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The term "expansion pack" is familiar to any gamer, and a lot of Guitar Hero's early fans clamored for them. If only RedOctane and Harmonix followed in Konami's footsteps by releasing append discs for their musical titles, the consumers would lengthen the life of their original purchases and rock many nights away. Meanwhile, the developer, publisher, and studios involved would get some extra green. The world would go on and the virtual guitarists would live happily ever after.
Guitar Hero Rocks the '80's and this, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, are products of a very different reality. Instead of coming out at a lower-than-full retail price and working in conjunction with another GH release, both of them are standalone games that ask for a cool $50, or more. Before GH:A, the spendy guitarists forked out for GH80's and were subsequently let down. Featuring a decent yet mostly disappointing roster of artists, it had fewer songs than the main releases, and no DLC. Its tracks weren't going to available for any other version of GH. It was, in essence, an expansion pack – but its standalone functionality excuse was a cop-out, allowing its publisher to charge full price for half a game.
A few tracks miss the mark, but it's a mostly solid package – maybe not one that's worth $50, though, especially if you're awaiting Guitar Hero: World Tour or Rock Band 2
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Guitar Hero: Aerosmith isn't that bad, to be honest. Aerosmith themselves had a hand in nearly every stage of its creation, including dissing Neversoft's unattractive model design and plastering their own artistic style all over. The track list, though still shorter than a normal GH one, contains a healthy amount of enjoyable tracks from artists whom Aerosmith likes, inspired, or is otherwise associated with. Because they're great songs (the vast majority of which are better than almost all of Guitar Hero III's content), you'll want to replay them more, which gives GH:A greater value than its 80's-themed predecessor already. A fairly balanced ratio of easy to tough songs helps, too.
It goes without saying that you'll dislike the majority of this if you don't like Aerosmith, but if that was the case, you likely wouldn't have read this far. Though a fair amount of Aerosmith's most famous songs didn't make it, classics like "Train Kept a Rollin'," "Dream On," and "Love in an Elevator" are present. It'll please anyone who likes Mr. Tyler and Friends, and almost every other track will suit such a person's tastes too. Despise me if you will, but the one Run DMC track they chose is dull and painfully showing its age, and it's not the only questionable selection.
Other spotty breaks in quality include every in-game model outside of the main band's. They're as grotesque as ever, with the sole exceptions perhaps being Casey Lynch's alternative leather costume, and Johnny Napalm in basically anything. Judy Nails, starring her fake boobs and trying-too-hard makeup, looks as terrible as she did in Guitar Hero III. That might not matter to people who are just about the music, but most of the fret board graphics aren't pleasing either. Their designs stand out so boldly as to occasionally complicate gameplay. Trying to fight tricks being played on your eyes while shredding through Expert mode isn't pleasant, at all.
Due to its relatively small track list and lack of DLC, there isn't much more to be said about Guitar Hero: Aerosmith. It's essentially a song list grind, with no special modes beyond a very bare-bones career. If you're a fan of the title artist or good ol' rock music in general, it may be a completely worthwhile purchase for you. It isn't cluttered with a bunch of low-quality 90's pseudo-rock, nor a bunch of modern day alternative mediocrity. A few tracks miss the mark, but it's a mostly solid package – maybe not one that's worth $50, though, especially if you're awaiting Guitar Hero: World Tour or Rock Band 2.
If you've got the cash to burn and a real hunger for Aerosmith, grab it. Otherwise, pass on the sassafras and wait for a more comprehensive release. |
