Guitar Hero II (Xbox 360, 2007)

Guitar Hero. Its the title that most people who love rock music wish to attain someday. In November of 2005 a company called Red Octane launched a game named Guitar Hero which let us faithful rock fans feel like they were indeed a hero of rock. Now in April of 2007 that very same company has re-released the sequel to the original Guitar Hero onto the Xbox 360. Lets get down to the nitty gritty here...what you people came here to find out about the game.

Gameplay: 10/10

Guitar Hero 2 features simple gameplay. A fretboard scrolls towards the screen and notes of five different colors (green, red, yellow, blue, and orange) move towards the bottom. The player must press the corresponding fret button on the neck of the guitar and the strum to play the note. With each 10 successful notes played the guitarist attains the next level of multiplier(x4 max) although a missed note causes the players multiplier to diminish back to zero. Continuing to miss notes will cause the players rock meter or health meter to deplete. Once it reaches zero the player fails the song and must start over. Certain starred notes will give the player star power which they can activate to double their current multiplier(x8 max) and lasts until their meter runs out.
Non-bonus songs are sorted into 8 sets. If a player can manage to pass their required number of songs without failing three times they are granted the chance to perform an encore song that is usually harder than the rest of the songs in the set. This song isn't required to advance but usually provides a lot of fun.

Graphics: 9/10

The graphics in the 360 version aren't the best of the 360 but are far superior to the PS2 version. Characters look far more realistic and the strings can even be seen on the characters guitar. Lighting effects are very good and the animations of the characters, even the rest of the band. are very fluid and practically perfect.

Sound: 10/10

Being that this is a game entirely based around playing music the sound is absolutely superb. Most of the songs in the set lists are covered by other artists. The cover artists have performed very well and the songs sound very similar to the original artists. The bonus songs are performed by their original artists so they sound like perfect reproductions.

Replay Value: Very high

Due to this being a music and rhythm game players will want to go back and keep achieving higher scores on their favorite songs and even be able to beat those songs on higher difficulties. The multiplayer aspect of the game adds a whole new reason to keep playing.

Overall rating: 9/10

Buy or Rent? Buy it if you can afford the price-tag of $90...otherwise try to rent it or borrow it from a friend

Guitar Hero II
The PS2 mega hit comes to Xbox 360 with more reasons to rock than ever before.
Everyone should own a Guitar Hero game. If you haven't played it yet, you really don't know what you're missing. The music rocks. Playing with a guitar shaped controller rocks. Jamming with a friend rocks. Did we mention that the game rocks? Everything from the presentation to the gameplay in Guitar Hero II is universally appealing. If you haven't already played Guitar Hero II on PS2, this is a must own game. Even if you already have done all of this before, you may yet find a reason to grab the Xbox 360 re-release. With reworked graphics, sound, new songs, downloadable content and more, this is easily the best Guitar Hero game yet.

Introductions are in order. While PS2 owners have enjoyed the Guitar Hero franchise for a couple of years now, this is the first time any guitar music game has appeared on a Microsoft console. The premise behind the franchise began years ago with Konami's Guitar Freaks but didn't grip the mainstream in the US until RedOctane teamed up with developer Harmonix. The two companies put together a special controller to accompany the release of an all new franchise, Guitar Hero. If you haven't heard about it yet, it's high time you came joined the party. Guitar Hero and its sequel have been massive successes financially and critically and with good reason. Who doesn't want to step into the shoes of Keith Richards or Eddie Van Halen and shred some classic licks? We all do. And now 360 owners can join their PS2 brethren in rocking out.

All of the songs and sights from the PS2 version of Guitar Hero have made it over to Xbox 360, though they've gone through a bit of a facelift during the move. That means that the praises and issues with that game hold true for the most part. Rather than rehashing old news in this review or explaining gameplay mechanics laid out in previous releases, we'll ask that you head over to the PS2 review if you're unfamiliar with the game. If you need even more of a background, you can always start from the beginning with our original Guitar Hero review.

It should be noted that if you own a PS2 Guitar Hero controller, it isn't going to work on the Xbox 360 version. You'll have to buy a new one.

Graphics: Amazing – 3.75/ 5
Smooth graphics, but this is just an update from the PS2 version – but if your playing this game for the graphics, you are way off base.

Sound: Amazing - 5/5
5.1 surround sound and great rock tracks from cover bands that sound as good as the original. Sounds good to me.

Gameplay: Amazing – 5/5
Can anything be as simple, yet as fun, as playing Freebird? This is a game for the whole family.

Replay Value – 4.75/5
This game is so much fun that you will find yourself playing tracks again and again. I just wished it had online multiplayer support.

Overall –4.75/5
The only thing that prevented this being a perfect score from this reviewer was the lack of an online multiplayer option and graphics (somewhat). Overall, pick this game up, you won’t regret dropping the money on this one.

It has been a long time since I have played, and reviewed, a good game on the XBOX 360 – and Guitar Hero II has brought me back to sing, or strum its praises. Guitar Hero II on Xbox 360 is the best iteration of the hit music rhythm game yet, and it brings a fun, non-shooter game that everyone can play on the XBOX 360. With over 65 songs, and planned marketplace content for download a week after the games release, this game is awesome. You can not help but to catch yourself moving around and jamming in your living room. Add another guitar and a friend to rock out as a pair and reach the achievements and greatness in true multiplayer fashion. The only thing this game lacks is HD next-gen graphics and online multiplayer, though they might take care of the multiplayer online issue through an update. RedOctane and Harmonix put their best foot forward with this release. It's a bit pricey at $90 and doesn't have the wireless guitar that I wanted, but it is definitely worth picking up, especially with eBay’s great pricing.

This game is a RIOT to play. It is a relatively simple format, match the colored notes, and try not to ruin the song. Your hand will get use to where the color frets are on the guitar neck, and it will be like typing without looking at the keys in a short amount of practice. The guitar is fashioned after the Gibson X-Plorer guitar, and comes with some cool stickers to personalize your AXE with. The controller has all the functions of the regular XBOX 360 controller, to control the Guitar Hero II game, so that is very easy to get used to. The songs are a good selection to ROCK OUT with, even if you are not familiar with them, you are so busy trying to nail the notes, and not mess up the song, that you will become familiar with them. More songs will be available through XBOX Live Market Place, to purchase. I haven't found anything I dislike about the game. It is challenging enough for an adult, but a kid can also master it. It has different levels to master, and a lot of songs to try to play flawlessly, for the highest scores. Half the fun is watching someone playing, there is a ROCK STAR, inside all of us.
Highly Recommended, GET IT ON, BANG YOUR HEAD, or listen to those sour notes.

Guitar hero 2 puts your rock ambitions to the test. The controller seems at first to be an obstacle, but is actually fairly easy. If you start out on easy, the game is very slow and helps you work on your button recognition. Move your way up to Medium will be an additional button to know and a little faster. Hard gets fast and now your playing with all 5 buttons. It took me around 2 weeks to get to hard, but it's alot of fun!! The campaign is also alot of fun. Once you get to medium level, you play the songs with a follow up encore song at the end of each set of songs. The rockers and unlockables is in the plenties. Alot of guitars, costumes and extra songs that can be unlocked through your rise to stardom.

Even if you have never played a guitar before, like me, this game is fairly easy to catch on, and if you have time check out the 7 year old on YouTube playing songs on expert!!!