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Rating: 
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I've been a GH player since the first one came out and this one is not as much fun as the others. Mainly I don't like the choice of songs. The interface has changed, but that didn't bother me as I was able to breeze right through all the songs on Hard my first time out. (I'm pretty much an Expert class GH player) So playability wasn't an issue, in fact this one felt easier than the previous 3 GH releases but that could be due to the fact that I've been playing for a couple years now. What really turned me off were the songs. They weren't necessarily bad songs, for example if I heard them on the radio I wouldn't change the channel in disgust. They just didn't translate well to this game, they lacked energy. I really liked KISS, Poison, The Killers, Black Sabbath and Heir Kommt Alex as they are all fun groups to listen and play along to. As well as the song Cliffs Of Dover, so much fun to play. But the others just left me feeling bored and uninterested. I'm a GH fan for life and this of course is just my opinion, mostly about the selection of songs, not the actual game play itself as it was good if not improved.. However I don't like the new look power meter, too hard to tell what's going on at a glance with that, so they should go back to the original version. The new cartoons and characters... I could care less, I buy GH games in order to pretend that I'm jamming to songs in a rock group. They could have no cartoons and only one stick figure looking graphic up there for all I care and I'd still think this game rocked. Looking forward to the next release and hopefully some songs that I will find interesting and fun to play.
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I was eagerly anticipating for this game to come out. I own the other versions and I can truly say that this one really blew me away. The game play is more challenging and the songs are awesome. I was having a hard time at first adjusting to the small differences, but once you get the hang of it, it's on. I like how all the venues are different and how it shows your bands transgression through the levels. I really don't focus on the background when I play, but I do like the graphics and the characters aren't as cheesy as they used to be. I absolutely love the "Challenge the famous guitarist" levels...there's nothing like smoking Tom Morello's a$$ and then having him play a set with you...LOL! As far as pros and cons go, these are the only things I could come up with:
Pros
1. Increased difficulty...making the game more challenging than its predecesors.
2. Note streaks...this makes me work harder at trying to get a longer streak.
3. Graphics...more defined characters and options at the store
4. Incorporating newer artists such as the Killers, Muse, etc.
Cons
1. They should make the Guitar challenge a bit more difficult
2. They should put more famous guitarists in the game at say every 2 sets you finish...ultimately facing Jimi Hendrix at the end
3. Some of the songs on the playlist are just awkward and I didn't feel fit the game.
4. The load speed has slowed down tremedously
All in all, this is a phenominal game and has definitely broken the mold of the older versions. This has set the bar high for any other GH game that will preceed it. You will love it and be hooked...and no song on the radio will ever sound the same, you will start hearing the hook and in your mind try to figure out the sequence, red, blue green....
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I didn't dislike Rocks the 80s as much as some. Actually, I liked it, but I thought it should be priced less since it was a partial game.
That being said, this game kicks that one's rear end. Very entertaining. Good choice of songs, including finally getting Metallica in the game -- "One" is one of my all-time favorite songs. And Eric Johnson's "Cliffs of Dover" was a great choice. Cool upgrades, and the battle sections are fun. I miss Clive Winston, though, but the new characters are cool too.
I wasn't crazy about some of the newer songs, but I'm in my 30s, so that could be part of the reason why. Overall, a very good selection of songs.
There are always going to be some songs or groups missing, but don't let that take away from a very fun game.
Rating: -
As an big fan of the Guitar Hero games and owner of the previous three installments on the PSXII I was VERY excited for GH3. HOWEVER, after playing for a few days now I am very sad to say I'm rather disappointed as I have mixed feelings over GH3.
First off is the aesthetics looks; obviously Activision made a great effort to appeal to contemporary audiences and, from a marketing standpoint, this is very understandable. However, I feel as though the Guitar Hero franchise is now becoming a marketing tool for new bands and songs instead of following the formula of playing great songs both old and new. Granted there were many songs from the 1980s on back, but in many instances songs were from the past year or so; some were even being initially produced during production of Guitar Hero 3, which reinforces my theory.
To be fair, there were many songs I was very pleased to see make the final cut such as Welcome to the Jungle and La Grange. I'm a big classic rock fan and it was a blast playing Rock Ya Like a Hurricane. I would've chosen some different songs for say Aerosmith, Cream and The Who but you win some, ya lose some. I should also be fair in saying I did enjoy some of the contemporary works such as Priestess, I actually went out and bought their CD because I fell in love with the song they used... but that's where my love for the new songs end. They also butchered some songs, most notably The Devil Went Down to Georgia; I was skeptical at first because it's a fiddle song and my fears were confirmed as I noticed it became a death metal song. *le sigh*
Then there's the severe lack of diversity in the songs. It appears to be half death metal, half classic rock; almost all from primarily white bands. I've seen better diversity at a Trent Lott Christmas party. No Hendrix, no Stevie Wonder, no Michael Jackson, no Prince, no Rick James ("I'm Rick James!"), no Vandross, no nothing. Carlos Santana seemed to be the token minority group in the entire game, granted they did an excellent job doing Black Magic Woman and that one is probably my personal favorite to play.
