Having hit the retail shelves of North America last week, and due to hit the shores of Europe on November 23rd; Guitar Hero III Legends of Rock is one of Activision's and Red Octane’s most anticipated titles this upcoming holiday season. It therefore may come as a shock to some of you when I say that before this review I had never actually played a Guitar Hero game in my life. I tend to stick with online shooters, and strategy style games … I never owned a Playstation 2, as I was a hardcore PC gamer back in those days. I suppose this is how I somehow missed on the Guitar Hero craze. While my Xbox 360 friends were going crazy over Guitar Hero II on the 360 last spring, I shrugged and continued to play ranked Gears matches. It was because of this attitude that I never intended to buy or play GHIII. That is until I came home last Friday to find a massive box from Red Octane waiting to be signed for by the UPS guys. Inside this box lay a pristine wireless Les Paul guitar and copy of developer Neversoft’s Guitar Hero III Legends of Rock. I can only think that publisher Activision/Red Octane decided it was time to “rock” my perceptions on what constitutes a truly great gaming experience. Maybe they read my Transformers review and wanted to prove to me that they CAN publish truly great games after all … and what better way to do this that to convert a non-believer? Read on dear MSXBOX readers and discover how Red Octane and Activision conspired to change me from a mild mannered video game reviewer, into a rock star loved and adored by millions (ok not millions just my wife). Perhaps the most ironic part of this tale, is that I had just started to realize my true rock star potential when my wife decided to take a turn. Fast forward a week and she has literally took over the living room, my Sumo Beanbags, the HDTV, my Xbox 360, the Guitar and Guitar Hero III …. hell she’s still playing in the background as I write this review, carpal tunnel be damned. “Welcome to the Jungle” indeed.

Gameplay:

Perhaps one advantage I have over other reviewers is that I’ve never played a Guitar Hero game before, so I have nothing to compare Guitar Hero III to. In Guitar Hero III you take the role of a guitar player working with your band in an attempt to “make it big”. You’ll start off in small venues and work your way up to massive concerts in front of huge audiences. Rock it hard on the stage and you will be rewarded with great pay and possible cash sponsorship deals. Screw up too much and you’ll be booed off the stage in shame. The core gameplay essentially consists of attempting to time colour coded keystrokes on your guitar with colour-coded notes that scroll down on the television. The notes are hit in time with the beat of the music which creates a rewarding dynamic for the player as you feel like you are actually “creating” the music being played. Miss a note and the guitar scratches reinforcing the illusion that you are truly creating the guitar background of the songs. Playing well rewards the player with bonus point modifiers that increase the longer you don’t screw up. Star notes also will appear every once in awhile which when correctly hit increases the players “Star Power”. Tilt your guitar back (or press start on your guitar) and you will greatly increase your point modifier while also causing the “Rock” meter to go up. The Rock meter basically is a way of measuring how well you are doing … every time you miss a note the meter goes down … mess up too much and you’ll have to do the song over again before you can continue on in the game. The way I’ve described the game really doesn’t do the best job describing how the game actually feels emotionally to the player. Everything about this game has been designed from the ground up to give the player the feeling that he or she is a rock star. And somehow it all works. I’ve never played an instrument since I first screwed up at a piano recital 20 years ago … yet Guitar Hero III gave me the feeling that I’m an incredibly talented guitar player. It felt amazing and I guess this is the reason the Guitar Hero franchise has done so well.

Graphics:

While I haven’t played the other Guitar Hero games, I get the distinct impression this title has never really been about amazing graphics. With that said, the game looks great on my HDTV in 1080i. Everything is sharp and crisp on my screen, and the background visuals of the band playing fits in perfectly with the whole mood of the game. The graphical style is some-what "cartoonish", yet manages to capture the whole “we are a goofy yet awesome band that will rock our way to the top” feeling of the game. Overall I found the graphical style of the game to be exactly what I would hope for in a game like this.

Sound:

Yes 11 out of 10. Honestly the music, the sound is what this game is all about and boy oh boy does it deliver. I’m not a hardcore rock music fan but it appears that Activision went out and got the licensing rights for literally dozens (71!!) of some of the best rock songs to be recorded over the past 30 years. These are rock songs that many of us have grown up with, cherished and loved … and Guitar Hero III gives the player the chance to feel like they are the one’s “creating” the music coming out their speakers. Do yourself a favour and make sure you have a Receiver, sub-woofer and Speakers for this game. Regular TV speakers do not do the game justice. Also do yourself a favour and play before 10 PM or you may end up with neighbors screaming at you to turn down the music.

Longevity:

Part of the reason I dislike single player games is that I find that you finish the campaign and there is very little left to do. Not so with Guitar Hero III. To start off with there are a number of difficulty levels you can play on, each ramp up increasing the speed and amount of notes you’ll have to deal with throughout the campaign. What this means is that for Guitar Hero III virgins (like me) Easy mode is a nice introduction the game, but there will be plenty for my wife and I to come back to with 3 additional difficulty levels. In addition there are tons of unlockables in the game. New music tracks, new character clothing, bonus development video’s, and new guitars are some of the goodies that can be unlocked with money earned from Career mode gigs. As if this weren’t enough there are a whole slew of multiplayer options. Players can play through a similar version of the Career game called “Co-op mode” which allows two gamers to play together. One player will play lead guitar while the other plays bass. The Co-op mode alone is worth dozens of hours of extra playtime, but developer Neversoft wasn’t satisfied to rest on the laurels of Harmonix’s previous incarnations of Guitar Hero. Guitar Hero III also features a fully fleshed out “Battle Mode” which allows you to “battle” other against another player in a sort of duel. Throughout the battle you’ll gain powerups that you can toss at the other player to mess up his or her ability to play notes. Powerups include items that may make their not bar shake, or cause them to have to hit their whammy bar in order to be able to play a note again. Perhaps best of all, the online modes I’ve described above can all be played over Xbox Live. So even if you don’t have a spare friend handy, you can go test your skills against strangers! Finally there will downloadable song packs available, which will further extend the life of the game … as a matter of fact there are already several available on the Marketplace.

Overall:

Developer Neversoft has taken the formula that Harmonix started and managed to keep the greatness of the Guitar Hero franchise intact. Killer yet unique gameplay combined with a to-die-for song list, makes this title a must own 360 game in my opinion. I really gotta hand it to Activision. They are having a kick ass year. Guitar Hero III and Call of Duty 4 alone should make many of their executives smile as the holiday sales figures start pouring in. As for me, watching my wife become a maniac rocker babe, has given me a reason to smile too. I’m not afraid to admit when I’m wrong and I was totally wrong about the Guitar Hero franchise. Guitar Hero III Legends of Rock … it rocks.