Review: Guitar Hero Aerosmith

Walk This Way? Possibly.

Guitar Hero Aerosmith is in a weird position, it seems Neversoft didn't quite know what the audience was for the game. The game is loaded with a lot of Aerosmith's older guitar heavy tracks as opposed to their newer stuff, so people who know the tracks in the game most likely aren't the people who are going to be playing it. Besides that, the second major audience they would want to hit, the "Hardcore" Guitar Hero players find the game too easy compared to Guitar Hero 3.

The game is based off the Guitar Hero 3 engine, so it is no surprise that the game plays almost exactly the same with the notable difference being that the timing window has been made smaller for this version of the game. As usual, gameplay consists of hitting notes at the right time using the guitar controller and the gameplay remains fun and solid as ever. New venues, guitars, and UI changes all help to make the game feel more complete than the previous GH spinoff "Rocks The 80's" which was obviously just a reskinned Guitar Hero 2 with little effort put into it.

The game itself looks great and animates tremendously well. There are a lot of really cool song specific tweaks as well. Things such as Joe Perry using a talkbox, and Steven Tyler shaking maracas at the beginning of "Sweet Emotion." This really brings the feeling that Neversoft wanted to make sure that the game had a lot of real life authenticity. The audio is slightly better than GH 3, the most notable difference being that the mix on the songs is more even than the songs in GH 3.

The major deal breaker here is the setlist. If you are an Aerosmith fan you undeniably are gonna want to pick this up simply on the merit of how well the band is represented in the game. But what if you aren't a big Aerosmith fan? I personally only had a limited knowledge of Aerosmith prior to playing the game and still found it enjoyable. The game has some of their well known hits such as Sweet Emotion, Walk This Way, and Toys in the Attic and also has a lot more of their back catalog of songs as well. It really just comes down to what your taste in music is.

So, when it comes down to it your enjoyment level of the game will come down to two factors. 1) Are you a big Aerosmith Fan? 2) Are you a serious Guitar Hero player? If both of those apply to you, you probably have already been playing the game. If you fall into category one, than I would bump my score up to a B, but if you are only number 2 than you should take a look at my score below.

Verdict: C+

by Nicolas Perez

Review: Guitar Hero On Tour

Better Stock Up On Screen Protectors

When it was first announced that Activision was bringing Guitar Hero to the DS, there was a lot of speculation as to how it might work. Would they make a mini guitar, make it touch screen only, maybe even change the game up a bit? Well the solution that is presented in Guitar Hero On Tour is actually quite elegant and shows that the developer, Vicarious Visions, really put a lot of though into making this a faithful recreation of Guitar Hero to take with you on the go.

The game comes bundled with the aptly named "Guitar Grip" which has four fret buttons instead of the usual five found on the standard Guitar Hero controller. The grip itself is comfortable, but should only be used in about 30 minute increments with breaks in between (unless you would like your hand to cramp up.) The grip plugs into the GBA slot on the DS Lite, and is compatible with the old DS using an included adapter.

The game itself is surprisingly good. The setlist sounds a little offputting at first thanks to the inclusion of bands such as Maroon 5, Smashmouth, and OK Go. Even though they don't exactly scream Guitar Hero, the songs themselves are very fun to play thanks to so good decisions by the charting team. Thankfully there are harder songs though, my favorite being "I Don't Wanna Stop" by Ozzy, which has a crazy solo and will take even seasoned Guitar Hero players a couple of tries to pass the song.

Visually, the game is surprisingly crisp for a DS title. The characters and venues are impressive and the note highway itself is easily readable. Since sound is easily one of the most important parts of the game, it is a huge relief that the music sounds phenomenal for a DS game. It is a bit compressed, but not so much that the music is unrecognizable.

All in all, Vicarious Vision did a great job of doing the unthinkable and bringing Guitar Hero over to the DS. It captures the look and feel of playing Guitar Hero, has a good setlist, and is a technical feat on the DS. I do recommend buying some screen protectors, since the touch screen is used for stumming. Even if you are a diehard GH fan, I recommend giving this a shot. You might end up liking more than you though.

Verdict: B

by Nicolas Perez

PS: Stay tuned next week for the review of GH: On Tour's big brother, Guitar Hero Aerosmith.

Another Update

I haven't really gotten around to writing anything lately, but I have been playing stuff. I have already finished Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, but I am waiting until I can get my hands on a PS3 copy because the PS2 one is not what I would call an amazing port. I am also getting Guitar Hero: On Tour and will have a video of that up soon. I still don't know what I want to write about MGS4 so I am holding off on that for a while. If all goes well then GH: A will also have a video review with it.

A small update

I know I haven't posted in a while, I really haven't done a whole lot gaming wise lately. I DID finish MGS 4 but I am giving myself some time to go back and play more and give myself some time to really think about what I want to write in the review. Finally, I sent Neversoft an email about the prospect of a Guitar Hero: Aerosmith demo on PSN and XBLM, so when I get a response I will put it up here.

Two Quick Impressions

Lost Planet: Colonies and The Club

So, I haven't really got a whole lot accomplished game wise in the last couple of days (you can thank Rock Band for that). But, I do have a couple of games I played over the week that I can do some rapid fire impressions on. Keep in mind that I have probably only put about an 1 to 1 1/2 hours into each of these.

First up, Lost Planet: Colonies. I had missed the game when it came out back in 2007 so I thought I would catch up and play it now with Colonies. Colonies is a re-release of the original game with some more multiplayer stuff and a couple new single player modes. I haven't played multiplayer yet so this will be a single player focused impression and it also I would like to say that I am playing this on PC (and my PC ain't really a powerhouse by any means but I will keep technical issues out of this impression). The first thing I noticed, is that even on my lousy PC the game still looks pretty good, and I imagine that the 360 version looks better seeing as how is was mostly made for that system. The storyline is easily forgettable and I skipped the cutscenes due to some really terrible voice acting. The game itself plays fine but I am not seeing a whole lot here to keep me interested over a while. Full review will probably be coming soon once I finish it.

Second, The Club. I have the PS3 version of this one and am a little late to the party here seeing as how it came out in February. The premise of the game is basically that you are killing guys and are trying to do that as fast and accurately as you can so you can keep a combo. The rudimentary story has each of the characters in the game having a reason to join The Club and that is really about it, that is the premise. The gameplay more than makes up for the almost non-existent story. The game is incredibly addictive and all the modes are score based and focused on racking up points, almost like Geometry Wars but with more guns. You keep your combo by killing guys quickly and in fast succession and you get bonuses by using more stylish moves such as killing someone after rolling across the ground. I think this one will probably get a full review before Lost Planet.

Hopefully, I will get full reviews up for both games soon. I am expecting to the review for The Club up first just because I am not enjoying Lost Planet as much.

by Nicolas Perez

A note about MGS 4

Yes, I will review it.

No, it probably won't be anytime soon after the game.

Metal Gear Online will get a separate review because I already expect the MGS 4 one to get lengthy.

That is all.

Edit: Meh, not gonna review it after all

Guitar Hero: Aerosmith Awesomeness

So, I am a huge music game fan. I can play everything on Rock Band, and Guitar Hero on expert. But I just got very excited about Guitar Hero: Aerosmith. Why, you ask? Because freaking Run DMC songs are on the setlist! Both King of Rock (with awesome new solos) and Walk This Way are in. Not only that but DMC himself comes out to rap for both songs.

The setlist so far is looking good, and it seems like it will be a bigger game that the other Guitar Hero spin off (Rocks The 80's) Either way I am pretty excited about it and can't wait for it to come out in June.