AgtFox
06-30-2009, 11:27 AM
Guitar Hero: Smash Hits Review
Title: Guitar Hero: Smash Hitshttp://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/showthread.php?t=9948
Platform: 360/PS3/Wii/PS2
Developer: Beenox (http://www.beenox.com/)
Publisher: Activision (http://www.activision.com)
ESRB: Teen
MSRP: $59.99 (360 (http://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Hero-Smash-Hits-Xbox-360/dp/B001UWN0EA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1246285495&sr=8-1)/PS3 (http://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Hero-Smash-Hits-Playstation-3/dp/B001UWMZZ0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1246285495&sr=8-2)), $49.99 (Wii (http://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Hero-Smash-Hits-Nintendo-Wii/dp/B001UWP3FY/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1246285495&sr=8-3)), $39.99 (PS2 (http://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Hero-Smash-Hits-Playstation-2/dp/B001UWP30Y/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1246285495&sr=8-4))
Editor: Loren 'AgtFox' Halek
What's Hot: Same additions to the series from World Tour and Metallica come together here; nostalgia with songs from past Guitar Hero games, now with the ability to play drums and sing on them; all songs are now master tracks or live versions
What's Not: Re-noted songs from Harmonix days that you may or may not like; price is a bit much, when price goes down this is a good pickupThere isn't a whole lot to say about Guitar Hero: Smash Hits, you're either going to eat it up as a re-imagining of songs from old Guitar Hero games or you're just not interested. Activision has obviously made a mistake in pricing this at $59.99 for the 360 and PS3, something that will probably hurt the bottom line. Basically this game is made up of songs from Guitar Hero, Guitar Hero II, Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s, Guitar Hero III and one song from Guitar Hero: Aerosmith.
The catch here is that you can now play all these songs with drums and sing via a microphone. The possible catch-22 is that songs that Harmonix originally did for the original, sequel and 80s version have been re-noted. So, all those songs you played on the guitar are not the same as they used to be, so jettison how you played them before out of your mind. They also include the slides introduced in World Tour for use with the touchpad area on the guitar from that game.
http://www.colonyofgamers.com/images/features/ghsmash/shot1.jpg
It should be added that songs like Free Bird, Carry on Now Wayward Son, Killing in the Name and all the rest that were done by the internal Harmonix team in the earlier games are now either master tracks or live versions of the songs. It is very cool to hear something like Free Bird in its master form, although the re-noting makes the song even harder. Fan favorite song Through the Fire and Flames by Dragonforce is present, but for some reason Buckethead's Jordan is not, so while some songs are welcome others seem oddly absent. The irony in this is that [i]Through the Fire and Flames[i], a rather difficult song in Guitar Hero III, is far easier now that you have the slide note ability on the World Tour touchpad guitar.
Outside of the overpricing of this compilation, it does bring a pretty good game to you. It includes the Expert+ difficulty from Metallica on the drums, so you can hook up your double bass pedals and go to town on the drums. Also included is the GHTunes studio where you can build your own music and you can download other people's songs into the game. What you can't do is play any of the DLC songs from other Guitar Hero games, so that is a bit of a bummer but nothing surprising. You can also play a battle of the bands online with your 4-person band against another 4-person band. Nice thing is that it plays rather well even when all 8 people are in different parts of the country.
http://www.colonyofgamers.com/images/features/ghsmash/shot2.jpg
Also of note is that every song is available in the Quickplay menu, so you don't need to unlock any songs like you have in previous games. You can set up a six song playlist and play through it on Quickplay. The career mode is like every other game in the series where you gain stars and unlock the next location and set of songs. The progression is rather good since you start off with easy songs and they get progressively harder. Each location is based upon a Wonder of the World according to Beenox, the developer in their first entry into the series. They've done a good job with the game, it's just too bad it is so expensive.
As I said in the opening paragraph, you're either interested in the repurposed songs from old Guitar Hero games or the music rhythm genre of gaming has gone beyond the point of return and you're just not interested. I'd recommend at least a rental for this game and I'd certainly recommend a purchase…if the game was $!0-20 cheaper. $59.99 for a compilation of previous songs in the series, although all now master tracks and re-noted on the earlier ones with the addition of drum and microphone, is just not a good price point. It is the pure definition of "milking". Wait for this to drop in price and then pick it up, because it is certainly enjoyable and a blast to play with people both online and local.
Score: 3 out of 5 CoGs
http://www.colonyofgamers.com/images/CoG3.png
Loren says, "The game is sound and includes drum and microphone support along with the fact all the songs are now mastered or from live performances (and, in a catch-22, the Harmonix ones are re-noted). However, the price is the biggest obstacle to overcome on basically a compilation disc of old songs from the series. I can understand the need to profit from it, but at $60 for songs I already have in the other games seems a bit much. At least rent it and wait for a $10-20 drop in price before picking it up. Playing master tracks of songs like Free Bird is really something to experience."
