With the massive popularity of Activision's Guitar Hero series, it was only a matter of time before a major band decided to allow a Guitar Hero game based solely on their music. The fact that the first are the legendary rockers Aerosmith, is not only a testament to how far the series has come, but to how much a part of music culture rhythm games are becoming. After all the last time Aerosmith appeared in a game it was the awful light gun game Revolution X- we’re pretty sure they wouldn’t have signed on the dotted line for a game again without being certain it was a sure thing. For Activision it’s a great way to fly the Guitar Hero flag, as Aerosmith have the power to draw in people who might never otherwise have considered playing the games. But can the Guitar Hero formula really work focused on just one band ?

Anyone familiar with the Guitar Hero series, (At this point that would be every one and their grandmother-Ed) will find little has changed in GH: Aerosmith from Guitar Hero 3 Legends of Rock. (It’s the Same Old Song and Dance then?-Ed) You’ll rock out to the music of the Boston super group as coloured notes stream towards you on the screen, hitting the corresponding fret buttons on your trusty old plastic guitar. This is the same slick, smooth and addictive fake guitar fun that so many millions have come to love. It also means that if for any reason you’re bored of the whole guitar rhythm game concept, there’s nothing new here game play wise to draw you back. For the rest of us, GH: Aerosmith presents a take on the series who’s appeal will depend heavily on what kind of player you are, and how much you like Aerosmith. Many casual players complained that GH3 was a little too tough, and developer Neversoft clearly listened to their cries, GH: Aerosmith is far more forgiving to play. The style of Aerosmith’s music, simpler hammer-on’s and pull offs and, most notably, the reduction of the obnoxious boss battles from Legends of Rock (Just a single bout with Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry at end of the game-Ed) make this a far friendlier game. GH: Aerosmith seems to be more tailored to enjoying playing and listening to the songs in the game than being a hardcore challenge, which will make it easier for causal fans to take to. We were able to play all the way through the game on normal without losing until the final boss fight, and found Hard and Expert modes similarly scaled down. That could be a problem, if you’re the kind of hardcore player who delights in trying to beat ‘Through the Fire and Flames’ on Expert in GH 3. We’re increasingly finding that games like this are leaning to the casual audience these days, so it’ll be interesting to see if Guitar Hero World Tour follows suit.

As per the usual Guitar Hero formula, you’ll get to play through set lists of songs, working through each one to unlock new tracks and venues to play in. GH: Aerosmith follows the history of the band from their first gig at Nipmuc High School to the legendary Super Bowl half time show and their elevation to the Hall of Fame. The slight twist to proceedings is that you won’t play as Aerosmith for the first three songs or so in each venue, playing instead as the staple Guitar Hero characters from Legends of Rock to songs by ‘supporting acts’. These are songs by bands that either inspired Aerosmith or have supported them on tour. Each was supposedly hand picked by the group and you’ll play tracks like ‘All Day and All of the Night by the Kinks, Dream Police by Cheap Trick (My personal fav !-Ed), King of Rock by Run-DMC and Always on the Run by Lenny Kravitz. Only once you’ve cleared these opening numbers will the mighty Aerosmith deign to take the stage. There aren’t as many songs here as in a regular GH game, you’ll only get to play 40 tracks in GH: Aerosmith, 30 of them from the headlining group and 10 from support acts. That can make the game feel pretty sparse compared to GH 3, and sadly a couple of the support songs are covers rather than originals, which is a bit of a let down. (Aerosmith re-recorded some of their own songs for the game, and surely it would have been better to have them cover any missing masters than use covers?-Ed)

Any music game, as we’ve said more than once here at UKMusic.com , stands or falls on its music, and as well as being disappointed by the shorter set list, we found the choice of Aerosmith songs in GH: Aerosmith a bit of a head scratcher at times. Many of the tracks that appear in the game from Aerosmith’s early days, like Uncle Salty, Toys in the Attic, Train Kept A-Rollin and No Surprize are from the period when they were more of a blues based rock band than hard rock legends . More well known songs like, Dude (Looks like a Lady), Janie’s got a Gun and ‘I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing (That track was too cheesy anyway!-Ed) are conspicuous by their absence in the game. Don’t get us wrong, these earlier tracks are great songs, but for more casual fans the recognition factor might not be that high. There would have been game play reasons in the song selection, but you could argue that many of the generation that plays games like this would care more for the later super hits of the group. We really liked some of the song we hadn’t heard before, and at least one of the team made a trip to the iTunes store on the back of reviewing the game, but it might cause some to consider twice before picking it up.

That said, you still get to play hits like ‘Love in an Elevator’, ‘Dream On’ and ‘Pink’, which balance things out a bit. There’s even the chance to play ‘Walk this way’, the classic rock/hip hop track they recorded with Run-DMC in 1986. In a nice touch, Aerosmith are joined on stage by a pretty good model of DMC for that number (Through it did make us a little sad to see DMC up on stage without the late Jam Master Jay, RIP- Ed.).

While we have to admit that we were wary of GH: Aerosmith as a stand alone game, there has been a bit of an effort to make it feel like a premium purchase. Not only are the Aerosmith character models in the game excellent, (Steve Tyler’s is particularly striking, and it’s clear that some pretty good motion capture went into it. How’d they capture his pout like that?-Ed) but the developers have included a series of video interviews with the band that are unlocked as you play through the game. Various band members including Steve Tyler and Joe Perry appear in video between levels, talking about each of the venues and the state of the groups rise to superstardom at the time they played them. These vignettes aren’t ground breaking, soul revealing documentaries by any means, but combined with the Aerosmith branding on all the options and load screens, they’re a fun inclusion that helps to get across the feeling that this really is ‘Aerosmith’s’ game.

We enjoyed playing GH Aerosmith, it’s a fun, slightly more polished and much more casual friendly iteration of the Guitar Hero series, but at the end of the day this could have all been released as downloadable content. If you’re really looking for a GH fix and don’t like any current downloads, there are just about enough songs in it to warrant a purchase, but only just -and there are plenty of other options out there. Still, if you do decide to buy it, you could find yourself with a greater appreciation for the Boston rockers – which is no bad thing as far as we’re concerned. Aerosmith fans certainly won’t be disappointed and should pick it up, as these tracks aren’t likely to be available to download any time soon. Not until you need to buy them again for Guitar Hero World Tour at any rate.
 

UKMusic.com Rating: 3 Stars out of 5
 

Any Aerosmith fans will be pleased, but the games short track list means the fun is over too soon.

Guitar Hero:Aerosmith is out now on XBox 360, PS3 and Nintendo Wii

Written by Sam Bandah

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