GamerNode: Reviews - Guitar Hero II

Guitar Hero II

• Guitar Hero II
• PlayStation 2
• Harmonix Music
• RedOctane
• November 07th, 2006

The first Guitar Hero came out of seemingly nowhere, and surprised gamers and game journalists alike. With an incredible lineup of music and the ability to let any gamer live out their wildest rock star dreams, the game quickly became a success. When it was announced a Guitar Hero II would be released, fans of the original were skeptical, wondering if enough could be added to a sequel to stave off the Madden-syndrome of just changing the lineup (even though we would all still buy it-admit it). As a huge fan of the original, I'm glad to say that isn't the case, as Harmonix managed to make Guitar Hero II even better than the original in almost every way-including new gameplay features which will crank your Guitar Hero experience up to 11.

If you're reading this review, chances are you're already familiar with the basic concept of Guitar Hero. Songs will play on the screen, and you hit corresponding notes on the guitar controller while strumming the switch in order to play each song. But even at the most basic level of gameplay you can see Guitar Hero II improves upon the first game, because even just playing a song is different! This time around, Harmonix added three-note chords and notes in order to increase difficulty. At times, you'll find yourself scrambling to place your fingers on the right notes before you hear the dreaded honk. Most of the time, though, the three-note hits are fairly obvious as they come up, and there are none that scroll down the screen too quickly. It may add some difficulty to the game, but the biggest thing it does is just add that new element to keep things fresh while you play, as seasoned Guitar Hero vets will have no problem adjusting to their presence after a few songs.

The most noticeable change in Guitar Hero II is the revamped multiplayer. In the first game, you're forced to compete in head-to-head matches against your friend, using the same difficulty. This could be fun at times, but it was a pain if you wanted to play a friend, and he was really only able to play the game on Medium while you were up to Expert. This time around, when playing head-to-head each side is able to choose which difficulty to play on. At times this can be unfair, as some songs have a huge jump between the difficulties. Overall, though, this is a very welcome change that helps you compete against your friends on a level playing ground, no matter what the experience level is on each side.

The biggest change to multiplayer, though, is the new cooperative mode. After selecting a song, one of the two players is able to choose either rhythm guitar or bass, depending on what's present on that track. (The other sticks with lead guitar.) This really is where the bread and butter of Guitar Hero II lies, because I have yet to have as much fun playing a game with a friend as I have performing some of the tracks in Guitar Hero II. Like the head-to-head mode, you're also able to adjust each difficulty individually, meaning you can rock out with your little brother, girlfriend, parents-pretty much anyone you can get to pick up the controller, regardless of their skill. It's a great way to introduce your friends to the series, as well-especially if they were hesitant about the first title.

The only downside to the cooperative play is how easy the bass can be in some songs. In a few, the bass can honestly give the lead guitar a run for its money on the higher settings. On most songs, however, the bass can start to become boring if one guy decides to play it time and time again. For that reason alone, I would highly recommend people who are playing the game with friends switch off every now and then, letting both sides play lead guitar.

But what would any of these features mean without a killer song lineup? The first Guitar Hero had what many consider to be one of the greatest game soundtracks of all time, and Guitar Hero II improves upon that. The only problem with the first title was the difficulty the developers had in getting the rights to use some of the bigger names on it. This time around, with the original game having so much success, they were able to send copies of the game out to bands who previously turned them down, to let them see what the game was like. This worked out incredibly well, as several bands who reportedly turned down appearances in the first game show up in Guitar Hero II. Sadly, there are a few songs with rather...novel attempts by the singer to sound like the original. If you're a fan of Black Sabbath or Rage, you may want to have your iPod ready, because you'll need to hear the original song after beating it in Guitar Hero II.

Despite a few duds, though, the lineup of tunes is amazing. From classic rock songs like "Rock This Town" to more modern hits like "Monkey Wrench," once again Harmonix was able to capture a wide plethora of rock, giving gamers a wide variety to pick from when playing a song. Sadly, a few of the popular bonus track bands from Guitar Hero are absent this time around. It almost makes up for it with the appearances by Dethklok (from the Adult Swim show Metalocalypse, which is great) and Strong Bad, but there are still a few bands I really would have loved to see back. Maybe on the Xbox 360 version...

In the end, Guitar Hero II is basically the same game as Guitar Hero, but with a much higher difficulty and a completely revamped multiplayer mode. The songs progress in difficulty faster than the original (to keep the hardcore fans pleased), and some of the songs in the final tier will give gamers nightmares. The only negative things anyone can say about Guitar Hero II will come in the form of, "I wish X band was in it," and to me that speaks a lot for the job Harmonix did in following up one of my favorite games of all time. Will Guitar Hero beat Zelda, Mario or Metal Gear as the best series of all time? No. No way. But will future Guitar Hero games continue to allow gamers to rock, and provide gaming fun for people of all ages? Yes. In a day and age where all emphasis is placed upon technical achievements, confusing control schemes and incredibly complex plots, it's nice to see that games which are purely made for fun and entertainment can still succeed-especially to this degree.

Click here for my interview with one of the minds behind the Guitar Hero games.

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