Australian Gamer Review :: Guitar Hero 2

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Guitar Hero 2

Reviewed on: Playstation 2
Available on: Playstation 2

So you�ve played Guitar Hero, and you think you�re pretty good at it? You can play all the songs on at least hard and can get 5 stars for every song on medium? You can even finish a few songs on expert? Well if you�re one of those, then stop reading this review because you should already own the sequel, Guitar Hero 2.

Players: 1 - 2 Players
Genre:
Release: 2006-11-15

Developer: Harmonix
Distributor: Activision

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So you�ve played Guitar Hero, and you think you�re pretty good at it? You can play all the songs on at least hard and can get 5 stars for every song on medium? You can even finish a few songs on expert? Well if you�re one of those, then stop reading this review because you should already own the sequel, Guitar Hero 2. Of course, if you�re still reading this, you don�t own either. In which case, go out and buy both RIGHT NOW. Before I even get into the review though, a word to the wise. Do NOT buy the 3rd party guitar controller that came out for the original Guitar Hero. Red Octane in their wisdom, or perhaps having been forced by Activsion, decided to actively make 3rd party controllers incompatible with Guitar Hero 2.

Now, GH2 is an awesome game, but that is a complete bastards act to screw over fans of the game like that. When you consider that the first game featured a 2 player mode, but that it was actually not possible to buy a genuine controller. You can hardly blame serious fans for going out and buying what WAS available, that being the cheap and nasty version. I understand that Red Octane want people to buy the genuine article, but how many people owned that controller and then bought the sequel WITHOUT a controller thinking that their 2 guitars at home would work. I know I was one, and I can tell you I was less than impressed when I had to fork out more money to buy a new guitar after buying the standalone game. So a big BOO at you Red Octane.

Now that I have that off my chest, I can get back to saying how awesome Guitar Hero 2 is. Like most music games, you don�t expect a whole lot of changes in sequels. Really, at minimum you just expect a bunch of new songs and not much else. Guitar Hero 2 is one of the few games that have gone above and beyond that in extending the replay value of the game by including �alternative� tracks to the songs as well as 2 new multiplayer modes. The career mode of the game is essentially identical however. For the uninitiated, this involves playing through the set list, making money based on how well you do, and then buying stuff. The stuff is all useless, but it is still cool. As well as guitars, skins and songs, GH2 includes several unlockable characters and the new addition of alternative clothing. Again, completely useless, but fun nonetheless.

The song list itself is either better or worse depending on your tastes in music. Whilst there are quite a few �mainstream� tracks, the others a probably less well known to the average punter. This leaves the game feeling a little alien to all but the most serious of heavy metal/hard rock fans. Whilst there are some real gems, the list as a whole feels a little less �fun� than the original, and a whole lot more serious instead. For some reason the learning curve is a whole lot tougher than the original game, even for an experienced player. Whereas the original was a very gentle increase in difficulty from group 1 up to the final group, GH2 throws in a few very tricky tracks early on (eg. Wolfmother�s Woman) and yet leaves a few pretty basic tracks towards the end of the list. It may be that the order is little more sensible when played on easy, but on Medium or Hard the list seems to be a little out of order in parts. The songs themselves have a very different feel than the original, and must have been put together by a different team. There are lot more quick songs, with more chords and more hammer-ons and pull-offs included to throw you. For those who aren�t up with the lingo, this is the method of strumming once and then pressing several notes in quick succession up or down the fret board. Of course the upside of this is that hammer-ons and pull-offs are actually far more easy to achieve now, making some parts that would�ve been near impossible in the original far more simple in the sequel. It�s little consolation when you get up to Freebird, but at least you stand a chance of finishing the song, even if it is just for three stars.

One thing that is distinctly noticeable in this new version is that the game very much favours those with an �up-down� action over those with just a �down� action. Many songs require strumming the same note over and over in quick time. For those that use just a downward strum, you better learn to change your style real quick, or you�ll find players with much less skill beating you purely because you can�t strum quick enough. Of course the fact that this new version has some very quick and very tricky sections, is offset by the fact that the makers have kindly included a �practice� mode. Fans of DDR will be aware that the practice option is the only real way to complete many songs on hard difficulty. No matter how good a guitarist you may think you are, the reality is that a lot of the time, the notes fly by quicker than your dumbass drunk brain can your register them. Fortunately, upon completing a song you are given a far more detailed score breakdown than in the previous edition of Guitar Hero. Each song is divided into sections, and the game will give you a score for each section allowing you to practice the more difficult sections of a song without having to play through the entire song. This is essential for songs like Freebird that drag on for days and yet only have a fairly small section that is near impossible to play on hard. With plenty of practice though, you can get it. Thank you Red Octane for that!! I�m still pissed at you about the controller though.

The other big change to Guitar Hero is the new multiplayer modes. One big complaint of the old multiplayer mode was that it was structured in a duelling-banjos fashion, with players essentially taking it in turns to play segments of the song. This was ok for the most part, but always left you wishing you could just play the whole damned song together. That and the fact that it always seemed that one person got lumped with the �hard part�. Well don�t fret any longer (pun intended), now with the unlockable �pro-face off� mode, you can both play the full song against each other to find out once and for all who is the real Guitar Hero. Once you�ve sorted that out you can head off to the other new mode, co-op! Co-op mode is nearly extremely cool, but unfortunately kinda sucks for the most part. The general idea behind co-op mode is that each player plays either Lead Guitar, Bass or Rhythm. The up side is that you can both play different difficulties, the down side is that only one of you can play lead guitar. This frankly leaves the other person bored shitless. It�s not the developers fault, it�s just that playing Bass is REALLY boring. The occasional song has a rhythm part which is slightly more interesting, but the reality is that unless you�re playing with your kid brother, you�re forever going to have fights over who plays lead. The other crappy bit is that you have to BOTH activate star power at the same time. Believe me, when you�re midway through Psychobilly Freakout, it�s hard enough just getting through it without trying to perform synchronised guitar tilting manoeuvres! While I�m having a whinge, who the hell decided to shorten the band names in this version? A small detail, but when you�ve been playing for months under the name �Angry Monkeys!�, it is damned annoying having to shorten your band name to just �Angry!� or �Monkeys!�. It must�ve been because the folks at Red Octane just called their band �dickheads� or �morons� or something similar.

If you�re lucky enough to have the original version, then ensure that you buy the new version WITH the extra guitar controller, or you will be kicking yourself until Guitar Hero 3. It�s also worth mentioning for the Xbox owners out that there that there is a 360 version on the way, and we�ve all got our fingers crossed for downloadable songs!

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Final Verdict

Guitar Hero II is everything good about Guitar Hero 1, but with plenty of extra added goodies to keep even the experts busy for a long time to come. At the very least, if you are just after a new set of songs, Guitar Hero 2 is a worthwhile purchase. At its best, it is a major upgrade from the previous edition and is a far more enjoyable multiplayer experience than the first.

Pros
Practice mode makes learning tough songs so much easier. Broken Hammer-ons are now not broken. Great new multiplayer modes. It�s Guitar Hero!!
Cons
Arguably not the best track list. 3rd party controllers do not work. Playing bass sounds like a good idea, but just isn�t.