Guitar Hero: Aerosmith

I think it’s important two explain two things before we get started:
1) I love guitar hero games
2) IMHO Aerosmith are great

However, I refuse to let this cloud my review but I just thought if I didn’t state those facts a lot of people would wonder.

Well…basically it’s Guitar Hero with little surprises or new inventions. This does mean for those of you who played Rock Band in between you may be a bit disappointed when you find some of the pro’s of Rock Band disappear (maybe Guitar Hero 4 will steal some of the ideas?). It’s been a fair while now since Guitar Hero 3 game out so it may be a little tricky to revert back if you have been playing other Rhythm games.

Graphically there’s little change from the old Guitar Hero games but it does make a change to see some familiar faces in Guitar Hero form rather than just the same old characters over and over – seriously, how many different voices does that blond chick have?! There may be some debate as to how much the characters actually look like Aerosmith but the basics are definitely there.

A nice touch for the Aerosmith fans are the interviews clips before each new venue with the band telling the story behind the gig. Non-Aerosmith fans are blatantly going to skip through it but at least it adds a nice touch if you are interested in the band.

The main question on everyone’s lips about this game is whether it is for die-hard Aerosmith fans only or whether anyone can enjoy it. In my opinion whilst trying to shoot for both goals they actually ended up missing both. The first half of each set is support acts and therefore it plays like regular Guitar Hero with you playing your own character and contentedly strumming along to the classics, whilst the second half of the set is Aerosmith only with you taking control of lead guitarist Joe Perry. Is this enough for non-Aerosmith fans? Yes if you don’t care either way about them but if you have any dislike for them you’ll soon find yourself chucking the game in the back of the games drawer to be forever forgotten. As an Aerosmith fan I found the choice of Aerosmith songs rather disappointing. There were a few good classics in there but many fan favourites just aren’t on the disc at all. I can only assume this was due to cost saving as we all know the big hits are the ones that cost. To give an example for the fans out there, there was a best-of-type album released at one point called “Big Ones” and very few of the hits on that album can be found. The high point for me? Without a doubt playing “Dream On” as it’s such a good song and is very natural to play.

For those hardened guitarists out there, the challenging songs can be beaten and are definitely not in the same league as the one or two near impossible songs that have appeared on all the other Guitar Hero games and the achievements are far easier to get. Along with the easy achievements, which I’m aware some people enjoy, the biggest criticism I have about the game is how short it is. Guitar Hero 3 had a far bigger set list and more bonus songs to boot so when you can sail through medium even when half asleep and find it’s over in a record time it is disappointing.