The bonus songs, to me, were all worthless. It's almost all one genre; garage bands. Granted this is primarily the basis of the bonus songs in previous Guitar Hero games, however, at least Red Octane placed songs everyone could enjoy such as Dethklok and even Strong Bad. This time around, I did not find one bonus song I liked.
Then there's the layout; it's waay too contemporary for my taste. It seems to be marketed entirely to heavy metal, death metal and (dare I say) emo fans. Aside from glam rock character Izzy and Motown Xavier (which they only had one song contributing to) the characters, arenas and styles all reflected contemporary rock themes. The British Invasion is subtlety hinted although they use Weezer as an example when other songs would've personified this much better since Weezer is 30 years late. I just wish there would've been more balance between contemporary and classic. The only arena I liked was the prison, which I thought was nice.
I also thought way too much emphasis was placed on aesthetics than actual game play. The stages were beautifully done and some of the characters looked considerably better than before... but, then again, most of the time our focus is on the fret board and not what is in the background. It also made it very difficult to read points and, more importantly, star power. I had considerable trouble discerning my star power level given the new layout. The old layout from the first three installments was considerably easier to read on the fly.
Then there's the versus boss mode... which I think is the most worthless feature they included, which you are forced to do if you wish to proceed. Despite being a seasoned player, it took me several trial and error sessions to beat each boss especially the final boss Lou. It was literally a toss of the coin as half the time the boss would strike back and the other half he would not. Not to mention you have to cause the boss to fail before the music stops; you could have triple the points the boss has and still lose which is hardly how a guitar battle should be engaged. If anything, the battle should be based on points at the end of the song, which would've been great with The Devil Went Down to Georgia. I just wanted to rock dangit!!
The difficulty also seemed to be considerably off. I thought I'd start small on medium and played through the game. I noticed the first few songs were super easy, then towards it the end it got considerably harder than usual. Songs on medium seemed to be hard but without the orange button, especially on the last two genres. Particularly in the song One by Metallica, the song goes into a long solo of run-offs similar to hard if not expert songs on previous installments. While this made me a better player in the long run, it will deter casual players.
And perhaps it is just me but others and myself have noticed the screen appears smaller. I checked my screen settings and even put on widescreen mode to see what was the deal and, sure enough, the fret buttons and screen was condensed to allow the player to see the stage, characters and background better... which is kind of pointless since you're supposed to be focused on playing the game, not admiring the scenery. This made it REALLY hard to do harder songs since I had to scoot up to the screen and squint my eyes.
Lastly, there's the loading time. It is considerably longer than before due to the large emphasis on backgrounds, characters and animations instead of gameplay. For previous Guitar Hero fans this will prove to be cumbersome as you will be tempted to hit the green button thinking the game is waiting for your input when, in reality, it's still loading.
However, there are some pros. I really enjoyed the co-op career mode since I typically play Guitar Hero games with friends and this allows us to move towards an attainable goal.
All in all, Guitar Hero III could've been done a LOT better. Activision and the four million contributing companies with rock intros strayed heavily from the formula and will disillusion many long-term fans. I strongly recommend you rent this first and try Guitar Hero 2 if you really want it; the second installment is much better executed with all the features you'll really need with a diverse soundtrack.
Rating: 
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I own guitar hero 2 and 80's and have played the original. This game is tied for best with G2. I love it! There's some great songs on here: Paint it Black, 3's and 7's, One...finally some Metallica, and its a blast to play! The bonus songs you buy from the store are blahh, at least the ones I've played so far, none as fun as some of the ones in G2. In career mode sometimes instead of encores, you have battles, where you battle Slash etc. to a guitar-off. This took a little getting used to, but was a nice change of pace.
I can't really comment too much on the new guitar controller, I bought the bundle pack, but still use my red guitar since there's no point in killing the batteries when playing alone. Although the black on black guitar looks awesome.
More clothes, guitars(some totally awesome) and new characters to buy in the store. Oh and what's up with offing Pandora? Get rid of Judy Nails ughh! At least my homegirl Casey and Lars Ummwhatshisface are back for G3
So yeah, go buy this. Its tons of fun!
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