Guitar Hero III Continues to Bring the Fun!

I was skeptical about Guitar Hero III leading up to the release due to the possibility of a disk containing Guitar Hero II and 80 new songs being shoved into a shiny green case.  Last night I had the chance to play it with one of my close friends and while we only played the career mode, I was thoroughly impressed!

The mechanics of the game remained essentially the same, the battle mode really shined for me.  Unfortunately I haven’t played through the career mode long enough to figure out what triggers it other than possibly moving every other venue.  Nonetheless the battle mode pits your skills of playing several small riffs some of which will deliver a attack reward token.  It is up to you to time your attacks in order to inflict the most damage on an opponent.  The mode is challenging but very fun!  After the battle you win the opportunity to play a song by the artist or their band which is also a great time.

The career mode does well with these new additions and the songs which make up your set list represent  a broader range of music and consequentially I knew less of the songs.  This took some of the fun of Guitar Hero II out of the equation.  I think we can all agree that mashing out your favorite or at least easily recognized tune is way more fun than plodding through an unrecognized ballad.  Yet the career mode is enjoyable and as with Guitar Hero II my musical tastes have already been expanded.  My final observations about Guitar Hero III is that the riffs required to gain star power are longer and the overall difficulty ramps up very quickly as you hit the 3rd and 4th gig.

The game is very fun and I will likely pick it up after I graduate in May and have more time to put into gaming.  The franchise is obviously doing well with Activision raking in 115 Million from GHII in its first week as well as the expectation it will be hard to find through the holidays.