Rock Battle--Guitar Hero 2 vs. Guitar Hero 3
Published Friday, February 22, 2008 by T-Man | E-mail this post
Well, it’s February now; about four months since Guitar Hero 3 launched, almost a year since Rocks the 80’s, over a year since Guitar Hero 2, and two years since the original game, from whence all of this began, and now we have Guitar Hero 4 and some kind of Aerosmith game to look forward to. I don’t own Rocks the 80’s or Guitar Hero 1 (though I want the original game and might get Rocks the 80’s as well since I’ll already have a PS2 guitar), so I can only compare the two that I own: Guitar Hero 2 and 3. I’m also reviewing, so I’ll talk about an aspect of Guitar Hero 2 and then talk about that same aspect of Guitar Hero 3 and its improvements and…well…unimprovements. I’ll also be using different Words, just so ya know.
So, let’s begin with a less important aspect before we get into the bigger stuff, such as the graphics. Well, Guitar Hero 2 has cartoony, shiny graphics that are well-suited for its type of game. The menus look fine, the buttons look fine, the counters look fine…it all looks fine. But not exactly “great.” But for a music and rhythm game, we don’t need the graphics to be “great.” Still, it is nice when the graphics are “great…”
As for Guitar Hero 3, we have a different, more realistic, yet still cel-shaded and “rock-like” graphics that are overall better. In fact, the singer’s lips match with the song! Totally awesome, dude! Too bad they made him look REALLY ugly. The guitarist’s strumming also matches…but I think they also did that in GH2. It’s still cool, though. The fret icons also look cooler, and the hammer-ons are more distinguishable from normal notes.
Guitar Hero 2 Graphics: OK, I Guess…
Guitar Hero 3 Graphics: Grrrrr-ate!
Now, there’s the matter of character selection. There’s only one reason this matters: Slash, of Guns N’ Roses, Slash’s Snake Pit, and Velvet Revolver fame.
Yep, that’s right. Slash is a playable character in Guitar Hero 3. If you don’t think that’s even MODERATELY cool, then…well, you just don’t like anything. It’s just that sweet. In fact, he and Tom Morello (of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave fame) are the only relatively cool characters in the game. Izzy Sparks had his day in GH2, but when they destroyed his looks…only Slash and Tom Morello were left.
Guitar Hero 2 Selection: Izzy Only
Guitar Hero 3 Selection: Slash-Tastic!
Because all Guitar Hero games have the same core gameplay, technically they’re equal in this aspect. Still, I’ll overview for those who know nothing about Guitar Hero.
Basically, you play with a guitar-shaped controller with five fret buttons, a strum bar, and a whammy bar and play several REAL songs. To hit most notes, you press a fret button and press the strum bar down, but sometimes there are long notes in which you need to hold the fret button down, during which you can use the whammy bar to make the note sound different.
While they are both equal in truth, the new graphical style of GH3 seems to make the game feel overall better to play…but that’s not relevant.
So, anyway, let’s get to the only aspect of a Guitar Hero game aside from core gameplay that’s truly important: the song selection. Now, GH2 has its fair share of winners: Sweet Child O’ Mine (Guns N’ Roses), Dead (My Chemical Romance), Can’t You Hear Me Knockin’ (Rolling Stones), Woman (Wolfmother)…the list just goes on. Heck, the bonus songs are mostly crap, but they were compassionate enough to put in Push Push Lady Lightning (by Bang Camaro) and Monkey Wrench (by Foo Fighters) in it!
But then you have GH3. Now, while GH2 DOES have a lot of really cool stuff, a lot of stuff on it is disturbingly mediocre (I’m looking at you, Jessica and Message in a Bottle), ESPECIALLY the bonus songs, which are only there because the creators had some extra money on hand and decided just to get rid of it. And then there are the classic and 80’s rock songs, and yet a LOT are hardly ANY good. But look at the bonus songs and classic and 80’s rock songs on GH3. All of it but a few (i.e. Black Magic Woman, Talk Dirty to Me) are awesome!
Now, there are many songs that were made by the same band as some that were on GH2, and we’ll need to compare those. Now, let’s start with a couple of better-known ones, Sweet Child O’ Mine and Welcome to the Jungle (Guns N’ Roses). Well, to put things lightly: I don’t like the Sweet Child O’ Mine cover that they used for GH2. But they did things right with Welcome to the Jungle by allowing Axl Rose to continue to sing HIS songs! So, Welcome to the Jungle wins. Now, we must compare Life Wasted to Even Flow (Pearl Jam). Well, Life Wasted isn’t that great, so Even Flow wins! YAY!!!!!! Then there’s Can’t You Hear Me Knockin’ vs. Paint It Black. Well…Paint It Black is just better...
But it’s not all comparisons. There are also great newcomers although I can’t list them right off the top of my head. Of course, Through Fire and Flames is a wonderful addition from rising star Dragonforce. Since Bang Camaro became more popular with Push Push Lady Lightning’s inclusion on GH2, this CERTAINLY won’t harm their popularity at all. Plus, the song is H-A-R-D!!! Now, I’m kind of mediocre at Guitar Hero, so I usually like to stay on Medium. BUT in Through Fire and Flames, even on Medium, your arm will nearly fall off and the tension will nearly put you in a coma. But, it’s an awesome song, at the very least...
