[Multiplatform] [Multi-platform] Guitar Hero II

It's posted in my chocojournal, but I believe the review I did deserves to be put here as well.

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Okay, so due to the ever-amazing capabilities of modded PS2s and suchlike, and through various sources, I was able to get my hands on a copy of Guitar Hero II. I'll try to be as detailed as possible, but as I've been playing it basically nonstop since last night, it's hard to remember much of anything.

Well, the interface and idea and concept and everything about it is almost exactly the same, it just looks prettier. You can use your old guitar controller (thank goodness!) from Guitar Hero, so if you have one already, you'll only have to buy the game itself. Now, I haven't played through every single difficulty - just Expert - so I can't say exactly what you unlock when you beat each difficulty, or when you get five stars on every song in each difficulty (I tell ya, doing that on Expert is going to be impossible.) So most of my review is going to be based off of my experiences playing the game on its hardest setting.

That being said, the opening licks have already been kicked up just a notch in difficulty from the first game. They weren't kidding when they said they set out to make this game just a little bit harder, so that old pros will still have a challenge. Half the bands and songs I've never heard of before, but trust me when I say they're all high quality and all VERY fun to play. The first highlight is Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight, an encore song in the first set, by Spinal Tap. I won't tell you what happens at the end, but suffice to say if you've seen Spinal Tap, you'll think it's hilarious. The way encores work is you finish the entire set, and after you finish the 4th and final song, the crowd starts cheering for an encore. If you oblige, you play another song immediately, and the crowd gets some extra eye-candy to add to the dramatics.

In fact, the encore songs from every set are easily the most enjoyable - Sweet Child O' Mine is definitely one of my favorites, and Carry On Wayward Son is something Ron Burgundy would be proud of, but YYZ and Freebird were saved for the last two sets, because they rock your face off. A few other highlights would be Rage Against the Machine's "Killing In The Name" and Lamb of God's "Laid to Rest" (I felt so rad playing this one, because your fingers are flying around the frets the WHOLE SONG but by the time you get to this song you should be able to play it no problem. It's like one big huge guitar solo.)

Now, problem spots for me are likely to be the same for others. The Sword's "Freya," Heart's "Crazy On You," and Reverend Horton Heat's "Psychobilly Freakout" provide some difficult, oddly-timed and annoying licks and chord changes that just KILL, and the last few songs on the last set - namely, Suicidal Tendencies' tempo-unsteady "Institutionalized," Dick Dale's fret-burner "Misirlou," and Megadeth's solo-peppered "Hangar 18" are EXTREMELY HARD. These last three I still haven't beaten on Expert, admittedly. But, in my defense, I was able to play through every other song on Expert, save just a couple, without even using my star power.

The Practice mode is nice and I'll admit it came in handy on Freya, but I wouldn't suggest using it to practice any passages SLOWER. Just practice specific passages full speed, without having to go through the ENTIRE song just to get to it. It's the only way it'll REALLY help you, at least, that's how it seemed to be for me. But it's a very nice option to have. Also, the three-note chords are surprisingly easy to adapt to, and wicked fun to play while going crazy on your whammy bar.

The characters have had a LOT of detail added, though they still look cartoony, for good reason - it's just better that way. Your hands will flame when you've got a good streak going, and the strobelight that flashes when the drummer goes crazy makes you feel like you're right in the thick of it. Every character's look has been updated, and all the venues are different, save for the Red Octane venue, and that one's been updated. Rocking out in Stonehenge for the last set is crazy fun though, especially with the Grim Ripper's new look.

With the increase of difficulty, they seem to have decided to take it a little easier on the player, so hammer-ons and pull-offs are now MUCH easier to perform and trust me, you need it. Also, they've added a very nice feature which allows you to adjust for latency due to the signal to your TV or whatnot. So no more lag from your fancy-pants plasma or HDTV... just adjust, and play, and you'll be good to go.

The unlockable songs are fun, though I've only played a few. You've got some groups that returned for the sequel, such as The Artillery (now known as The Breaking Wheel, which was the name of their song in the last game) and Freezepop - Less Talk More Rokk is definitely fun and cool to play, but somehow isn't as catchy as Get Ready 2 Rokk. However, I think almost anyone would agree with me that the absolute highlight of the game, and the coolest bonus track EVER, is...

TROGDOR!

The song rocks hard, and it's surprisingly difficult, at least on Expert. But being able to play a Strong Bad song in a Guitar Hero game...? There's nothing better.

See if you can catch the hint that Stairway to Heaven will be in the next Guitar Hero game. They hinted at Freebird in the last one, and it's in Guitar Hero II...

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Aye, the progressive scan is a GREAT feature. Super great, in fact.

Also, as a quick update, I finally beat the last three songs in the final set - but I'm stuck on Freebird. It's ... well let me just say that I have no idea how anyone could possibly beat that song on expert, let alone get five stars on it!

