Famous rock band No Doubt has sued Activision over the use of its avatars in the game Guitar Hero 5. No Doubt says that the deal it signed with Activision only permitted the avatars to be used when playing No Doubt songs. The problem is that Activision has it set up that you can play any song in the game with the No Doubt avatars. That I’m even writing about this is rather depressing.

As easy as it is to ride No Doubt for being a bunch of nerds, the fact is if the contract the band signed with Activision specified that the avatars could only play No Doubt songs, well, then Activision is in the wrong here.

The band said in a statement:

No Doubt agreed to place avatars containing their name and likeness performing three No Doubt songs in the upcoming Band Hero game of the Guitar Hero series from Activision.

Without the band’s knowledge or approval Activision turned the group into virtual karaoke players by having them perform over 60 additional songs by other musical groups.

Meanwhile, Activision said:

Some of the world’s most popular and iconic artists have been featured in Guitar Hero as playable characters, and we are proud to count No Doubt among them. Activision has a written agreement to use No Doubt in Band Hero — an agreement signed by No Doubt after extensive negotiations with its representatives, who collectively have decades of experience in the entertainment industry. Pursuant to that agreement, Activision worked with No Doubt and the band’s management in developing Band Hero. As a result, Activision believes it is within its legal rights with respect to the use and portrayal of the band members in the game and that this lawsuit is without merit. Activision is exploring its own legal options with respect to No Doubt’s obligations under the agreement.

And there you have it. What a way to start the day~!

In the interest of bringing Ron and Fez’s fantastic radio show topics to a more tech-minded audience, I propose the following: games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band, while fun and, generally speaking, “good,” will not save rock music. Rock and roll, for all intents and purposes, is dead. Bear with me for a minute, I’ll make this relevant to CrunchGear.

So the topic on today’s show was: U2—you may have heard of them—recently released a new album, but it didn’t sell too well. This created the discussion: is rock dead? Someone brought up the idea that kids today just aren’t buying music anymore, that they’re playing video games instead; you have but so many entertainment dollars to spend, right? But even if kids (and by kids I mean the 30 and under crowd, a completely arbitrary cutoff point) are going out and buying these games left and right, does that mean they’re experiencing music in a new way, as proponents of the idea that Guitar Hero will save the music business would have you believe, or are they just killing time?

To paraphrase Ron Bennington, if the only thing these kids are doing is playing Simon with Pearl Jam in the background, Pearl Jam might as well be the Pac-Man theme song. The kids aren’t paying attention to the music, aren’t getting “into it,” per se, but are merely following along with whatever random melody is playing in the background.

(Incidentally, a caller tried to blame the decline of rock music on Pearl Jam’s anti-everything antics back in the 1990s and 2000s, driving kids into hip hop’s flashy embrace. Kids want to look up to Rock Stars, and the lifestyle they live, and not necessarily people who, while armed with guitars, are generally against the whole rock “scene.” That’s partially why rapping about money, women, and cars caught fire in the 1990s: it filled a void that rock had left behind. I sure as hell would rather listen to Jay-Z than, say, The Strokes, who, if I recall correctly, were once promoted as the saviors of rock and roll.)

The future?

What new (and I do mean brand new, and not merely new to you) rock music have you heard in one of these games that made you think, “Hey, this band is pretty good. I’m gonna buy their album from iTunes and buy a t-shirt from their Web site.”? You may well be able to play along just fine with a Weezer or Peter Frampton song, and you’ll have a good time doing so, but in doing so you’re not exactly discovering Bruce Springsteen back when he was just a local Jersey act. You’re not discovering new music, but rather pressing a fisher price fret along with the melody to a classic rock song. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but that’s not going to save rock music, now is it?

And by save I just mean to make it popular again. I’d love to see a sales comparison between rock music and hip hop over the past 10 years. I bet it’s pretty one-sided.

Now these games are great for bands like The Beatles that are trying to introduce their catalog to millions of new eyeballs, but you’re not necessarily creating any new talent. It’s sorta like WWE in that sense: I stopped watching regularly back in high school (2004ish), but I turn on Raw or Smackdown today and the very same guys are who were main-eventing then (Triple H, Undertaker, John Cena, etc) are main-eventing now; no new stars have been created in the past five years. That’s not good!

