Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Review

So the game has been out for a while, but I wanted to wait until I had received 5 stars on medium for all the songs before I wrote my review.

I'm glad I did wait, because I found a few things out that I didn't notice before hand (mostly related to game play).

Ok, so what's new in the game? The biggest thing they've added is the Boss Battles, and the Battle Mode. At first blush this sounds awesome, but in the end, it feels like there wasn't a ton of effort put into this area.

First of all I would have liked to see more bosses (there are only 3). They also could have been a little tougher to beat ... I beat the bosses all on the first try, and I don't really consider myself a Guitar Hero fanatic (yet).

Second, while the Battle Mode was fun in multiplayer, it got a little old after the first few times. My kids still love it, but I'd rather play the modes from the previous incarnations.

The graphics are MUCH improved from Guitar Hero II (Casey Lynch doesn't look as trashy in her new leathers this time around). They also took a little creative license with a few of the characters, which I think are actually for the better, with the exception of the absolutely ugly male lead singer.

I also liked some of the interface changes they made. The fact that the different note streak mile-stones pop up right in the middle of the screen so that you can't miss them, the light bulbs that track your star power levels, etc. The minor changes they've made definitely make it easier to keep track of how you're doing, without having to take your eyes off the notes.

I also like the fact that they've included not only the song titles, but also the bands and the dates on the song selection screen. I'm not sure how they missed this on the previous versions of Guitar Hero.

The soundtrack is awesome! I've been dying for the last year to get some Poison and Metallica, not to mention another track from one of my all time favorites: Iron Maiden (The Number of the Beast).

The sound effects (i.e. getting star power, etc) aren't much improved from the last version. When you activate star power, the music gets a little louder, and sounds more like you're playing in a concert hall, which is kind of cool.

For me, the real fun and replayability comes in the multiplayer modes. You can connect with someone via Xbox Live super easy if you don't have another guitar, or someone there to play against/with.

The ability to unlock characters, outfits, guitars, etc, by playing on the harder difficulties, increasing your rating for songs, etc, but isn't enough for me to spend night and day at it.

Being able to get new song packs online is also great. There have already been several released, including a Halo Theme Mjolnir Mix, which is way fun to play.

I did run into a few game play issues. Most notable was that as some of the songs get harder, or your playing multiplayer, it can start to lag a little. Normally I wouldn't consider this a big deal, but when lag messes up the rhythm, and it's a game completely dependant upon rhythm, it has to be mentioned.

That's really my only bad mark to give it. It's pretty much the same old Guitar Hero, which is a good thing, with a few new features, better graphics, and a great song list. The bosses and battle mode are a cool idea, but falls a little short.

Final Verdict: 8/10