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From: GameSpy RedOctane made a great impact last year with the incredibly fun Guitar Hero, a game that allowed players of all skill levels to become a virtual guitar god. At E3 2006, we had a chance to get our hands on Guitar Hero II, a sequel that's set to offer much more in terms of gameplay features, multiplayer options, and new songs. Without a doubt, what players are looking for most from Guitar Hero II is the new songs, so without further ado, here's what we've learned thus far. Black Sabbath returns with another classic track to go alongside fan favorite Iron Man with War Pigs. Other songs include Butthole Surfers - Who Was In My Room Last Night, Rush - YYZ, Van Halen's version of the Kinks' You Really Got Me, Reverend Horton Heat - Psychobilly Freakout, and KISS - Strutter. Hard rock band Drist, who had a song in the original Guitar Hero, will also have an exclusive track in Guitar Hero II, Arterial Black. Drist's Marcus Henderson is the guitarist behind recording many of the guitar tracks in the original Guitar Hero as well as Guitar Hero II. There's one other track that was unveiled, but I'll get to that soon enough. In the multiplayer mode, Player 1's lead guitarist no longer splits up his playable track when joined by a friend, and is instead accompanied by a second audio channel performed by Player 2. Depending on the song, this track can either be the bass, or a second guitar handling rhythm. Don't be fooled into thinking that the lead guitar will always be the star of the show, though. On the last of the unveiled tracks, Primus' John the Fisherman, Les Claypool's bass lines take center stage, both in terms of challenge and their contribution to the overall sound. It's also interesting to note that this song is the first Guitar Hero track to be an original master -- this isn't a cover, but Primus' actual studio recording. This could possibly pave the way for additional actual studio recordings making it into Guitar Hero II. Playing bass worked very much like how playing lead guitar is handled, except you have to have a strong ear for the subtleties of the generally behind-the-scenes rhythm instrument, as opposed to the in-your-face wailing you were used to in Guitar Hero. The two-player action is relentless this time around, and you'll be playing non-stop throughout a track when matched up with a friend, instead of the back and forth "Dueling Banjos" style of gameplay from the original. From strictly a gameplay perspective, not much has changed in the essential Guitar Hero gameplay, although we did notice that there are now three-finger chords in the mix, ramping up the game difficulty to some extent. One of the most exciting new features is that two players of varying skill levels will be able to play together without any issues by choosing different difficulty levels. GameSpy's PC Editor-in-Chief Sluggo is a veritable Guitar Hero pro, able to nail nearly every song in the original game on Expert difficulty with five stars. I can perform a few of the songs on hard, but can't even step to the expert difficulty. He and I played together on several of the new songs, with a mixed Expert-Medium difficulty, and learned how the new cooperative play will work. For one thing, both players share a single score, a single multiplier, and a single star power meter. What this means is that both players need to play mistake-free in order to maintain that coveted x4 multiplier, in a true group effort. Since star power is also shared between players, you'll have to coordinate when to use it, perhaps with a quick voice command, like "Star power, dude!" Whatever works best for you. Another new feature in the game is the highly coveted practice mode that didn't make it into the original Guitar Hero. Here, you'll be able to take specific parts of songs, like those difficult solos, and play them over and over until you get the transitions right and commit them to muscle memory. Where was this feature when I was tackling Cowboys from Hell? The original characters from the first game will make their return, including an edgier version of Judy Nails, and they are now accompanied by a rockabilly type with a striped pompadour and an impressive pair of sideburns. New arenas we saw included a graveyard stage with a looming mausoleum, headstones, and plenty of skulls and fire-breathing demons, as if ripped straight off of your favorite Iron Maiden album cover. Overall, Guitar Hero II is shaping up to be the ideal evolution of what Guitar Hero brought to the table, taking the rhythm-party game formula and improving upon it. With enhanced multiplayer options, a greater emphasis on meaningful cooperative play, and exciting new songs to play, we have high hopes for this one being a must-have when it's released later this year. Stay tuned for more on Guitar Hero II as soon as we can get our hands on it again… and again, and again. |
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