[Guns_LotsOfGuns]

Crank Up the Volume and prepare to rock around the globe with Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. Battle against some of the greatest legends to ever shred on a guitar and become one yourself. Take your shredding skills online against other Guitar Hero players from around the world. Grab your Guitar Hero Wireless Les Paul and unleash your inner rock legend.

A 10 should only be given for a landmark game that sets new rules, a 9 for a truly excellent game without flaw, and an average game that does things right but nothing special should get a 5 (not a 7 or 8 like some would have you believe).

Please only vote if you've played enough of the game to comment. In the case of this game a single play through of the main & bonus tracks and a dabble in online should suffice.

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As anyone on my friends list will tell you i have quite possibly an unhealthy obbsession with the Guitar Hero series, when GH:II came out i played it literally non stop no other game got a look in, when i joined friends online for other games there was actual shock at my presence. So when the postie dropped GH:III through the letter box on saturday it signalled the end of any plans i may have had for my weekend.

Setlist

Before i bought the game i looked down the setlist and it didnt set me on fire, but that was fine, who knew that when i boot up GH:II one of the first tracks id load up would be "Wayward Son" I have faith in the GH series to offer up songs i would never have chosen and make them awesome. This is still true to an extent but not as much as GH:II, playing through for the first time with a few exceptions the setlist was pretty average, still good but didnt give you that euphoric feeling which makes throw shapes in your living room regardless of who is watching!

Until i hit the last two sets that is at which point someone at Neversoft lit a fire under the games ass, i can definatly say i had more fun playing the last two sets than the rest of the career setlist combined. Not good you say as thats only 8 songs, fear not the bonus tracks add alot of much needed quality to the setlist.

Ultimatly music tastes vary, and my tastes leans towards the bottom end of the setlist in all the GH games, others may like the earlier tracks, at least theres something for everyone i guess.

Whichever tracks you like odds are it will be a " perfomed by" rather than a "made famous by", which really makes all the difference.

Difficulty

This is where i have a problem with this game, they have made another change to the HO/PO (Hammer Ons/Pull Off's) system, from the first game to the second they made them easier to pull off and the same is true this time too. I found myself pulling of HO/PO's in this game i never would have hit in GH:II, and even general gameplay is more forgiving. They have obviously tried to balance it by making the notes charts and your fret work more crazy and intricate but the only time you really feel it is in the last two sets when there is a HUGE difficulty spike especially on expert.

At first i was really disappointed at these changes, the more i play it though the less they bother me, and its is nice to be able to pull off some crazy solos It will be interesting to see how i will fair when i go back to GH:II, even more interesting will be when newcomers who enjoy this game and go to II looking for more of the same, find its much more difficult.

Gameplay

There are no other real changes to gameplay except the Boss battles which introduce the new battle mode, i really dont mind this it takes nothing away from the game but adds a new element, all the battles ive done so far can be won by simply saving attacks and using them all at once, i suspect the last battle on expert will be tough but will come down to the same principle.

Personally would have preffered a score based system where you have to beat Tom Morello or Slash's score, i wanted the Tom Morello battle to last longer as i love his scratchy style, but its over before ive begun to enjoy it.

Apart from that its more of same amazing rocking gameplay

Online & Community

WOW, if could sum up my review of the online portions that would be it, who knew online would be so great, since gettiing stuck on expert i have found myself playing mostly online. Why play a song on you own when you can play against someone else or better still with someone else.

Strangely i find playing with/against someone online brings the best out of me i have hit 500 note streak first online, i hit 250,000 first online, its a shame you cant get your single player acheivements for note streak etc when playing against someone, you can however get the co-op ones which is nice.

One of the main reasons this is so awesome online is not many people talk, you join a room, pick songs, then rock, simple I havent encountered any "You Suck" comments or horrible people so far which is great.

Of course you have all the normal "real life" coop from the GH:II and there is a coop career with extra songs which you can only play this way so the face to face emphasis is still there.

With the website now tracking stats, organising comps etc the Guitar Hero game really is a full package, and i can see people playing this online for a long time.

Conclusion

Ive found GH:III to be a game of highs and lows, while the setlist has its lows (Rock and Roll All Night) it has a few euphoric highs (One), while the dumbing down of the controls is a low the increased fret board work and complexity is a high, the battle mode is underwhelming however online play is a massive plus.

Im going to give it a 9, if it was the same as GH:II but with this setlist it would be lower, but the online play alone boosts it to a well deserved 9, its more a definative GH experience in features than songs but still incredibly enjoyable.

