Posted: Friday 1st August 2008

Since its release in 2006, Guitar Hero has become somewhat of a cultural phenomenon. Not content with being one of the best-selling games across multiple platforms, the game has become a permanent fixture of many house-parties and is even seeping into popular television shows. More recently the game has popped up on hit US teen series Gossip Girl with lead character Serena van der Woodsen battling it out with her love rival Vanessa for the affections of her on/off boyfriend Dan Humphrey via a battle on Guitar Hero.

Guitar Hero started life as a PS2 title back in April 2006. Since then the game has spawned two direct sequels, an encore pack and an artist specific release with the recent Guitar Hero: Aerosmith. Guitar Hero has also made the transition to the DS with the brand new title Guitar Hero: On Tour which features a component that you plug into your DS to enable you to rock out. For more on this title check out our full review.

The appeal of the game is fairly obvious. Everyone likes to play a bit of air guitar every now and again and Guitar Hero feeds that need to be a guitar legend that we all seem to have buried inside us. The game is not purely for guitarists and can be played by absolutely anyone. Using a wireless guitar controller, the gamer is put into the shoes of an established rock guitarist and must strum, riff and wah-wah their way to superstardom. Instead of using the traditional six strings that you would find on a guitar, the controller instead has five different coloured buttons. As you play the game, the fret-board appears on the screen and you have to press the right note when it heads toward you onscreen. Sounds easy? Well as we write this we are still struggling through Easy and a brief ill-advised trip to Expert highlighted that we have got a long way to go.


With rival game Rock Band adding additional instruments for players to get to grips with, it is no surprise that the next incarnation of Guitar Hero will do the same. Guitar Hero: World Tour adds a microphone, drum kit and music studio to the mix alongside a newly designed guitar. The drum kit will feature three drum pads, two raised cymbals and a bass kick pedal to offer the most realistic drum experience ever used in a game. The addition of a music studio will allow gamers to record, edit and share their own tracks adding impressive depth to an already phenomenal title. As if all that is not enough the legendary Jimi Hendrix will be available as a playable character and gamers can work their way through two of his signature tunes.

Guitar Hero is set to explode across the world once Guitar Hero: World Tour hits stores this autumn. Until then pick your console (or hand-held) of choice, invite your mates over and settle down for a night of pure rock excellence. Guitar Hero is quite possibly the best video game ever created and it is set to get even better. We are completely addicted to it and if we ever get to Expert mode, we will be sure to load a video of ourselves up onto the site so you can see just how hard we rock here at Entertainment Focus.