Nintedo Wii Game Review - Guitar Hero
Guitar Hero 3, Legends of Rock, marks a solid evolution of the popular Wii guitar game. For Wii fans used to using their WiiMote as an extension of themselves in games such as Wii Sports, the integration of the controller into Guitar Hero will come as a delight. The third edition of the Guitar Hero series features a number of improvements from previous games in the series including a larger play list, including master tracks, additional multi-player options and high levels to ensure you will have a long game lifespan.
For players new to Guitar Hero, the basic idea is a rhythm game where you have to keep pace with an increasingly complex set of commands that correspond to on-screen guitar play. You control the player with a guitar-shaped controller that features 5 fret buttons and a strummer. The Wii remote fits into the back of the guitar to take advantage of the motion sensor capability. The better you are able to keep up with the rhythm, the better your on-screen avatar will perform and the further you will advance your virtual musical career.
Since you are playing along with real-world classic rock tracks, the good news is that Guitar Hero 3 features a great list of classic tracks from bands ranging from Santana to the Smashing Pumpkins. Some of the tracks included in the game are "Evenflow" by Pearl Jam, "Paint it Black" from the Rolling Stones and recent tracks such as "When Your Were Young" from the Killers and the modern classic "Helicopter" from Block Party. Fans of metal will appreciate tracks from Metallica, Iron Maiden and Slayer as well.
As an evolution from Guitar Hero 2, this game features more intense shredding and allows for more levels of difficulty depending on your experience (and bravery.) Existing fans of the series will find the difficult levels to be more challenging than anything in previous games, requiring a whole new level of dexterity (and practice!) This year's game also makes it easier to pull of techniques such as pull offs and hammer ons, which are integrated better with the core game play.
The 3D graphics are clean and the special effects are neat, if not amazing. Although the graphics stack up well enough, you will be too caught up in the game play to be bothered by the occasional rendering issue. the real focus on the game are the improved game play modes including a better career mode where you build up your portfolio on tour and rise from small town musician to rock legend (hopefully.) There are also cooperation and competitive multi-player options where you can challenge you friends to shredding competitions on any of the songs included in the game.
An additional multi player mode is the battle option where you can earn musical weapons to try and throw you opponent off including broken strings and overloaded amplifiers. You can also play friends on line, and join into additional online challenges as well, which can be a fun way to practice.
Overall, Guitar Hero 3 is a great addition to the Wii library for guitar fans and rhythm game fans alike. Check back to Buy Nintendo Wii Games for the latest reviews of the best Nintendo Wii Games.