Guitar Hero II

Musical games have always been a hard sell within the gaming community. Look at the reception the upcoming rhythm game for the Kingdom Hearts series was met with just last week. Though, on occasion, there are music games that take the world by storm and no series can attest to this more than Guitar Hero. This title would bring an arcade feel to the act of shredding on a guitar and Guitar Hero II only cements its place in the gaming hall of fame.

This game initially had very little comparisons to anything due to its unique peripherals. Though as of 2020 this game has close comparisons to the likes of DJ Hero or rival franchise Rock Band. These titles take the mechanics of Rhythm games like Parappa the Rapper and then adjust them to bring them into the mainstream perfectly.

Get Shreddin’

This title adds to the previous outing with another library of tunes that are arguably better than the first. This is all subjective obviously, though what can’t be argued is that the bands on offer are of much more notoriety. Guns n’ Roses, RATM, Van Halen, Nirvana, Cheap Trick. The list goes on and on. Offering a series of truly wonderful tracks that you can play in a fun and playful arcade style.

Some of these artists also bought into the success of the franchise and even offered unique recordings of their songs for the title. These come from bands such as Jane’s Addiction or My Chemical Romance. This brings the tracks on offer to a grand total of 74, showing a real improvement on the original game. Some of these do feel like the worst selection from a massive name, swapping a hidden gem for a filler track from a massive artist. Though this is a small criticism.

Band Practice

The most welcome addition to an already well-refined set of game modes is the practice mode. This allows players to take on harder difficulties without the high stakes of the career mode or being tied to a rock meter. This means there is no getting booed off the stage. You simply hit as many as you can and get better with each attempt. It’s great for players aiming to move up their difficulty settings and be the envy of their pals.

Players can also alter the speed the notes with come on screen and even split the song into sections. Allowing you to focus on the areas that are really troubling you and nail the solos that you constantly hit bum notes on.

If it ain’t broke…

The career mode remains the highlight of the game and the way players gain access to new songs. Along with a progression system that truly allows the player to feel like they are making it from nobody to superstar. You’ll need to ace 4 songs at a time to unlock more, much like the last outing. Plus you also gain cash to spend in the in-game store. This can get you new axes, sweet costume designs and even new songs that you can only get in the store. So be sure to check these out.

Rock and Roll is not dead

Overall, Guitar Hero II takes a title that revolutionised the music gaming genre and improves on near perfection. It does this through a library of songs that maintain the quality set by the first. Not to mention additions such as practice mode and a more loaded in-game store.

Pros

• Maintains musical quality
• Adds a practice mode
• Doesn’t change an already fantastic format

Cons

• Some filler songs

If you have hopes of becoming a rock star but you're not confident with your instrument yet, then Guitar Hero 2 is the perfect game to play. When this franchise first started in 2005, it stunned the world, bringing rhythm games back into pop culture. Guitar Hero 2 is a sequel that takes things a step further, featuring more modes, songs, and harder difficulty options. Just a plastic guitar peripheral and dreams of musical stardom are all you need to jam your way to the big stage in this rock and roll adventure.

Main Game Features

• Rock out to dozens of classic songs
• Create your own band and tour the world
• Face off in several multiplayer modes

Story

Guitar Hero 2 contains several modes, but the biggest feature is the rejuvenated Career mode. Although this mode was included in the first Guitar Hero game, the sequel has a bigger and better tour with tons of cool locations to play at. When you start up Career mode, you'll get to name your own band, and choose from one of the eight available characters. There's a character to fit any kind of style, including the punk rocker Johnny Napalm, heavy metal hero Axel Steel, alt queen Judy Nails, and several others. Starting at your local high school, you'll embark on a tour around the world as you increase your fanbase and learn new songs. You'll have to play dingy bars and local venues before you can move onto the big stage, but if you're good enough, you'll eventually be invited to major events like the Vans Warped Tour.

Career mode is how you will unlock most of the songs in the game, as performing them well during tour will unlock those songs in all other modes. If you're playing on higher difficulty settings, you can also unlock an encore song, further adding to your point totals and overall score. As you play gigs, you'll earn cash as well, which can be spent in the in-game shop. The only major downside to Guitar Hero 2's Career is that you can only play lead guitar. It would have been cool to be able to pick up the bass or play rhythm guitar, but the lead guitarist spot makes sense if you want to be the frontman of the band.

Gameplay

Guitar Hero 2 doesn't change the basic formula of the series' iconic guitar gameplay, but instead makes several quality of life improvements and adds some new features. Competing with Rock Band, Guitar Hero 2 now lets you play bass or rhythm guitar in addition to lead guitar, adding more note charts to each song. Speaking of the songs, unlike the first game, all of the music in Guitar Hero 2 is fully licensed. That means no more weird, B-list covers of popular songs. Instead, you get to jam out to the real versions of songs from classic bands like AC/DC, Metallic, Van Halen, and more.

Besides Career mode and single song play, there are also three multiplayer modes to enjoy with friends. If you want to see who's the better guitarist, you can fire up Face-Off mode, where you and your partner go back and forth playing separate sections of any song. In Pro Face-Off, both players will play the entire lead guitar part on a song, both on the same difficulty. Finally, you can team up in Cooperative mode, where one player gets to play lead, while the other plays either bass or rhythm. Overall, the gameplay is the same, but Guitar Hero 2 also includes tougher songs and note setups, which makes the Practice mode a very useful tool.

Conclusion

Guitar Hero 2 is just like the first game, but with almost every feature improved or enhanced. The songs all sound better, there are more instruments to try, and the Career mode has more content too.

Pros

• Lots of song variety
• Career mode is fun
• Multiple difficulty options

Cons

• No custom character creator
• Only lead guitar available in Career
• No online multiplayer