So yeah, sorta rambling, but you get my point: Rock Band & Co. may be great for the record labels looking to make a extra few dollars on licensing deals, and may be great for old bands looking to introduce new fans to their music, but you’re crazy if you think these games will make rock music the music of this generation’s young people; hip has already won that battle. No new rock talent is being cultivated with these games, and the relationship between the actual music and the player isn’t genuine: you’re playing a video game with your friends as part of an event or fun social gathering, and aren’t carefully digesting the melodies and lyrics of “Gouge Away” for the sake of the music itself.

That is all.

Flickr and Flickr

Many may look at Guitar Hero 5 the same way people look at popular sports games like EA’s Madden series: the core game hasn’t changed that much at all but there are some new features here and there, plus 85 new songs to play and a slightly redesigned guitar controller.

Diehard fans of the series will likely go out and buy Guitar Hero 5 without much convincing, while people who are slowly (or quickly) growing weary of the near-endless crop of music games aren’t likely to find much here to change their minds. So let’s focus on those of us (myself included) in the middle – people who like music games enough to keep playing them but need some good reasons to keep shelling out $60 to $100 every other month (or so it seems).

New Features

If you’ve played any of the Guitar Hero games in the past, you’ll feel right at home with Guitar Hero 5 as the basic controls, modes, and features are largely unchanged from past iterations.

As for new stuff, though, the most welcome feature in my mind is that you can play any of the game’s 85 songs without jumping through all the Career Mode hoops first. That’s great because at this point, I’m not interested in career modes for music games any more. I’m 30 years old. Just give me the damn songs so I can RAWK OUT!

What’s more, you can now FINALLY import certain songs from Guitar Hero World Tour and Guitar Hero Smash Hits – at ten cents per song, mind you, due to licensing restrictions — and all the downloadable songs you purchased for those games are playable as well. Not all the songs are available, though, depending upon how the track is licensed. Guitar Hero World Tour has about 35 songs that can be transferred, while Guitar Hero Smash Hits has around 20 or so.

So taking the 85 songs from Guitar Hero 5 and assuming you’ll spend $5 to $6 to transfer the other songs over, you’re left with plenty to play with.

The game now also allows you and your friends to play the same instruments, if you so desire. If you’re all hell bent on singing, pick up four mics and sing away. Four drummers, no problem. Four bassists? Lame, but absolutely allowed. You can also join other players mid-song and change difficulty levels on the fly in the “Party Play” mode.

Finally, there are some new competitive game modes: Momentum, Perfectionist, Elimination, Do-or-Die, Streakers, and Pro Face Off. They can be online or in person.

The guitar controller is has technically been “redesigned,” although I didn’t find much about it different than the guitar that came with Guitar Hero World Tour. The buttons are pretty much the same, while the slider bar section has been tweaked a little bit.

Track List

I’m always hesitant to rate actual songs as it’s a totally subjective experience, but I can tell you that the track list in Guitar Hero 5 is all over the map. There’s definitely something for everyone here, but whether there’s enough of the same types of something that you actually like will be up to you. I personally don’t care for most of the songs this time around but if you’re looking to play along with friends, everybody will likely have their tastes accounted for.

The songs are all master tracks, which is nice, and the ability to import from the previous two Guitar Hero games along with the playability of previous downloaded songs is definitely a plus.

Famous Musicians

Yes, there are famous musicians this time around. Kurt Cobain has been resurrected, much to the chagrin of his late wife and loyal fans. Carlos Santana is in the game as well, along with Johnny Cash and a few other familiar faces. You can now import your own Xbox Live avatar into the game, too, so who cares about all these other famous yayhoos? You’re famous!

Presentation and Gameplay

The actual gameplay itself is pretty similar to past efforts, which is a good thing – it just works. Graphics and animation haven’t been overhauled by any means, either. If you were playing the game and someone walked into the room, they probably wouldn’t be able to tell if you were playing Guitar Hero III, World Tour, Smash Hits, or Guitar Hero 5. Activision seems to have found a tried and true formula. So again, not a whole lot of groundbreaking differences as far as the look and feel of the game is concerned, but if it ain’t broke yada, yada, yada.

Overall

You like Guitar Hero? Buy this one, especially if you like the track list. If you don’t like the track list, you can stick with World Tour or Smash Hits and not miss out all that much. If you’ve got three friends (lucky!) then the appeal is even greater as the revamped party mode and new competitive modes make the purchase more worthwhile. All in all, though, not much has changed. That’s not meant to be a criticism – it’s just that each successive release seems to be more and more about the actual music. And it’s all about the music, right?

Guitar Hero 5 [GuitarHero.com]

If you really think about it, it makes sense that future installments of Guitar Hero and other games like that could basically come packaged like those Jakks Pacific plug-and-play TV games. It’d eliminate the need for a console altogether. Activision CEO Bobby Kotick realizes this, and says that his company is considering the possibilities.

