all drummers wanna be at the front of the stage

Guitar Hero is the newest rhythm game from Harmonix. For those of you not overly familiar with the rhythm game genre think of it with DDR with a guitar. Just like DDR isn't real dancing, Guitar Hero is hardly an accurate simulation of playing the guitar. The experience of the game though, coming from a drummer, is something that is so insanely addictive and fun, that you won't really care that you're not actually playing the guitar.

Game mechanics and graphics wise there isn't a whole lot to talk about. The environments for the various venues are well done. The animations for the band are really well done, especially the hand movements for your guitar playing character. This however, really doesn't make a huge difference as 99% of the time you're too busy concentrating at the notes flying at you to pay them much mind. Like the basic game mechanics couldn't be simpler. The controller has 5 buttons and a strum bar. Push the button that corresponds to the note on the screen (conveniently the same color) and strum the strum bar.

Despite it's relatively simple mechanics (though I'm sure programming the controller was trickier than you'd think) this game does just about everything well. With four difficulty levels there is a nice gradual learning curve for those of us new to the instrument. However, the higher difficulty levels I think would provide a challenge for even seasoned guitar veterans. Currently I am on the third difficulty level and struggling my way through it, but as I said earlier...I'm a drummer. The other thing the game does fantastically is the music. Harmonix managed to put together a very very solid lineup of songs. Yes the versions in the game are all covers (with the exception of the unlockable songs by indie and local bands). However, with the exception of the vocals there really isn't much difference between the cover versions and the real versions. This is really the key to the game. Sure it doesn't sound like David Bowie on “Ziggy Stardust” or Eric Clapton on “Crossroads”, but playing along with some of your favorite guitar riffs is really amazing, at least for those of us with no particular talent for the guitar. This game also gives us drummers to feel like we're in the limelight rather than buried in the back. Granted there usually is a good reason that we're buried in the back, from borderline neanderthalean facial features to social awkwardness to our complete lack of vocal talent. However, as we sit back there and pound out beats, I'm sure there isn't a single one of us that someplace in our heart of hearts hasn't wanted to be front and center. That's the beauty of the game, if you're willing to let yourself buy into the little fiction that you're actually shredding on a real guitar, it's awesome.

One comment. If you are going to play this multiplayer with two guitars make sure both speakers on your stereo are fully functional. A blown out speaker will result in one of the two players (depending on which side the speaker is down on) to not be able to hear themselves and this makes everything a lot less fun, and a lot trickier.

So, if you like rock'n'roll music and possess even a little coordination...go pick up this game.

Grade: A