Guitar Hero 3 Review | XBOX 360, Wii, Reviews | LITHCast

It's awfully quiet here... That's because most of the action is over at the LITHCast Forums. Why not head on over?

Guitar Hero 3 Review

By Leslie Kivett

9-10

Game: Guitar Hero 3
Console: Wii
Nintendo Wifi Connection: Yes
Developers: Neversoft/Red Octane/ Activision
ESRB: T
sec-story
You are the guitarest of a band that goes around singing other bands famous songs. At first, you just playin in your backyard, after a show, a man comes up to you and asks you to play at a local bar. At the bar a guy signs you a record deal, and your off to stardom, or are you?

gh3

sec-game
Guitar Hero as most you know is a game that uses a guitar controller to have you play the game. There are 5 colored fret buttons on the controller which control what note will be played along with a strum bar which you must strum like a normal guitar to make the notes go. Doing this requires the utmost timing and focus. If you hit a few notes in a row perfectly you will get Star Notes. Hitting these notes will charge your star power. Star power double the amount of points you get for each note you hit. To activate Star Power simply Tilt the guitars neck upward. You'll look cool and get more points! Now, in this installment of the series, there are points in the game where other famous guitarists will challenge you to a battle. In these battles the objective is to make the other player fail before you do and not a competion of who gets more points, which is why Star Power is replaced with Battle power. Instead of hitting the Star notes, you hit battle notes which let you attack the other guitar player. Some of these attacks are broken string, which makes the other player have to tap the same fret button to be able to play that note again. Another would be Wammy, which makes you jiggle the wammy bar back and forth to allow you to play again. Other Battle powers are not as useful. For example, Difficulty up. It will effect you if you are not an experienced player, however it barely has an effect on the computer player, they still hit every note perfectly. Or one like Double Notes. Once again, hurts you, but it helps the computer, it jut gives them more notes to hit perfectly. Kinda unfair. When you beat a song or a battle, you get paid. You can use your hard earned cash at the store to buy new guitars, clothes, characters, songs, and videos. To get paid more, score better on songs and nail the encore if one is called for after a concert.

guitarhero3_8_450

sec-graph
The graphics in this game haven't really changed since the first one. Very simple, kinda cartoony and emoey. But this game isn't really about graphics so I guess it doesn't matter. However, it would be nice if the cars or the people in the crowd didn't look so samey or squarey. Oh well, the graphics are made up for in gameplay experience.

guitar2

sec-song-wii
The reason I didn't pick up Guitar Hero 2 is because I didn't like the collection of songs. However, in the 3, that was not the case. As a big fan of Guns & Roses, Aerosmith, Dead Kenedys and such I got it. Also, I like that the people that made this game didn't only include old songs, but they included bands like slipknot, Tenacious D, and The Killers. A nice good range with a song for everyone in your family/band.

sec-wrap
With a game like Guitar Hero in your house, you will be the life of the party. (assuming you have parties at your house.) A nice game for both groups and single player. A great range of songs. Stylish controller and a few awesome stages, you've got a recipe for Uber Pwnage. However the lack of Stereo support is unruly, no game should have sound only coming from one speaker. I give Guitar Hero a 9/10.