buy you extra songs, characters, guitars and making of videos. Ways of attaining greater scores are by linking notes to create multipliers, and activating Star Power, which acts as a super multiplier that can be gained by playing special star notes, but it only lasts for a certain amount of time, so you have to use it wisely, or when you're about to fail a song.
There are four difficulties to be had in Guitar Hero, and the difficulty curve is superb. Easy uses the first three buttons, medium the first four, and hard and expert use all five but vary in difficulty. The difficulty curve is made even better via the extensive set of tutorials which will help you with everything you need to know about Guitar Hero.
The career mode is home to 30 cover songs, varying from true classics like "I Love Rock n' Roll" and "Ziggy Stardust" to much more modern stuff like "Take me out". There are also a great deal of original songs created by workers of Harmonix, or local bands, and these unique songs help Guitar Hero to further differentiate itself. While they are all covers, they are done very well, so well in fact that some are indistinguishable from the original, and the only way of knowing is by the game telling you so.
Guitar Hero is a very cartoonish presentation of the rock world, and runs away with it. All the playable characters are rock archetypes, and all move realistically to the tune of the song. The various venues in which you'll play are well created, from the lowly basement to the giant stadium with a huge Viking in the background, and the crowds that rock out in them are lively, with dynamic reactions, and when they start singing along, you're bound to get goose bumps.
Along with the single player career mode, there are Quick-play and multiplayer options. Now, while the Quick-play simply allows you to go to any song, the multiplayer adds a great deal of value to the game. It works out that on any song, one player will play a bit, then the other player another, and it goes back and forth until the end, and whoever has scored the most points win. The only slight downside to Guitar Hero is the steep price of admission due to the guitar controller, but thanks to the incredibly addictive nature of the game, it is well worth it.
Closing comments: Guitar Hero is the first time the rhythm genre can be taken seriously. With its eclectic rock song-list and incredibly fun gameplay that will keep you interested long after the novelty has worn off, Guitar Hero is a must own.