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Unlike Rock Band, a standard controller can be used... but why would you want to? Well, besides the achievement for it. I actually gave it a shot, and it ended up a cumbersome experience. Four out the five fret buttons are mapped to the triggers. That may sound harmless enough, but before long you'll be begging for another option. Do yourself a favor, use a guitar. I'm sort of jealous to hear that the guitar packaged in Rock Band is reportedly of higher quality. Of course, when you take into account that the cost of entry for the bundle is already expensive, asking consumers to shell out more than $100 is a bit much.
Legends of Rock has grown on me enough to the point that I've considered hunting down a copy of Guitar Hero II. From what I understand, it's a very solid release, though its track selection lacks the diversity of the original. I was surprised by how many songs I actually recognized, like "Give It With Your Best Shot", "Paint it, Black", "School's Out" among others. The store's track roster however, left me scratching my head. My first guess was they make up the percentage of underground rock talent, which sadly should remain undiscovered. Fortunately, the 360 edition offers the option to purchase downloadable content. Currently, players can enjoy track packs from such groups as Velvet Revolver, The Foo Fighters, The Used and Linkin Park. Plus, in a special tribute to Halo fans everywhere (we're looking at you, Ross Fisher); Guitar Hero III fans can jam to the main theme of Halo. One wish I have for the series, which would represent the next evolution in custom content, is the ability to use your own music to play directly within the game. I'm sure there's some difficult logistics to make that happen, but I know fans would agree that would make the ultimate feature.
Player's mileage will vary depending on their musical preferences and love for rock 'n roll. For me, every minute of Guitar Hero III has been an exciting experience. I recently graduated to Medium level and before long will move onto the more advanced modes. Like its predecessors, this game screams for co-op but my other half still has cold feet. She'll come around, eventually. In the meantime, I'll just have to settle jamming on Xbox Live for my virtual rockfest.
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