Double Post:

Originally Posted by SCHWARZE-3

When I played the Demo of Guitar Hero 2 from my PS2 harddisk, some songs had stuttering and lagging issues in the harder parts with many chords on the screen. Did anyone play the full version on HDLoader already?

I've noticed some stuttering with the full version myself, but I thought it was just because the disc was having read error issues. It would pause, then start up again but the sound would be a full second behind the video - although, I was still able to play just fine, I just had to ignore the sound.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Lipid

HOW THE F*** DO YOU BEAT MISIRLOU ON EXPERT OMFG.

Here's what I had to do... strum up and down really fast. Ha. No, kidding. Key here is getting through the first part, because chances are you're dying at the exact same place I always did... the section where it's still going ridiculously fast, but you have to walk up and down on your frets every two notes.. greengreenredred greengreenyellowyellow greengreenblueblue greengreenorangeorange greengreenblueblue greengreenyellowyellow AAAGH! I THINK I IS GOING TO INSANE!

If you can manage to snag your star power at the beginning though (which is tough) you can always star-power your way through that section, and you should be fine the rest of the song. I had to do that the first time I beat it. Second time I managed SOMEHOW to stumble through that difficult section, and the rest of the song is cake, comparatively.

Double Post:

Originally Posted by DjMeas

And is it just me or does the Rage cover vocalist doesn't sound ... well, right for the song ^_^''

Yeah, he sounds NOTHING LIKE the original vocalist. Which is okay I guess. But it ruins the song for me.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Beast and the Harlot was fairly easy for me, but Institutionalized gave me some grief. The tempo changes suck, and the wicked-fast chord changes just kinda make me sit back and go "WTF man..." but I finally just decided I'd hit two out of every three chords during the difficult parts, or something like that. Seemed to work well enough.

Yuni, come have a GH2 party at my house. There will be mudwrestling pasta. And 100% fruit juice.

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by JasonTerminator

Does GH2 have widescreen support on the PS2?

Honestly, the only things keeping me from buying it for the PS2 right now instead of waiting for the Xbox 360 version are lingering questions about widescreen support and the possibility of Marketplace downloads of songs.

Dude, seriously, just wait for it. If you really need to quench your thirst for new guitar hero songs, go to a store that has a copy of GH2 set up for playing, and fiddle with that for a bit. I was glad to get my PS2 copy, but I got it for free, and there's no way I'm paying for it - GH2 for the 360 will be so much more worth it.

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Yeah, good point(s) ... hm. Well, chances are you could have enough money when it comes out for the 360, since you gotta wait for it anyway.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Yeah. Trust me. I know the feeling. That and the feeling of the tiny blood blister on the tip of my pinky. And the best part is... I still haven't given it a rest. I keep going back to this wondrous game.

FELIPE NO

Poor fred button, always being picked on. FRED, WE ARE SORRY.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by RacinReaver

As much as I'd like to believe it, Led Zeppelin has been notorious for how stingy they are with licensing their songs, so it would be a pretty big thing if they do get it.

Well yeah, but... I have a feeling they'd rather have Stairway in a game that people can play, rather than having to endure the torture of knowing that practically every high school guitar teacher has 30+ students trying to actually play that song and sucking ass at it. And since the latter has already happened...

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While talking to my parents on the phone the other day my mom asked if I had bought the game for myself yet. I told her I hadn't and she said I damned well better not. Guess what I'm getting for Christmas.

Either that or she's sadistic and wants you to think she's getting it for you, but then decides to withhold, just to keep you from playing it THAT MUCH LONGER.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

All this on expert? I bow to your Guitar Hero greatness.

Also, yeah, Jordan. I thought Freebird was the hardest song in the game. NOTHANKYOU, apparently not. I hate you, Buckethead. I like your music, but I hate trying to play it. Why you gotta be so good, mang?

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Yeah, 75% is right where I die, too. It seems physically impossible to switch notes THAT fast... blueyellowredgreenblueyell- AAAAGH.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Mucknuggle

So um, how are you supposed to hold the guitar? Should I be using the three middle fingers on the frets or what? I haven't gotten comfortable with moving my hand around it yet. At this point I'm still having trouble with songs on Medium - ...

Yeah, get comfortable hitting that blue first. Index on green, middle on red, ring on yellow, pinky on blue.

When orange starts coming in, I've always found it useful to keep in mind that it's easier to reach UP to green than DOWN to orange. Helps when you have to hit those green-and-orange chords, too. That doesn't mean you should position your hand so that you're off the green - keep your usual position, but shift up when there's gonna be a lot of orange. Eventually it'll start to feel natural.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by deadally

So yeah, Freebirrd expert?

Nightmare.