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And finally because im bored i thought i give out a few awards

The "Its about time" Award: Metalica - One

The "Seriously!!!? " Award: DragonForce - Through the fire and flames

The "Sleeper Hit" Award: Eric Johnson - Cliffs Of Dover

The"Best Riff" Award: Killswitch Engage - My Curse

The "Best HO/PO section" Award Weezer - My name is Jonas

The "I want to hear more" Award: Fall Of Troy - F.C.P.R.E.M.I.X

The "I have no idea what you just said but it sounded great!" Award: Die Toten Hosen - Hier Kommt Alex

Who would you give what? Are there any others you would give?

[Guns_LotsOfGuns]

Now that everyone else has got the game any opinions? Anyone?

[PinheadedMike]

an 8 for me a good bit of fun

[MonkeyKnuckle]

8 from me.

I think I gave GHII a 9, this is more of the same but with a worse track list. Although Stricken by Disturbed is awesome.

[RedAl]

8 from me.

I knocked a point off for the dreadful issues with the wireless Les Paul and another mark down for the poor track list. I think GHII`s tracklist blows GHIII`s tracklist away. Though I agree this is purely down to personal preference and some people will inevitably like a number of tracks on here.

[durera]

Originally Posted by RedAl

8 from me.

I knocked a point off for the dreadful issues with the wireless Les Paul and another mark down for the poor track list. I think GHII`s tracklist blows GHIII`s tracklist away. Though I agree this is purely down to personal preference and some people will inevitably like a number of tracks on here.

What are the issues with the Wireless controller? I've read lots of posts/articles saying there are problems with it, but none yet that elaborate on what the issues are.

[RedAl]

Originally Posted by durera

What are the issues with the Wireless controller? I've read lots of posts/articles saying there are problems with it, but none yet that elaborate on what the issues are.

Crikey, where do I start. There`s issues across all three formats (PS3, Wii & 360) though it seems the majority of the issues are plaguing the 360 & PS3 versions. They`re all to do with the new wireless Les paul controller. The majority of the issues are:-

1) Star Power activating by itself without the guitar being tilted
2) Star Power not activating even if the player swings the guitar like a baseball bat (and yes, thats a direct quote I read on the Guitar Hero official forum)
3) Flakey fret buttons due to a loose fit between the fretboard and guitar body
4) Pressing down 2 coloured fret buttons only for another button to act like its being held down (even when its not)
5) Issues with the console not picking up the wireless guitar or dropping out periodically.

There`s probably more issues but these seem to be the most common ones. I`ve seen people on the forum that are on their 5th guitar and still having issues. I think the biggest faux pas on Red Octane`s part was to make the detachable neck. I`ve had to apply a fix found on the web moving the small green pcb in the end of the guitar neck so the fit is tighter and thus the connection is more sure. Bit annoying when its cost a total of £86 to import from Play-Asia but at least mine`s working fine now.

[BAN5HEE]

I gave it a 7. It's good but I enjoyed GH II more. Maybe I was a bit harsh. 7.9 is my final score.

[meweavy]

Originally Posted by RedAl

Crikey, where do I start. There`s issues across all three formats (PS3, Wii & 360) though it seems the majority of the issues are plaguing the 360 & PS3 versions. They`re all to do with the new wireless Les paul controller. The majority of the issues are:-

1) Star Power activating by itself without the guitar being tilted
2) Star Power not activating even if the player swings the guitar like a baseball bat (and yes, thats a direct quote I read on the Guitar Hero official forum)
3) Flakey fret buttons due to a loose fit between the fretboard and guitar body
4) Pressing down 2 coloured fret buttons only for another button to act like its being held down (even when its not)
5) Issues with the console not picking up the wireless guitar or dropping out periodically.

There`s probably more issues but these seem to be the most common ones. I`ve seen people on the forum that are on their 5th guitar and still having issues. I think the biggest faux pas on Red Octane`s part was to make the detachable neck. I`ve had to apply a fix found on the web moving the small green pcb in the end of the guitar neck so the fit is tighter and thus the connection is more sure. Bit annoying when its cost a total of £86 to import from Play-Asia but at least mine`s working fine now.

thats what i dont understand..why would they give it a detachable neck...its obviously lead to lots of problems..
but it comes in the same size box..
i dont get it..
as for the game..ive played it over the weekend..im a little dissapointed to be honest...i do like the boss battles..but i think gh2 feels better to play.also it sounds better..
at the moment i would give it 7/10..hopefully it will improve the more i play it..

[RedAl]

Originally Posted by meweavy

thats what i dont understand..why would they give it a detachable neck...its obviously lead to lots of problems..
but it comes in the same size box..
i dont get it..
as for the game..ive played it over the weekend..im a little dissapointed to be honest...i do like the boss battles..but i think gh2 feels better to play.also it sounds better..
at the moment i would give it 7/10..hopefully it will improve the more i play it..