Kotick said the following at a recent technology conference:

“I think what the untethered Guitar Hero does is it maybe equals the playing field a little bit more and gives you leverage with first parties on downloadable content and the business model… [Y]ou should expect to see many of our products to be playable on the television independent of a console.”

Kotick also noted, however, that there’s plenty left to do with actual consoles, “saying they still provide enhanced online experiences and better production value,” according to IGN.

But you can imagine, for instance, an early Guitar Hero game stripped down a bit and loaded onto memory inside the actual guitar, a guitar which would have a simple AV output cord to your TV. Something like that isn’t probably too far off.

Expect Console-less Guitar Hero from Activision [IGN]

Ahhh, just what the doctor ordered: Logitech just released a wireless guitar controller that looks like a kinda-sorta Superstrat played by Adrian Smith of Iron Maiden along with a collapsable drum kit for the Wii and the XBox360.

Not much really to say about these peripherals except that they’re coming on the heels of Beatles Rock Band. I can’t get any pricing but if you need a drum kit for the Wii or XBox 360 and/or want to play a sexy black and white git-fiddle on the Wii, these are your men.

Here’s a list of what’s available:
“Prodigal Son (Live)”
“You Gotta Move (Live)”
“I’m Free (Live)”
“Under My Thumb (Live)”
“(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction (Live)”

So no stand alone addition. We can keep the hope alive though. I mean, if Aerosmith can get their own game, surely…

Most of the posts are about downloadable content right now but this looks like a labor of love, thereby making it worth more than 50 pro gaming blogs put together. Good luck, Joe.

Get right the hell outta town with this one. The kid in the above video plays Ozzy Osbourne’s Mr. Crowly on Expert mode in Guitar Hero, using his right elbow to work the strum bar while his right hand solves not one, but two Rubik’s Cubes. And if that wasn’t difficult enough, he plays with his back facing the game, using a mirror for some reason.

Chalk this one up to a skill that adds little, if anything, to our society as a whole, yet is one of the more awesome things you’ll ever see (and will never be able to do) yourself.

Un… beee… lievable.

[via Kotaku]

This is the OpenChord V1 guitar. It’s a guitar, obviously, but one that works with Guitar Hero and Rock Band.

Right now, the guys behind the guitar only have it up and running with the Nintendo Wii version. That said, Xbox 360 and PS3 versions are in the works.

This video demonstrates what’s going on here:

You can buy the guitar right now for $190. Or, if you’re handy with a toolbox, you can download the source code and create it yourself.

Also, keep in mind that, yeah, playing random notes on the guitar may sound annoying, no one’s forcing you to plug it into an amp. No plugsies, no soundies.

via Joystiq

No, I’m not posting this for the fun of it, but I can’t tell you why I’m doing it either. Just watch the video and I’m sure you can figure it out. Sound off in comments if you think you know.

Logitech has announced a premium Guitar Hero drumset for the PS2 and PS3, priced at $229 and available soon. The kit features a stainless steel bass pedal and the drumheads and cymbals can be repositioned “to fit your reach and suit your style, helping you play faster and better.”

Without having actually seen the set, it looks like it’s maybe a step or two up from the set that’s included with GH World Tour but perhaps not as nice as, say, the ION kit that’s available for Rock Band. That one goes for $300, though.

Of course, this all begs the question: why no Xbox 360 or Wii versions as well?

Full press release:

Feel the Beat: Logitech Unveils Premium Drum Controller for Guitar Hero

Logitech Wireless Drum Controller Licensed for the PLAYSTATION 3 Computer Entertainment System

FREMONT, Calif. – July 15, 2009 – So you can really rock out to Guitar Hero® on the PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3) computer entertainment system, Logitech (SIX: LOGN) (NASDAQ: LOGI) today introduced the Logitech® Wireless Drum Controller for the PLAYSTATION 3 system. Licensed by Activision Publishing, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI), for the award-winning Guitar Hero franchise, the Wireless Drum Controller features premium drum heads with recessed rims – making it easy for you to play like a rock star.
“When you’re ready to experience a new premium drum controller or expand your band, you’ll want to rip on Logitech’s new drum controller,” said Ruben Mookerjee, Logitech’s director of product marketing for gaming. “With the Wireless Drum Controller, you can mark time, keep the backbeat, color up your riffs and crash down on the cymbal pads. Joining the Logitech® Wireless Guitar Controller, the new Wireless Drum Controller lets you rock out to your favorite songs on the PS3 system.”

