A good game at it's core, with some major faults.
On the plus side, it features the ingenious game play we all know and love from previous guitar hero games. It also has the same display as the much renowned Guitar Hero 3. If you like 70s-80s rock then this game will make you very happy, but otherwise there is very little metal and techno that many people enjoy. The amount of unlock able songs is downright sad. But, they do have new guitars and those of you who liked Lars Umlaut in the previous games will find that he has had a slight color rework. If you don't like it, it'll grow on you. Also, you can beat and unlock Joe Perry (the guitarist for Aerosmith) as well as buy old favorites like Lou and Elroy Budvis.
Story mode here is kind of lacking, but interesting. Your band plays the first two songs in a chapter, and Aerosmith plays the last three. This is actually a pretty fun way to set up a game. There's only one problem: In between chapters. Unlike the slightly entertaining animations in GH3, you get to hear actual commentary from the band. This wouldn't be so bad if the singer didn't swear so much, and guess what, only half of it is censored. I know i may be asking too much here, but aren't Guitar Hero games usually kid friendly? Come on Activision, you can do better then that. The goal of these moments is to educate fans about the life and times of Aerosmith, but instead of doing that they leave the players asking way too many questions, or picking up important information from the loading screens.
Now, onto the graphics. What i found here really surprised me. The designers put absolutely no effort into the before-song animations. Every was laggy and freezing up before the song. However, when the song began things started getting a little better, but it still looked like the Aerosmith characters (except the singer) had no mouth. The singer's mouth was way to big, and i'm sure Joe Perry (the guitarist for Aerosmith) could've shoved that two-neck guitar right down his throat with no problem. The stages were animated just like the other games, nothing exactly new. The note highway and display were also the same, as i noted earlier.
This game probably got a lot more hype then it deserved, but it actually was pretty good in the end, especially if you enjoy rock music. I give this game an 8 out of 10. So, i don't recommend buying this unless you like Aerosmith, "older" rock music, or are a Guitar Hero fanatic. Rock on.