I was under the impression that the reason for the detachable neck was to make the box smaller and therefore cheaper to distribute and store. Though from memory I can`t remember how big/small the GHIII box is. If it was just a gimmick to make the guitar easier for console owners to transport then its bombed spectacularly as it looks like so many people have been hit with this flakey fret button issue.

[meweavy]

Originally Posted by RedAl

I was under the impression that the reason for the detachable neck was to make the box smaller and therefore cheaper to distribute and store. Though from memory I can`t remember how big/small the GHIII box is. If it was just a gimmick to make the guitar easier for console owners to transport then its bombed spectacularly as it looks like so many people have been hit with this flakey fret button issue.

the box is the same size..so it doesnt really make any sense...

[DrinksInBars]

my guitar works great

plus split in two, it fits in my rucksack!!!

[RedAl]

Originally Posted by DrinksInBars

my guitar works great

plus split in two, it fits in my rucksack!!!

LOL, there`s always one isnt there?

Mine works fine too....now i`ve taken it apart to fix seeing as Red Octane couldn`t get it right first time!

[virtual22]

I have not had problems with the guitar yet either, but the game is still definately missing something that was there with GH2. For me the track list is a lot poorer. There were many songs on GH2 I had not heard before but grew to love, so far I cannot see that being the same for GH3. I wouldn't mind betting a number of really good songs have been held back for down loadable content

The boss battles are great and I enjoy these but I also need to tweak the sound settings, as others have said, so far it does not sound quite right either.

Have not been able to get it online yet so cannot comment on that but now I have 2 guitars I am looking forward to a mate coming round and giving co-op a proper seeing to.

Overall, 7

[DrinksInBars]

yeah, a seven is about right.

the tracklist just doesnt havent the same oomph that happened in the second game. freebird alone really rocks so hard that GHIII just cant match up

[nutter45]

7 for me.

The use of master tracks in GH3 makes the note charts feel a little contrived. I think in GH 1 & 2 the charts are much better matched to the music, possibly because they were almost all cover versions. I accept I might be talking rubbish, and it might just be because it's a different developer

I think it's an excellent game in it's own right but have knocked a mark off for the Lou boss battle (on hard and above)

[Tufty McTavish]

Originally Posted by virtual22

There were many songs on GH2 I had not heard before but grew to love, so far I cannot see that being the same for GH3.

Interesting thought. I know it's each to their own but I've already bought 2 CDs as a consequence of GH3 and have more to get soon. I only bought 2 CDs out of the GH2 soundtrack so I'm thinking I'm finding GH3's more interesting.

The boss battles are great and I enjoy these

And here I disagree with you again! I know, each to their own, but I really detest those battles and once beaten I don't see myself returning to them anytime soon.

[cost22998]

I've given this am 8. I have all the GH games (incl Rocks the 80s on my gathering dust ps2) and it must just be my sad 80's tastes, but I thought that this has the best set list of the lot. Its got half of the Dazed and Confused soundtrack on there (Foghat, Kiss, Alice Cooper, etc) plus Poison! I'll get me coat.....

Anyways, I've had no problems with the guitar at all - think the wireless is great. However, I think the learning curve is virtually non existent compared to the excellent curve of GH2. First run through I 5-starred the first 6 sets of hard FIRST GO. Was beginning to think this was too easy, when up pops One and Reign in Blood - 5 goes on each and not completed them! Same with expert - first 24 on expert all 5-starred first go (with the exception of Anarchy in the UK to my shame - that took 2 goes). Then Holiday in Cambodia - 4%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love the whole series and love the set list and on-line play (except the small sounding american child who mocked me cuz he couldn't believe my hand hurt when play Through the Fiure and Flames for the very first time on medium!) is also really good.

Now I'm off home to nail those bad boys.

Mark

[sdb123]

I think it's a good extension of the GH series.

Unlike some, I've yet to experience an issue with my Wireless Guitar.

The set list feels a little fragmented to me...maybe I'm just too used to GHII's tracks atm. Time will tell.

One thing I'm not too keen on is when you hit the long notes with whammy bar the sound is over emphasised IMHO, taking away from the sound of the track. Sunshine of Your Love is one of my favourite songs and just hitting the notes (without engaging the whammy bar) sounds a lot more realidtic to my ears.

Good fun.