The Logitech Wireless Drum Controller features three fully adjustable drum heads and two cymbal pads. Each piece can be positioned to fit your reach and suit your style. Offering a unique playing experience, the new Logitech Wireless Drum Controller provides quiet, responsive heads that deliver a lively feel, won’t distract you from the music, and are designed to let you take advantage of all the latest features of Guitar Hero games.
But Logitech did not just replicate typical drum heads. The recessed rims help make it easier to score points and avoid accidental rim shots. The kick pedal uses a stainless steel surface and an adjustable spring – providing a highly durable, responsive drumming experience.

Delivering up to 50 hours of battery life on two AA batteries, the Wireless Drum Controller gives you enough juice to perform a concert’s worth of hits, encores included.

Compatible with the PS3 system as well as the PlayStation®2 system, the Wireless Drum Controller uses a 2.4 GHz wireless USB receiver, so the connection is as steady as a drum beat. When you’re ready to play, the Logitech Wireless Drum Controller sets up quickly and folds flat in seconds. You can start playing within minutes of opening the box and when the show is over, the set can be easily stowed away. (Roadies are not required.)

Pricing and Availability

The Logitech Wireless Drum Controller for the PS3 system is expected to be available in the U.S. beginning in July and Europe beginning in August for a suggested retail price of $229.99 (U.S.).

Product Page

Guitar Hero 5 will launch in September and with it, a slightly new and slightly-improved Guitar controller featuring, among other changes, an all-digital slider and colored dots along the neck of the Guitar which ought to make it easier to glance down and see where your fingers are.

Neversoft’s Brian Bright told IGN the following:

“The Guitar Hero World Tour guitar slider was sending analog values. The Guitar Hero 5 guitar controller’s slider is digital, reducing the chance for error and latency. On the surface of the slider we added slight reliefs (like the one on the yellow fret button) to the middle slider fret and the top and bottom slider frets. This way you can feel exactly where your fingers are. There are also colored dots on the neck of the guitar controller near the slider that correspond to the colors of the frets. This allows you to quickly look down and see where your fingers should be (if the reliefs aren’t enough for you). All of these changes to the slider allow you to hit the tapping sections with better precision – we also removed the purple rope in the tapping/slide sections of game play by the way :). For those who are musically inclined, GHStudio’s all new expressive guitar controller capabilities is where the slider will really shine.”

The strum bar has also been reinforced and will be made of a more textured material to ward off sweaty hands. And the fake tuning knobs apparently look all chrome-y now in order to class everything up along with the new cherry red motif.

Guitar Hero 5’s New Axe [IGN]

I’m no marketing wizard, but Guitar Hero Smash Hits could have been called Guitar Hero: Songs From The First Guitar Hero Games Before The Drums and Microphone Existed But Now You Can Play the Good Songs from Those Games on the Drums and Sing Too. Again, I’m no marketing wizard.

And Guitar Hero Smash Hits isn’t a bad game at all. It is what it is, though: a greatest hits game. If you’ve played all the Guitar Hero games before World Tour and you’re only interested in playing guitar, then you’ll find little of value here. But if you liked all of the early songs and have always wished you could play the drumming and singing parts, then Smash Hits is worth a closer look.

What’s Inside?

Smash Hits features 48 songs from five earlier Guitar Hero games: Guitar Hero, Guitar Hero II, Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock and Guitar Hero: Aerosmith. All the songs found on Smash Hits are the master tracks from the original bands, whereas some of them were professional recordings from studio bands in the earlier games. There’s not a whole lot of difference other than that, though, except that you can now play the songs on the drums and you can sing using the microphone.

Everything else is your standard Guitar Hero game: Career Mode with a loose storyline, multiplayer, or quick play, plus you can take advantage of the built-in GHTunes track editor now if you want to take a stab at making your own song.

Why Not DLC?

Could all the tracks in the game have been made available as downloadable content and played on Guitar Hero: World Tour instead of inside of full retail packaging? Yes, absolutely. But Activision made an entire game out of it and you end up saving some money in the long run since you get 48 tracks for $60 — that’s assuming you like all of the tracks, though.

Who Would Like This Game?

This is a good game for people who loved the music from the first run of Guitar Hero games and want to be able to play the drum parts and/or sing the music parts.