So, overall, Guitar Hero 3 is better than its predecessor. I can’t compare the two Rage Against the Machine songs because I forget what the one in GH2 was. But Bulls on Parade is MUCH better. Yet, their rock-rap style isn't very...appealing to me. I'm gradually growing more fond of them, though. Maybe as time goes by...
Guitar Hero 3 Wins
So, let’s begin with a less important aspect before we get into the bigger stuff, such as the graphics. Well, Guitar Hero 2 has cartoony, shiny graphics that are well-suited for its type of game. The menus look fine, the buttons look fine, the counters look fine…it all looks fine. But not exactly “great.” But for a music and rhythm game, we don’t need the graphics to be “great.” Still, it is nice when the graphics are “great…”
As for Guitar Hero 3, we have a different, more realistic, yet still cel-shaded and “rock-like” graphics that are overall better. In fact, the singer’s lips match with the song! Totally awesome, dude! Too bad they made him look REALLY ugly. The guitarist’s strumming also matches…but I think they also did that in GH2. It’s still cool, though. The fret icons also look cooler, and the hammer-ons are more distinguishable from normal notes.
Guitar Hero 2 Graphics: OK, I Guess…
Guitar Hero 3 Graphics: Grrrrr-ate!
Now, there’s the matter of character selection. There’s only one reason this matters: Slash, of Guns N’ Roses, Slash’s Snake Pit, and Velvet Revolver fame.
Yep, that’s right. Slash is a playable character in Guitar Hero 3. If you don’t think that’s even MODERATELY cool, then…well, you just don’t like anything. It’s just that sweet. In fact, he and Tom Morello (of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave fame) are the only relatively cool characters in the game. Izzy Sparks had his day in GH2, but when they destroyed his looks…only Slash and Tom Morello were left.
Guitar Hero 2 Selection: Izzy Only
Guitar Hero 3 Selection: Slash-Tastic!
Because all Guitar Hero games have the same core gameplay, technically they’re equal in this aspect. Still, I’ll overview for those who know nothing about Guitar Hero.
Basically, you play with a guitar-shaped controller with five fret buttons, a strum bar, and a whammy bar and play several REAL songs. To hit most notes, you press a fret button and press the strum bar down, but sometimes there are long notes in which you need to hold the fret button down, during which you can use the whammy bar to make the note sound different.
While they are both equal in truth, the new graphical style of GH3 seems to make the game feel overall better to play…but that’s not relevant.
So, anyway, let’s get to the only aspect of a Guitar Hero game aside from core gameplay that’s truly important: the song selection. Now, GH2 has its fair share of winners: Sweet Child O’ Mine (Guns N’ Roses), Dead (My Chemical Romance), Can’t You Hear Me Knockin’ (Rolling Stones), Woman (Wolfmother)…the list just goes on. Heck, the bonus songs are mostly crap, but they were compassionate enough to put in Push Push Lady Lightning (by Bang Camaro) and Monkey Wrench (by Foo Fighters) in it!
But then you have GH3. Now, while GH2 DOES have a lot of really cool stuff, a lot of stuff on it is disturbingly mediocre (I’m looking at you, Jessica and Message in a Bottle), ESPECIALLY the bonus songs, which are only there because the creators had some extra money on hand and decided just to get rid of it. And then there are the classic and 80’s rock songs, and yet a LOT are hardly ANY good. But look at the bonus songs and classic and 80’s rock songs on GH3. All of it but a few (i.e. Black Magic Woman, Talk Dirty to Me) are awesome!
Now, there are many songs that were made by the same band as some that were on GH2, and we’ll need to compare those. Now, let’s start with a couple of better-known ones, Sweet Child O’ Mine and Welcome to the Jungle (Guns N’ Roses). Well, to put things lightly: I don’t like the Sweet Child O’ Mine cover that they used for GH2. But they did things right with Welcome to the Jungle by allowing Axl Rose to continue to sing HIS songs! So, Welcome to the Jungle wins. Now, we must compare Life Wasted to Even Flow (Pearl Jam). Well, Life Wasted isn’t that great, so Even Flow wins! YAY!!!!!! Then there’s Can’t You Hear Me Knockin’ vs. Paint It Black. Well…Paint It Black is just better...
But it’s not all comparisons. There are also great newcomers although I can’t list them right off the top of my head. Of course, Through Fire and Flames is a wonderful addition from rising star Dragonforce. Since Bang Camaro became more popular with Push Push Lady Lightning’s inclusion on GH2, this CERTAINLY won’t harm their popularity at all. Plus, the song is H-A-R-D!!! Now, I’m kind of mediocre at Guitar Hero, so I usually like to stay on Medium. BUT in Through Fire and Flames, even on Medium, your arm will nearly fall off and the tension will nearly put you in a coma. But, it’s an awesome song, at the very least...
So, overall, Guitar Hero 3 is better than its predecessor. I can’t compare the two Rage Against the Machine songs because I forget what the one in GH2 was. But Bulls on Parade is MUCH better. Yet, their rock-rap style isn't very...appealing to me. I'm gradually growing more fond of them, though. Maybe as time goes by...
Guitar Hero 3 Wins
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