Guitar Hero: Greatest Hits Review
Written on July 18, 2009 by Matt
Also known as "Guitar Hero: Smash Hits" for our US counterparts
God I’m a shill. Activision has made me it’s bitch so hard it’s not funny.
So here’s the story. Despite owning every single Guitar Hero game, I seem to have purchased a game called Guitar Hero: Greatest Hits which is a compiled collection of the best songs of Guitar Hero 3 and before. SIXTY DOLLARS WELL SPENT, MATTHEW!
It’s kind of difficult not to think this way when you see a title like this.
“Oh, so we’re paying money for something we already own. Who buys this junk? What a cash grab. Why wouldn’t they just change discs and play whatever song they like?”
-Rational gamers everywhere
I’m a little mixed on this game. It seems a little at odds with the rest of the Guitar Hero collection, given the fact that all it’s really doing is giving you a few songs off each title, as opposed to whole collections. With the speculation that Guitar Hero 5 will be including more than a hundred songs, the 48 tracks on offer here seems paltry by comparison. They could have included an entirely updated version of the original Guitar Hero setlist of 47 songs, and had plenty of room left over for a selection of II, Rocks the 80′s, III and Aerosmith.
This is the main concern that players will have with this title. It doesn’t really prove itself as a stand-alone title when you see what great things can be done with DLC, or compare it to Rock Band‘s ability to roll forward a majority of tracks for each progrssive release (for far less money, at that).
Before I begin fullblown dumping however, there are several positive aspects to this release. I only own Guitar Hero 1 and Rocks the 80‘s on Playstation 2, so being able to play a selection of tracks from those two titles is a welcome change (and means one less guitar controller in the living room). It also means that popular tracks that couldn’t have been included on World Tour or Metallica without accusations of rehashing can now be played with the complete band too.
The sequel is going to be out soon
The selection of songs that Greatest Hits brings together maybe aren’t the greastest hits in terms of individual popularity, but they are great in regards to enjoyable charts, which is something everyone should be thankful for. This is also a positive release for those who have joined the rhythm game genre late, and haven’t had a chance to experience the earlier titles.
Apart from that, the gameplay is identical to that offered in Guitar Hero: Metallica. The Rock-Band-inspired star meter remains, and the single player progresses by Star accumulation, rather than simple song completion. If you’ve played any GH title since World Tour, you’ll know what to expect.
Something that I didn’t expect (and I’m fairly not many others did) is that in the process of resculpting different songs to include the full band charts, many of the older guitar charts have been changed. Some of these changes are purely updated playing methods, such as the continual chord while playing and use of the slider, but many more have had their charts altered significantly in terms of note progressions.
This was something that really got up my nose, considering how much I love some of the songs on Guitar Hero 2. Many of these songs I’ve played over and over again, and become fairly practiced in how they’re played. Then this title comes along and throws half of it out the window. I’m fairly sure this was an attempt by Beenox (this game’s developers) to change things up a bit, to make the game feel a bit less like a rehash. The problem is, the game IS a rehash, and almost everyone who buys it knows that. So given that they’ve purchased a game with the idea of playing their favourite older tracks, to then go out and muck about with the tracks themselves seems like such a stupid, stupid thing to do.
Our fans still have expendable income? Beenox, get on that!
Probably the best example you’ll find on this is Through the Fire and Flames. In Guitar Hero 3, this was billed as essentially the highest level of difficulty anyone could possibly hoped to achieve. The song was so hard that they made it a bonus track you got to play on no-fail when you completed the career mode. There were two achievements tied in to actually being able to play the song through to it’s completion on Expert. Many players will attest to the fact that they fail this song 2% in because the intro is that difficult. But now, the finger-crippling series of hammer-ons and pull-offs that made up the song’s infamous intro have been replaced with slider notes. This means that you no longer have to string notes together to complete this section, making playing the song FAR easier. Hell, if you’re even lazier, running your finger up and down the slider as fast as you can will yield a fairly good chance of passing the killer riff (in much the same way that many players pass Satch Boogie).
It’s this bizarre balancing act of making some things more difficult, and some things far easier, that makes this game sit uneasily with me. If it’s a rehash, let it be a rehash. You might cop flak about it in reviews, but your profit margin will be exactly the same. Because if Highlander has taught us nothing (and it hasn’t), it’s that fucking around with your predecessors never works out well. That, and apparently Queen used to be considered a hardcore metal band.
Oh, sorry, forgot one thing: the career storyline. Possibly even more tacked on than the Metallica Jnr idea. Treat it as an excuse to play the songs, or just plain skip it (although God of Rock definately hangs out with some good looking cartoon women).
The verdict:
Pros: A good starter title for anyone joining the genre. Xbox players can get their hands on a few more of the earlier games’ tracks. Songs are picked more for playing enjoyment than just plain popularity.
Cons: Fucking around with song charts doesn’t achieve anything other than alienating the long standing fans. No innovation gameplay-wise above GH: Metallica. Full retail price is a bit of a kick in the teeth for something that could easily be DLC.
The verdict: 1.5 out of 5. It’s a rehash, that tries to tell you it isn’t, which only makes things worse. If you considered GH: Aerosmith a cash-grab, well this title outclasses that by far. Rent, or buy it second hand when it’s about $20 (which presumably shouldn’t take too long). Also, where the fuck was Sweet Child of Mine? Mark is crying in his bedroom somewhere. The only thing that redeems this title is the fact that it does include a fair few fun songs to play.