It’s also a good game for someone looking to get into the whole Guitar Hero thing in the first place. I actually prefer the tracks in this game to the tracks in Guitar Hero World Tour. There’s not as much fluff here — all the bands and songs are easily recognizable and more rock-ish, whereas Guitar Hero: World Tour contained a bit broader set list as far as genres are concerned. This one’s got more pure rock and metal.

Who Wouldn’t Like This Game?

Anyone who just wants to play guitar and has already cruised through most or all of the Guitar Hero games before World Tour. You’d feel downright ripped off, as not a whole lot’s changed on the guitar and bass end of things.

However, you have access to all the songs without unlocking them first if you use the Quick Play mode and it’s easier to progress in Career Mode because you just need a certain number of stars for new venues to open up — those stars can be attained through a pretty big selection of initial songs, so play your favorites to move ahead quickly.

Finally, Guitar Hero Smash Hits doesn’t feature downloadable content aside from fan-made GHTunes tracks. So if you own GHWT and you’ve downloaded new songs, you won’t be able to play them in Smash Hits. That’s a big omission, in my opinion. Activision could have potentially enticed a fair amount of early fans to pick up Smash Hits even though they’ve already played all the songs before had they been able to download new songs to the game.

Conclusion

Guitar Hero Smash Hits is a standard Guitar Hero game through and through. There aren’t a whole lot of surprises here but if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it (as they say). It takes the early music of the series and leverages some of the gameplay features from Guitar Hero World Tour and Guitar Hero Metallica to make for a solid game with an above-average setlist.

If you like the series and you like the available songs, you won’t be disappointed. I think it could have been priced at $40 or made available as downloadable content but at $60, it’s still a good enough game to purchase if you’re new to the series and want to get set up with a good track list or if you’re a fan of the earlier games and want to play some of the earlier songs on drums or using the microphone.

Complete Set List

Guitar Hero Smash Hits [Activision]

Xbox 360’s owners can soon stop being jelous of the PS3 Logitech Wireless Guitar Controller. Yup, soon they will be able to get their own premium wireless controller with a maple neck, rosewood fingerboard, a virtually silent strum bar and metal frets. The controller is an official liscenced product so it should work seemlessly for Guitar Hero when it launches this August for $199.

Activision has declared war against the most popular band of all freakin’ time. The fifth installment in the Guitar Hero franchise (aside from the band specific titles) goes on sale September 1st, which is eight days before The Beatles: Rock Band hits store shelves. Oh boy! If I were a betting man, I’d say the The Beatles are going to sweep this round.

Guitar Hero 5

RedOctane — the official Guitar Hero store — is offering the following…

• Guitar Hero Metallica
• Guitar Hero World Tour
• Guitar Hero Aerosmith
• Wireless drum kit
• Guitar Hero World Tour T-Shirt

…for $139.99 but you can use promo code 0509 to cut it down to $99.99 with free shipping.

Now I must warn you: Guitar Hero Aerosmith seems out of place as it’s not pictured with the rest of the stuff. It’s listed under the “What is in the box?” tab on the product page, although the quick product description says “This package includes Guitar Hero Metallica and World Tour games plus Guitar Hero World Tour wireless drum,” without any mention of Guitar Hero Aerosmith.

Whatever the case, it’s still a good deal on the two games, the drumset, and the shirt. If it does indeed include the third game, then all the better.

Guitar Hero Metallica & World Tour with Wireless Drum Bundle – Wii [RedOctane.com via dealnews]

Newsflash: people love Guitar Hero and Rock Band. You can tell because Logitech makes a $200 guitar controller that’s currently backordered 2 to 4 weeks.

Gizmodo spent a little quality time with the aforementioned wireless PS2/PS3 controller and said that the all-wood guitar is “definitely solid” and that “the weight of it was comparable to an actual guitar.”

The controller touts hundreds of hours of battery life and “virtually silent” fret buttons and strum bar. It looks nice, too, if you can get past the goofy colored buttons. I like Guitar Hero and Rock Band as much as anyone but if I’m gonna throw down for some big boy instruments, I think I’d pony up an extra $100 for the Ion drum set instead.

Logitech Wireless Guitar Controller [Amazon via Gizmodo]

Get ready for… Guitar Hero Idol, maybe! There’s some rumblings going on that Activision Blizzard is considering turning Guitar Hero into a TV show. It’d either be an American Idol-esque contest show or more along the lines of a reality show. (Those are still around, reality shows?) Yes, perhaps the dumbest idea to ever come out of the United States of America.