*Note - Review based upon the 360 version of game
Title: Guitar Hero: Smash Hitshttp://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/showthread.php?t=9948
Platform: 360/PS3/Wii/PS2
Developer: Beenox (http://www.beenox.com/)
Publisher: Activision (http://www.activision.com)
ESRB: Teen
MSRP: $59.99 (360 (http://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Hero-Smash-Hits-Xbox-360/dp/B001UWN0EA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1246285495&sr=8-1)/PS3 (http://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Hero-Smash-Hits-Playstation-3/dp/B001UWMZZ0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1246285495&sr=8-2)), $49.99 (Wii (http://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Hero-Smash-Hits-Nintendo-Wii/dp/B001UWP3FY/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1246285495&sr=8-3)), $39.99 (PS2 (http://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Hero-Smash-Hits-Playstation-2/dp/B001UWP30Y/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1246285495&sr=8-4))
Editor: Loren 'AgtFox' Halek
What's Hot: Same additions to the series from World Tour and Metallica come together here; nostalgia with songs from past Guitar Hero games, now with the ability to play drums and sing on them; all songs are now master tracks or live versions
What's Not: Re-noted songs from Harmonix days that you may or may not like; price is a bit much, when price goes down this is a good pickupThere isn't a whole lot to say about Guitar Hero: Smash Hits, you're either going to eat it up as a re-imagining of songs from old Guitar Hero games or you're just not interested. Activision has obviously made a mistake in pricing this at $59.99 for the 360 and PS3, something that will probably hurt the bottom line. Basically this game is made up of songs from Guitar Hero, Guitar Hero II, Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s, Guitar Hero III and one song from Guitar Hero: Aerosmith.
The catch here is that you can now play all these songs with drums and sing via a microphone. The possible catch-22 is that songs that Harmonix originally did for the original, sequel and 80s version have been re-noted. So, all those songs you played on the guitar are not the same as they used to be, so jettison how you played them before out of your mind. They also include the slides introduced in World Tour for use with the touchpad area on the guitar from that game.
http://www.colonyofgamers.com/images/features/ghsmash/shot1.jpg
It should be added that songs like Free Bird, Carry on Now Wayward Son, Killing in the Name and all the rest that were done by the internal Harmonix team in the earlier games are now either master tracks or live versions of the songs. It is very cool to hear something like Free Bird in its master form, although the re-noting makes the song even harder. Fan favorite song Through the Fire and Flames by Dragonforce is present, but for some reason Buckethead's Jordan is not, so while some songs are welcome others seem oddly absent. The irony in this is that [i]Through the Fire and Flames[i], a rather difficult song in Guitar Hero III, is far easier now that you have the slide note ability on the World Tour touchpad guitar.
Outside of the overpricing of this compilation, it does bring a pretty good game to you. It includes the Expert+ difficulty from Metallica on the drums, so you can hook up your double bass pedals and go to town on the drums. Also included is the GHTunes studio where you can build your own music and you can download other people's songs into the game. What you can't do is play any of the DLC songs from other Guitar Hero games, so that is a bit of a bummer but nothing surprising. You can also play a battle of the bands online with your 4-person band against another 4-person band. Nice thing is that it plays rather well even when all 8 people are in different parts of the country.
http://www.colonyofgamers.com/images/features/ghsmash/shot2.jpg
Also of note is that every song is available in the Quickplay menu, so you don't need to unlock any songs like you have in previous games. You can set up a six song playlist and play through it on Quickplay. The career mode is like every other game in the series where you gain stars and unlock the next location and set of songs. The progression is rather good since you start off with easy songs and they get progressively harder. Each location is based upon a Wonder of the World according to Beenox, the developer in their first entry into the series. They've done a good job with the game, it's just too bad it is so expensive.
As I said in the opening paragraph, you're either interested in the repurposed songs from old Guitar Hero games or the music rhythm genre of gaming has gone beyond the point of return and you're just not interested. I'd recommend at least a rental for this game and I'd certainly recommend a purchase…if the game was $!0-20 cheaper. $59.99 for a compilation of previous songs in the series, although all now master tracks and re-noted on the earlier ones with the addition of drum and microphone, is just not a good price point. It is the pure definition of "milking". Wait for this to drop in price and then pick it up, because it is certainly enjoyable and a blast to play with people both online and local.
Score: 3 out of 5 CoGs
http://www.colonyofgamers.com/images/CoG3.png
Loren says, "The game is sound and includes drum and microphone support along with the fact all the songs are now mastered or from live performances (and, in a catch-22, the Harmonix ones are re-noted). However, the price is the biggest obstacle to overcome on basically a compilation disc of old songs from the series. I can understand the need to profit from it, but at $60 for songs I already have in the other games seems a bit much. At least rent it and wait for a $10-20 drop in price before picking it up. Playing master tracks of songs like Free Bird is really something to experience."
*Note - Review based upon the 360 version of game