I'm using practice mode to nail each individual solo before tackling the whole thing. If I didn't have practice mode I'd probably just give up

No shit. I spent half an hour practicing the solos and still can't get through the song. Difficult.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Is that the one with the extremely rapid note changes? Being uneducated, I don't know what they are and just call them "scales" since they scale down from blue to green INCREDIBLY quickly, and repeatedly, and I can't seem to nail it, and even with star power on I miss enough that I lose anyway.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

You're five-starring most of the songs on expert, I would say that makes you insanely good.

Also, deadally, that one's tough but I find if I can just manage to get in the right rhythm with the strums, usually I can nail it - it's a familiar passage, having similar ones in both Cowboys from Hell and Bark at the Moon on the first game.

FELIPE NO

Yeah, Freya was the first real pain in MY ass too. I finally just resorted to hitting two-thirds, sometimes three-fourths, of the chords in those ridiculous bridge sections.

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Okay. So give us some pointers on how you beat Free Bird on expert, especially those difficult rapid solos... cause I still haven't

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Don't you have a Best Buy or Wal-Mart around somewhere? There, you can play for as long as you want usually, unless the managers are really anal. Just make sure you give the little mexican kids a turn (I swear they're the only ones that play the in-store displays, or were, when I was working at Best Buy.)

How ya doing, buddy?

I gotta admit, AlphaDeus, that's pretty impressive. People think I'm good, but that's just... that's hot right there. Definitely wouldn't wanna go up against you in versus mode

Zio, whammying on non-stars is usually pretty useless for your score, even if you have a 4x multiplier going. It's fun to do, but when I'm really focusing, I try not to whammy when I don't need to, because sometimes, oddly, it screws up my rhythm, throws off my groove, etc.
Also yeah, I found out the grim ripper glitch right after I bought him, and then when I was randomly pounding on buttons at the Best Buy display the day it officially was released, I accidentally activated the air guitar cheat, then walked away guiltily.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Are you kidding me? Those two are easily two of the hardest in my book. Freya gave me such a hard time I wanted to break my guitar controller, and Crazy on You, I dunno maybe just cause I hadn't ever heard it before (don't hurt me!) the song's rhythms seemed odd.
You're a guitar GOD.
If at all possible, show me Misirlou and Freebird. I want to see how to beat Freebird, so there's any way to record your hands and the TV at the same time (probably not) that would be... helpful. That's the only song I haven't beaten on expert, other than Jordan. Hey, on second thought, yeah, Jordan, I wanna see that.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Along the same vein, I would like to warn anyone and everyone away from purchasing any controllers not made by the creators of Guitar Hero themselves, or Sony or Microsoft. I was given a wireless flying-V guitar controller for my birthday a couple months ago, and it just simply ceased working correctly at all. We opened it up and found real craptastic manufacturing - everything was scotch-taped and hot-glued together. Grade-A work right there.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Actually, when the controller functioned, it was an absolute wonder to play. Everything seemed more finely tuned than the original wired controller - the strum bar was more responsive but less "floppy" so you didn't accidentally get an unwanted upstroke by strumming downward too hard, the fret buttons were sensitive and comfortable, the whammy bar was easier and more comfortable to use, and the tilt-sensor didn't require as much jerking of the guitar to activate star power (though I just hit the select button most times anyway.) There was absolutely no lag time, even from its farthest range (which, by the way, was an impressive 100 feet) and supposedly the batteries should last you a good 1000 minutes of gameplay... so it was great while it lasted, but unfortunately, it lasted a very very short time.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Anyone who can beat Jordan on expert has to be a god, or some kind of an omnipotent guitar-playing being.

Greykin, strumming up and down is something that I found a little difficult to get used to and didn't actually start doing until Cowboys from Hell on expert, on the first game. The way I got used to it was by practicing moderately fast (not super fast) successions of the same notes and/or chords, and I slowly got used to it. I can't think of any real good songs for practicing this on in GH2 off the top of my head at the moment, but if you pick something with a good steady rhythm you should be fine.

Hammer-ons and pull-offs I avoided like the plague during the first game, but now that it's easier, you don't really have to worry about if you're strumming each note, because it won't count against you, unless you strum late, in which case you would have messed up anyway. It'll take a hammer-on and a strum in rapid succession as just one hit, unless there's another note immediately after. The game's very forgiving that way.

FELIPE NO

Yeah, I was gonna say... Jordan on any difficulty other than expert is practically a cakewalk, but expert is impossible. I don't say things like that lightly, because there has never yet been a video game I've played that I could not beat completely. Even taking the speed down a notch in practice mode, I could still only hit between 50-60% of the notes through all the solos.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

I'm just gonna ignore the 360 release of GH2 and wait for Accordion Hero, coming in 2008! (If the GH2 demo loading screen can be trusted... which it can't.)

Jam it back in, in the dark.