Rock out with your... you get the idea...
I'm going to briefly describe the graphics in this game since they are not really a huge component to the overall enjoyment factor. The 8 playable characters animate well, and have even been designed to play just the way you are, which is extremely cool. Just watch when you hit a solo, and the guitarist on-screen starts messing around with the top strings. That is truly impressive. The venue and menu designs are top notch, but the overall polish to the graphics is lacking.
The audio department is where the games real meat and potatoes lie. The soundtrack is composed of 30 tracks (to name them would be a crime), and 17 underground jobbies which are hit or miss. Some are really cool punk riffs (Callout), while others (Fire it up) are just plain awful. The licensed tracks are actually covers, but they are extremely well done with riffs and singing taken into account (except Killer Queen!!!). The audio ties into the game experience as well. If you hit the correct notes, you will hear the guitar portion and if you don't, nothing but scratches and horrid sounds.
Unlike other rhythm games, Guitar Hero has something special. It has a soul. While games like DDR come about and just kind of throw pop at you to dance with, Guitar Hero sells the instrument it is trying to mimic. Whether it be menu design, loading screens, on-screen activity, the "YOU ROCK" message after successfully completing a song, or controller functionality itself, Guitar Hero oozes guitar culture. You will feel like a rockstar while playing the game.
The guitar controller which comes packaged with the game is plain awesome. There are only five frets rather than 132, and only one "string" (no actual string but basically all five frets go right down the neck as if one string. There is a flicker to play the notes, a tilt sensor, which gives you more points when flipped up, and a whammy bar to bend the pitch of hold notes. In fact it is in this design that Guitar Hero excels ther most. For newcomers to guitar, the game's tutorials will help teach basic and complex mechanics. Yes fellow guitarists, this game includes: hammer-ons, pull-offs, power chords, and hold notes.
And you will need those techniques, since many of the hard/extreme songs practically require hammer-ons and pull-offs. This leads to the game's one major problem which keeps the game from earning a 10 in gameplay, there is no practice mode of any sort. This means that if all you want to do is master a solo, you will have to play through a good portion of the song before being able to do so (all songs are played through to their entirety).
Still, playing two player (different parts even!) and playing the careers to buy new guitars, movies, songs, guitar skins, and characters easily cancels out the lack of practice mode. If you have any interest in rock music, have 70 bucks, and have a PS2, please do yourself an uber favor and get Guitar Hero. You won't be disappointed.