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Rating: 
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To all of you who are criticizing this game, shut the hell up. This game rocks and you all are outting in way too much effort into saying this game isn't worth it. IT IS WORTH IT. I don't care whether or not you found this review helpful or not, this game kicks butt!
Rating: -
After the relatively weak showing from the spinoff Rocks the 80's venture, its nice to get back to the fundamentals of Guitar Hero with a welcome evolutionary step for the series. Now in the hands of the developers from Neversoft, it was quite rewarding to see that they didn't attempt to reinvent the wheel, but stuck with much of the gameplay format that has already worked and cemented Guitar Hero as one of the most successful series of titles in recent gaming history.
Let me get my mild peeves about GHIII:Legends of Rock out of the way first so I can work to laud its many accomplishments, something people seem to be neglecting in their reviews. Unlockables are a bit of a mixed bag: extra characters range from ridiculous to phenomenal. The new guitars are pretty cool, but nothing remarkable really. The bonus songs on the whole still consist of mostly underground material...being the 4th title in the series, it doesn't fit that they'd have to tap the tracks of relatively unknown C & D List bands.
Maybe that's because the better portion of B Listers made it into the actual game set list; unlike the first two entries, where the tracklist was abundantly solid with a plethora of easily recognizable tunes, GHIII varies very sharply here. The main setlist ranges from incredible anthems of hard and classic rock history to highly dubious entries from the last several years or so.
But enough whining; let us focus on the positives of that setlist, because when it flexes its muscle it is VERY impressive, with such monstrous heavy hitters as Living Colour's "Cult of Personality", Black Sabbath's "Paranoid", Pearl Jam's "Even Flow", Carlos Santana's "Black Magic Woman", ZZ Top's "La Grange", and a finishing set that includes a Trident of Metal Divinity: Slayer, Iron Maiden, and some band called Metallica, playing this song called "One", its not too shabby, they might become successful off of it. Sarcasm aside, finally getting to play Metallica, to immerse yourself in one of the definitive compositions of the premier metal ambassadors of the last 3 decades marks an arrival to the Guitar Hero universe that has been heavily anticipated since the series took off.
GHI had the face off mode, GHII brought about the much needed Co-Op mode, what can GHIII offer to multiplaying enjoyment? How about a wicked little BATTLE mode? I know a lot of people overlook this mode with a shrug, but I think its great. I'm a gamer first, metal lover second, so attention to making innovating gameplay goes far with me, and I like this addition quite a bit. It smacks of one of my favorite titles of yesteryear, Super Mario Kart, and it provides a means of upping the dueling potential of Guitar Hero immensely.
But wait folks, that's not all! Who doth adorn the cover of this latest GH masterpiece? Hard Rock Guitar Shredding Icon of the 80's and 90's and current axe grinder with revival rock super group Velvet Revolver, Its SLASH! Both Slash and Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello come to challenge you upstarts, armed with completely original compositions to tackle in this all new battle mode. Show them your worth by causing them to flounder, and they'll not only jam with you on some of their most recognized tracks (Welcome to the Jungle and Bulls on Parade respectively), you'll be able to purchase them as extra characters.
A note on the challenge level....I myself am an average GH player. I hold it down strong on Medium level, 5 starring most tracks with ease, but I can't seem to make the jump to that cursed orange button on Hard, so I leave it alone. These are certainly the most challenging medium tracks I've played since Cowboys from Hell and Bark at the Moon, the type of challenge that keeps you coming back for more. I'm glad they raised the bar enough to put me to work.
Finally, all due apologies to the whiny punks out there, but the finale to Guitar Hero III is easily the greatest one to date. Not only is the final battle an unexpected delight, its very well DONE, and then the closing credits.....well, you'll see, but they rule.
So, the verdict for Guitar Hero III is as follows: on par with the first entry, slightly less impressive than the paragon of Guitar Hero II, and a wonderful retribution from the negligible Rocks the 80's debacle. I'd rank it a 9.1/10, and for Amazon that equates to a 5 star vote. Its not without certain flaws, but its definitely a rockin ride no Guitar Hero should miss.
Rating: 
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Lousy play interface, over-sensitive game play, truly awful sound, and boring graphics. Save your money and hope Activision brings back Harmonix to develop the next edition of this formerly-great game.
Rating: 
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As the wife of the above, I had to edit my review of this game after playing it for a couple of weeks now. I LOVE it. I hated it at first and was really frustrated at the gameplay. I wasn't sure I liked the battle modes or the song list. Also, being new to the "Guitar Hero" games probably didn't help. With the help of my son I figured out the gameplay and I am now on hard. I think if I could figure out where the orange fret is I'd do better. The songs become more real as you progress through the levels as more notes are given.
BUT, this game rocks after I gave it some more time. It's my favorite of all the games now and I can't stop playing it. The battle mode is great and gives you more incentive to work harder. My son and I battled it out one night and we had a great time. He obviously won but it was time well spent together. It's not often there are video games that everyone can play regardless of age. All of my kids love the "Guitar Hero" games.