But, that’s just my lowly opinion. You’d be a fool to not recognize that Guitar Hero and its ilk are mad popular these days, and there certainly wouldn’t be a lack of people willing to try out. (I can’t wait for the early episodes where the producers cleverly put terrible guitarists on the air… lol, they’re so bad why did they even bother showing up?! Hollywood should be shut down.) And, presumably, if people are still willing to sit through American Idol, why wouldn’t they sit through Guitar Hero Idol? I imagine it’d be huge in high schools. The guys would watch the hate on the contestants (“I’m better than that jerk”) and the girls would swoon and fight over who has the nicest eyes.

The show might look something like this:

My guess it’ll need lots of sweeping camera movements to keep it interesting.

Photo: Flickr

Short Version: If you’re a Metallica fan, this may quickly become your new favorite game. Drummers, too, will find the new Expert+ mode with double-bass pedal compatibility a welcome addition to the Guitar Hero series.

Long Version:

In less than a minute of playing Guitar Hero: Metallica, I was thirteen again — sitting behind my beloved drumset in the basement of my childhood home, cursing my Sony Discman for skipping while I was trying to play along to Sad But True on Metallica’s Black album, the first compact disc I ever purchased with my own money.

Perhaps I’m not the right person to review a game like Guitar Hero: Metallica. The band was with me through my formative years, I’ve been to three of their concerts, and, whether he knew it or not, Lars Ulrich basically taught me to play the drums. I am truly a child of the Metallica era. Few bands had been as influential on me as I was learning to play instruments, so to have most of their songs in a single video game is phenomenal. Perhaps if and when Guitar Hero: Nirvana and Guitar Hero: Green Day come out, I’ll have a couple  new games to gush about.

So if you’re into Metallica (or were into Metallica growing up), then you can stop reading right here and go pick up the game. You’ll love it. And if you’re a drummer you may also really like the game, as you can hook up a second bass pedal and rip through classics like One, Dyers Eve, and plenty of other tracks that’ll have you feeling like you’re running in place at breakneck speed. The new Expert+ difficulty level for the drums is amazingly challenging and ought to keep even the best drummers occupied for quite some time. If you’re a drummer who likes playing Metallica songs, I can tell you that this game justifies the purchase of an entire console and Rock Band drumset. Seriously.

Most of the games “features” won’t really appeal to anyone but true Metallica fans, so if you’re not into Metallica you’ll probably want to skip this one. It almost plays like an expansion disc or a big track pack that costs $60.

For fans, there are some nice motion-captured graphics of each of the band’s four members. Lars stands up and pounds on the toms during Creeping Death, James pumps his first into the air to get the crowd all riled up, and bassist Rob Trujillo does his signature whirlibird thing during Seek and Destroy. Kirk… well, Kirk never really did anything outrageous on stage anyway and most of his subdued mannerisms make it into the game just fine.

There are also some unlockable videos of “bootlegged” tour footage, some behind the scenes stuff from the game’s development, and a couple other fan videos, along with guest appearances by Lemmy of Motorhead and King Diamond.

The game is loosely held together by a cartoonish storyline about a Metallica cover band trying to make it big, and progression and unlocking songs is as simple as getting a certain number of stars on available songs to unlock new ones. So this is not really a new Guitar Hero game by any means, it’s basically a bunch of Metallica’s songs with a few outside songs from bands like Alice and Chains, Queen, System of a Down, and even Bob Seger sprinkled in for good measure. I’d gladly trade all the non-Metallica songs for more Metallica songs, though.

Aside from the cartoonish characters that make up your Career Mode band, the actual renderings of the members of Metallica are pretty cartoonish as well. The motion capture makes up for it somewhat by bringing each member’s mannerisms into the game, but it would have been cool if everyone looked more human-like. The music’s there, though, which is the most important thing.

The overall gameplay is impressive, especially if you’re familiar with Metallica’s music. I’m not an awesome guitarist by any means, but playing Hammet’s parts on the medium skill level felt natural and smooth. The drumming interface is outstanding and singing like James Hetfield is actually more challenging than you’d think. All in all, everything’s really well done from a pure note-to-note standpoint. The development team did a great job with this one.

Conclusion:

If you’re a Metallica fan, buy it. You’ll love it. Everyone else might think twice before shelling out $60, as the storyline is pretty weak and there aren’t a ton of new and varied tracks compared to what you’d get with a full blown version of, say, Guitar Hero World Tour. Drummers looking for a challenging drumming experience might find what they’re looking for in this game, and drummers who grew up on Metallica should have already left for the store by now.

Guitar Hero: Metallica [Activision]