Guitar Hero II UK Review (ign.com)

- ign.com -

UK, November 17, 2006 - If SingStar's the game that got girls in front of the PS2 in droves, then the original Guitar Hero is the title that made boys, terrified of compromising their masculinity, finally bow at the alter of the rhythm action genre. For that, Harmonix, we salute you. As the saying goes, "Show me a boy who never wanted to be a rock star and I'll show you a liar" - a truism that pretty much guaranteed Guitar Hero's success thanks to the game's skillful marriage of canny peripheral design, a tried-and-tested game engine and one of the finest, most accessible track lists ever committed to code.

Now, just over a year after the first game's release, Guitar Hero II crowd surfs into stores on a wave of hype - so how does the sequel square up to the lofty standards of its predecessor? Obviously, if you're a fan of the first game, you'll already be familiar with Guitar Hero II's ample fist of additions, including a whopping 40-strong roster of new songs, improved multiplayer mode supporting multiple simultaneous tracks for lead, rhythm and bass guitar, as well as an incredibly welcome Practice mode, enabling you to perfect those particularly tricky solos in isolation.

There's no denying either that Harmonix has put some serious graft into giving fans what they were clamouring for after the first game, as well as offering up all sorts of subtle tweaks and improvements for the sequel. Most noticeably, Guitar Hero II now offers a much greater challenge in Hard and Expert modes, meaning anyone who's cut their teeth on the first game won't be forced to jump straight to the toughest setting, diddle around for a few hours then sling it onto the pile marked 'Completed'. Indeed, with the emphasis this time around placed on noodle-y solos - thanks, in large part, to the more focused song selection - anyone who scraped by previously with ham-fisted hammer-ons and pull-offs will finally need to knuckle down and perfect Guitar Hero's advanced techniques.

Of course, the downside to all this is that newcomers don't have the benefit of the original Guitar Hero's finely-tuned learning curve, with a massive chasm of difficulty generally prevalent between Normal and Hard settings. It's a shame because that significant divide definitely hinders the satisfyingly addictive sense of self-improvement and progression found in the first game. Having said that, we applaud the brand new Practice mode, offering a much-needed means of honing your fret-skills - rather than being forced through the painful process of playing the same song over and over again in your quest for perfection, you can now access specific sections of each track, slowing down the onslaught of notes until you're confident you've got the licks licked.

In terms of multiplayer, Guitar Hero II now offers the choice of either lead, rhythm or bass guitar parts for each song - with each player selecting one of the available parts before play begins (although variations on the original's mode are still included). In principle, this is a great idea and effectively eliminates the problem of 'dead time' found in the first Guitar Hero - that is, when one person was left with nothing to do while the game's single track alternated between both players.

Better still, evenly-matched guitar prowess is no longer a pre-requisite, thanks to the ability to select individual difficulty levels prior to play. Certainly, this is a vast improvement over the original game's approach, but it's not without its own problems. You see, actual difficulty rarely seems to be consistent across lead, rhythm and bass tracks - with bass in particular invariably providing less of a challenge than its counterparts. Granted, time and familiarity with Guitar Hero II means you'll eventually know which difficulty to pick for the fairest fight, but that's not ideal if you're planning on playing the game in its natural environment - with booze and a bunch of people who won't necessarily know things inside out. In other words, consider things a step up from the original Guitar Hero, but with some room for improvement.

Really then, that just leaves us with the sequel's soundtrack to ponder - and naturally, this is always going to be a hotly-debated area, its success largely boiling down to personal taste. If you're a dedicated follower of ROCK, you'll rightly cream yourself over the chance to twang along to classics like Guns n' Roses' Sweet Child O' Mine, Black Sabbath's War Pigs and Lynyrd Skynyrd's fret-melting Free Bird. Trouble is though, Guitar Hero II's song roster undoubtedly lacks the mass appeal and accessibility of its predecessor, which featured a commendable mix of modern day rock-stompers and legendary tunes - and, as is always the case, a rhythm-action game lives or dies by its song selection.

As we've already noted, Guitar Hero II's play list is heavily skewed toward the heavier end of rock, neglecting to include much in the way of mainstream alternatives. While this is undoubtedly great if you're a fan of classic hair-metal, the game understandably loses some of its appeal for anyone else. In fact, in the interests of fairness, we gathered a bunch of gamers together - all with varying musical tastes and Guitar Hero experience - to see how the game held up in a party situation, compared to its predecessor. Even with plentiful beer flowing and some serious intent on broadening our musical horizons, the original game's more eclectic mix of recognisable tunes and poppier classics ultimately won out, with Guitar Hero II relegated to the corner of the room. For all the sequel's multiplayer improvements, nobody wants to play along to something that offends their ears.

Closing Comments
While there’s no doubting Guitar Hero II’s mechanics are a notch above the original game, Harmonix’s decision to cater toward a more hardcore rock audience has, inevitably, had a detrimental effect on the accessibility and appeal of its follow-up. Given the original’s status as a must-have party crowd-pleaser, it’s slightly disappointing that the sequel feels like a step backward in this respect. Of course, if reading that track listing sends tingles of recognition up your spine – or you’re simply clamouring for a new set of head-banging challenges - this is an essential purchase. No other game can touch that giddy sense of euphoria as you rip up the frets and rock out to music you’re near-as-dammit making yourself. So, despite some reservations, Guitar Hero II still comes highly recommended – it's just that there’s some way to go before we see Harmonix’s excellent series cranked up all the way to eleven.