Hands On: Rocking with Guitar Hero 3 for Wii

Friday November 9, 2007

Categories:

Tags:

At long last, I finally got the chance to get hands-on with Guitar Hero 3 for Wii, which is shipping November 14 for $90. The game includes some improvements over earlier incarnations, but the biggest improvement is that it's available for all the major consoles and for PCs, so Wii users like me can finally experience the carpal tunnel syndrome that PS2 and Xbox 360 owners have been enjoying for the past few years.

I gotta say, the game makes genius use of the Wii's controller.

Some assembly is required for the white plastic guitar controller (Gibson Les Paul style), which integrates the Wii Remote itself: Pop open the back cover, plug the Remote into the small connector, and then slide the Remote into the open slot. There's an opening on the front of the guitar, letting you access the Remote's buttons through the faceplate, so it looks like the Wii controller is just a built-in part of the guitar. The Wii version of the guitar has a joystick for navigation (you can't just point at the screen like you normally would on the Wii), whereas the Xbox 360 version has a directional pad.

One cool feature in the Wii version is the use of the Remote's tiny speaker. Hit a bum note, and the speaker will let you know with a ping and a rumble.

Actual gameplay is very similar to that of earlier versions of Guitar Hero; the main differences are in modes of play, of which there are several. The main one-player mode is Career mode, in which you start a band and work your way up, earning money and playing gigs. As you add to your bank account, you can buy songs, videos, and new avatars and guitars at the virtual Guitar Center (it's like real Guitar Center, only without zitty 14-year-olds playing "Stairway to Heaven" at full volume on an out-of-tune Fender Squire). Eventually you'll need to compete against "Boss" players, who include Slash and Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello.

There's also a Co-Op Career Mode that lets you unlock songs faster by cooperating with other players--a welcome feature for the impatient, like myself, who just want a huge list of songs to choose from.

In these single-player modes, hit your notes and your "Star Power" increases. When the meter's full, tilt the guitar up as you play to unleash the Star Power beast, which fires up the crowd and gives you double the points for each correct note.

In multiplayer Battle mode, Star Power becomes Battle Power, and it gives you Power-ups to use against your competitors. For instance, send a "Cut String" his way and he can't play the broken note until he fixes it by repeatedly tapping on the appropriate button on his fret board. A few of the other Power-ups include "Blown Amp," 'Whammy Bar," "Difficulty Up," and the nasty "Lefty Flip," which reverses the order of the buttons on the fret board. For lonely ax-slingers, there's an online mode that lets you compete against other Guitar Heroes.

Practice mode is just as boring as real practicing, but it's useful for learning tricky songs and runs. You can slow tracks down to more manageable speeds or select snippets of songs to rehearse. Keep practicing, and eventually you'll be able to play the track below, a crazy-difficult guitar extravaganza by speed-metal band Dragon Force. Good luck!

Mixx It

Digg It

Stumble

More...

Posted By: Kyle Monson

Comments (15)

Tell a friend about this post

Name:*

Email Address:*

Your URL: (optional)

Remember Me?

Comments:* (you may use HTML tags for style)

Please keep your comments on topic. Intelligent, thoughtful comments and questions are appreciated. Comments that contain personal attacks or profanity may be edited or removed. Comments containing personal information such as phone numbers, credit card numbers, or addresses may be edited or removed. Comments with advertisements will be removed.