[drskhaled]

I am a GH addict, i admit it. Since starting on GH1, 2 and rock the 80's on ps2 i bought GH3 for 360 and loved it. I then bought GH2 for 360 for the bonus songs and DLC and today i bought GH3 again but htis time for the ps2 (my 360 is in my office and my ps2 is in the living room, i know i'm mad, but i only paid £20 for it). It deserves an 8 IMO. The first 2 games deserve 9's. the reason this gets an 8 (instead of a nine) is all the legitimate criticisms leveled against it. Despite thoroughly enjoying the game i have to admit some of the songs are bad, some of the note charts are ridiculous and the boss battles are a waste.

Still no other series of games has taken up more gaming time than these, and this considering my favourite genre is RPG's.

[edwardtickle]

I voted this a 10 because it is my first GH so i don't have comparisons between the games, and it is the most fun i have had in a long time. Yeah the songs might be too hard, but that is all part of the challenge, as if they were too easy then everyone would just moan about that. My only problem is most of the people who play online, why do they feel it necessary to pick TTFATF every time!

[shagaboopon]

Only just got round to rating this, gave it a 9 which given how many hours I've played and will continue to play it is about right for me.

[markymark34]

looks like im the only person who doesnt really 'get' this game in single player mode anyway. Most of my playing is single player and after going through all the songs a few times i dont have the enthusiasm to do them any more. live and co op is a real blast though!

[jason7579]

I gave the game a 9 only because I had played GH2 previously otherwise it would have been a 10.

I think the only game I've played more is COD4.

I only realised just how many hours I had really put into the game when I thought soeone had deleted my game saves the other day, my Dad was at my house and saw that I wasn't too happy and asked what it meant if it had been deleted. I turned around and said only about 15 hours of hard work

[Slyboy]

Gave it an 8. A very good game that I have played a lot. To my mind the set lists are not quite as good as GH II and the difficulty level on hard around the Raining Blood set list is wrong for the rest of the level (ramps up too quickly).

Apart from that its still exceptional.

[Codehead]

7.5 (rounded down to 7)

Still a good game, but Neversoft haven't quite perfected the formula that Red Octane/Harmonix had going.

It's still the same game, but feels hollow in places. Some note charts have no connection whatsoever to the song so you end up button bashing with no real feedback. Plus, the later difficulty levels don't encourage you to try again, they just slap you down repeatedly until you scrape through by luck.

The song line up includes some belters and some stinkers, you can't please everyone. As others have said, I've bought albums off the back of songs on GH2, that hasn't happened with GHIII, so perhaps the songs are weaker in this one. I find it odd that some better songs (Suck My Kiss, Reptilia) may never be seen by players who don't get the chance to unlock them through co-op play.

However, it's not all bad, the Wireless Guitar is better (IMO), the online play is a welcome addition and at the end of the day, I've had a blast playing it. Even if I can't beat Lou on 'Hard'.

[chri1143]

great track listings but difficulty levels too steep

[King Tones]

An 8/10 from me.

Great game, have only just purchased it for a bargain £45 thanks Zavvi !

Had borrowed it off a friend for quite a while and me and my missus have had great fun playing on it.

Completed Easy on single and co-op. Playing through on Medium and having lots of fun. Stuck on the last set but am sure i will get it.

This game is just great fun, no matter how much it annoys me i will always put it on for more

Have still yet to enjoy the online play but am sure it will be fun.

Deftones82

[Trist]

Okay so I'm a bit late to the party for this one but hey!

Guitar Hero III gets a big fat 9 from me.

It's my first dip into the plastic rock revolution & I've got to say that its much more fun than I'd hoped. Having played "real" guitar on and off (mainly off ) since 17 these "fake" games really didn't appeal to me at first, but having read so many reviews & with me playing "real" guitar less and less... and it sounding worse and wose I thought what the heck & picked it up for £45 from Amazon

Out of all of my mates I'm probably the one that plays the most games by some distance, but its one of the few games avaiable on the 360 that non-gamers can really get the hang of quickly & enjoy. Hell its pretty much the only game that my g/f likes and its certainly the only game that she's actually asked me if we can play when we've been watching TV.

For that alone its been worth the money, the only downside is that the songs do end up getting boring & I find myself wishing for more... yes there is DLC available, but for me its too expensive, especially in the way they've been released bundled together in packs that always seem to have one song you don't care about.

On the plus side to that though the guitar is compatible with Rock Band & Rock Band 2 (where the DLC also seems to be better priced). So Guitar Hero III has brought me into the plastic rock genre, but I think I'm likely to be jumping ship to their rival... for the next installment at least.

All in all... a top game though and one I'd certainly encourage sceptics to give a crack.

9/10

[denn71]

8/10 cool game, i enjoyed it...