My husband and I started a band in the Co-Op Career mode and made it through Easy. We ended up buying the "Guitar Hero II" bundle for another guitar. I wish there was a way to get a wired guitar without having to buy the bundle.
I really don't care about the graphics since you can't see them while you are playing. But as I was watching my kids play I realized the character is really playing all the notes to the song. The attention to details like that really impressed me. I loved the new girl, Casey, as she was sexy without looking stupid.
I really don't like the flashing lights that pop up in some of the gameplay as I have epilepsy. Not enough to cause a seizure, but I did find myself twitching some. It's distracting and hard to find notes because you are blinded by the lights. I wasn't sure I liked the songs as I'm probably the wrong gender and demograhic, but they started to grow on me.
I really didn't give this game a chance when I first reviewed it. If you aren't sure you like it, give it some time. I'm glad I did.
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After releasing a rather lackluster sequel, Red Octane redeemed themselves (and just in time too as Rock Star is around the corner) and presented the long awaited third installment in the Guitar Hero series, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. Don't get me wrong, its not that Guitar Hero II was a complete flop, it just didn't feel as inspired as the original Guitar Hero; most of the songs were re-makes, and some of them were pretty lazy ones at that. I know quite a few Guitar Hero fans who were quite disappointed with the second installment, and I have to admit that Guitar Hero II had half the magic that Guitar Hero one had.
Well, there's a new Guitar Hero in town, and this one is bigger and better than the rest of 'em. Guitar Hero III boasts over 70 tracks including such hits as "Bulls on Parade" - by Rage Against the Machine, "Black Magic Woman" by Santana, "When you were young" by the Killers, "Suck My Kiss" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Pride and Joy" by Stevie Ray Vaughn and many more. A much better set list makes Guitar Hero III easily the best iteration yet, but the greatness doesn't stop there.
Guitar Hero III introduces the much anticipated and long overdue online play. Go head to head against a stranger in the new Battle Mode, or team up with a fellow rocker in online co-op. The great thing about it is that there is minimal wait times; there is almost always someone ready to play either in battle match or the co-op.
The online interface is simple yet effective; you have a choice between Ranked and Player matches (ranked matches track your stats while player matches are for fun). The Player matches consist of Face-Off, Pro-Face Off, Co-OP and Battle. while Ranked has all but the Co-op.
You can do a search for the first available match or you can create your own match. The "join a quick match" makes match finding easy, but you can also be nit-picky if you choose and set filters (difficulty, number of songs, type of match, ranked or player) for the search.
Like Guitar Hero II, when you are in a mutliplayer match with either a physical buddy or an online one, you can choose whether you want to play Bass guitar or Lead Guitar (and sometimes you get to pick Rhythm Guitar), and like Guitar Hero II you can each select your own difficulty (this especially comes in handy if you happen face off against someone who is a master of the Expert difficulty.
The control and star power are exactly the same as the last Guitar Hero, but for battle mode Red Octane has devised a cool gimmick. Instead of star power during a multiplayer battle ( or a boss battle, yes you get to battle "bosses" at the end of certain stages, like Slash from Guns N Roses and Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine), you can earn power-ups that you can use against your foe. You can break their guitar strings, force them to use their whammy bar, up their difficulty, wreck their amplifier or block the view of their fretboard, making it near impossible to see the notes for a small period of time. You can also force them to play left-handed (this just reverses the button order).
I picked up Guitar Hero III on Saturday and I have been playing it non-stop. Tracks like "One" by Metallica and "Striken" by Disturbed are strangely addicting; I've played through medium, most of hard and the beginning of Expert. Online competitive play encourages me to keep my practice up and gives me more than enough reasons to keep hoisting your trusty old axe atop your shoulders for "one more go". Oh, and there are achievements galore, and they are HARD! Some of the achievements are standard fare (score this many points, or beat this difficulty), but others are darn complicated; one achievement requires you to beat "Through the Fire and Flames" by Dragonforce on Expert. For those of you who do not know this song, it is probably one of the most complex and THE most fastest guitar shredding song in the world. There are over 1500 notes in that song alone, and they whiz by in a flurry of blinding speed.
Like the other Guitar Hero's before it, III has a store where you can upgrade your guitars, buy new guitars, buy new characters, songs, videos and a download link to Xbox Live (no downloadable content yet, but there will be soon).
My only gripe with this game is the over saturation of in-game advertising; familiar brand names and logos litter the environments. Lets see, Pontiac, Red Bull, Zabian, Guitar Center and Axe body spray, just to name a few. I guess its not all bad though, because most of the songs on Guitar Hero III are the actual song and not a re-make. I have a feeling that the in-game advertising and the profits from Guitar Hero I and II helped with that.
If you enjoy rhythm games, do yourself a favor and pick this up. You will LOVE it, not to mention how fun it is to rock out to some really great tunes.
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HOMECredit Cards - Mortgages - Wester Union - Loans - Loans 