Guitar Hero 2 – Xbox 360 Review

Guitar Hero 2 – Xbox 360 Review

Guitar Hero 1 and 2 have been huge sellers on the PS2 for a long time now, and finally developer Activision have ported a version over to Microsoft’s beast, and it has been worth the wait.

Firstly lets look at the game play, essentially there is a moving fret board on screen and you have to hold the corresponding coloured fret button, and strum the guitar at the correct time to play the note, miss it and not only will you upset the crowd, you also play a horrid out of tune note, hit it and you will play in tune with one of 74 cover tracks, (ten more than the PS2 version). Sound easy? It isn’t, but luckily for people who haven’t played the game before there is a comprehensive training system.

For the Xbox 360 release Activision have made a new controller, modelled on Gibson’s legendary X-plorer guitar, which features the five coloured fret buttons, the strum bar, whammy bar and of course a D-pad, start and back buttons and the standard Xbox Green circle for dashboard controls, all in all the controller is well made and doesn’t feel like it is going to break anytime soon, as long as you don’t get too into the game and decide to whack it up the side of an amp. The guitar also features a motion sensor, and when you get a star gauge going in the game you can thrust the neck of it into the air to really get the crowd going, or if you’re not doing too well at a particular performance you can try and save yourself in the same way.

The game is broken into a few different modes, but aside from just trying a song out you will probably spend most of your time in career mode, here you select a band name, and a character to play with and go on the road, you start with a set list of 5 songs, and firstly to progress you have to get 4 of the 5 songs completed, which unlocks the next set list, a better more upmarket venue and a sponsor. Money in the game enables you to buy new tracks, clothing etc for your character/band.

This version of the game is set up very well and as you progress through the ranks the set list progresses with you going from the quite simple to the mind numbingly hard, achievements in the game are similarly set, you can attain one just by reading the games credits, whilst on the opposite end of the scale one is called “Start a real band already” which as you can imagine is only achieved by beating the whole game on expert with 5 stars on every song, a score I wont be getting anytime soon.

To sum up

Graphics – 8/10 – they look nice, and are much better than the PS2, they are functional and smooth so smooth in fact that you will find your eyes playing tricks on you after long periods of play.
Sound – 9/10 – the songs are for the most part brilliantly sung/played with the exception of the odd one
Overall – 10/10 – graphics and music don’t make a game, they just assist it, and GHII is by far one of the best games I have ever played, you can pick it up and have a laugh with a group of mates, or spend hours trying to master one song, the longevity is massive, and although the game carries a slightly hefty price tag due to the controller being packaged with it, it is worth every penny. If you have an Xbox360 buy this now, you wont regret it!!

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