Reprinted with permission from Diehard GameFAN
Undeniably, part of Activision’s mission plan is to roll out as many iterations of cash cow Guitar Hero as humanely possible while the consumer iron is still white hot for the franchise. The fact that another Guitar Hero
game is around the corner is about as surprising as the fact that the
sun will rise tomorrow, but it’s expected out of what is one of the
country’s highest-selling intellectual properties on the market.
Activision is happy to oblige with another entry in the series, taking
the stage in yet another entry to that does little to advance the
franchise, but pleases fans hungry for more with a solid addition.
After a successful run with Guitar Hero: World Tour late in
2008, the game engine returns with a fresh coat of paint as Neversoft
is tasked with launching the company’s second artist-laden fret
shredder, Guitar Hero: Metallica. Much like Aerosmith, Metallica
serves as a side release in the series, offering up 49 more licensed
tracks that provide the most metal for your money compared to any other
on-disc Guitar Hero or Rock Band offering. Hosted on
the disc are 28 recognizable tracks from the featured band, along with
21 other acts, personally chosen by members of Metallica and none of
the songs are shy about bringing on the guitar.
Based off World Tour, Metallica offers more variety than Aerosmith, as the drums and vocals come into play in all of the game’s various modes. The game modes available also mirror World Tour,
but, thankfully, that means there is a lot to do in quickplay, career,
online, tutorial, local battle and music studio modes. The career mode
actually puts forth a bit of a story, detailing the player’s band’s
attempt to be deemed ‘Tallica Jr., a rockin’ opening act for Metallica,
complete with short, animated cut scenes. To make Metallica more
accessible to players, the career mode has been chopped down
considerably, allowing players to progress based on star ratings
instead of the usual number of songs cleared. In most instances,
players can tackle each career tier in two songs, sparing players from
going through the motions in a song they can’t stand or ones they have
trouble clearing.
While the career mode is the source of the game’s unlockable
content, the online mode has a myriad of possibilities in its
quickplay, battle, face-off and band versus band options (that is
assuming there is no shortage of online players). Local quickplay is
what you’ll want to bust out at parties for social casual play and
local battle modes also allow players to do battle face-to-face. The
musically inclined can extend their playlists through an in-game song
creation tool, while the not-so-musically-inclined can access GHTunes
online to download other players’ creations. With so many offerings, Metallica
is a lot more than just a disc with a bunch of Metallica songs and
players should be able to scoop a ton of game play out of the title’s
modes.
I’ve been reviewing music-based games for nearly 10 years now and,
in most cases, graphics are an afterthought in the genre behind the
music and game play. However, Guitar Hero: Metallica stands
as one of the most impressive visual displays in the genre when it
comes to the onstage action. The character models look clean and are
fully animated with the emotion of performance, especially when it
comes to specific routines carried out by Metallica when playing one of
its pieces. Lars, the band’s drummer, will sit pretending he’s bored
when guitars wail on their own and stands up and slams downward on the
drums during the accented notes of “For Whom the Bell Toll’s” outro.
Lead singer James will place his hands together in prayer during
sections of “Enter Sandman” and the forceful “f” pronunciations in
“Fuel” are punctuated with saliva fuming from his mouth. There are a
number of other small attentions to detail unique to each song and each
one is very noticeable without being distracting from the game play.
On the other hand, though, the menus are extremely generic and while
the crowd animates well, having the same four, five people rendered
throughout the entire audience looks incredibly hokey. Also, all of the
created rockers or series staples have the same recycled and repetitive
animations from World Tour, even though they are still well
done. Regardless, players will be spending most of their time on the
stage, which is where the visuals truly shine.
In regards to audio, you’ll have to keep into account that one’s
like or dislike of Metallica (or any song selection in any music game
period) is entirely subjective, but, technically, the sound featured in
Guitar Hero: Metallica is handled just as well as it should be
in any music game. The mostly-metal theme of the game puts the songs in
charge, with highlighted drum and guitar parts that engross the player
into their instrument of choice. Of course, the music is the star of
the audible show, however, the same sound effects that have been used
since perhaps the original Guitar Hero game are still present
in 2009. While the classic sounds really won’t drag down a player’s
enjoyment of the game, but they clearly don’t have the same attention
given to them as the music itself. Minor nitpick aside, the sounds of Guitar Hero: Metallica will definitely appeal to anyone who has a pair of ears.
Considering Metallica is only one of almost 15 different installments planned in the Guitar Hero
series and has put billions of gamers’ dollars into Activision’s
pockets, it shouldn’t be necessary to describe how the game plays.
Players still strum, strike or vocalize on the game’s cue to licensed
songs popularized by artists from the past handful of decades and after
a dozen of entries, this concept is still fun. The game play is pound
for pound the same as in World Tour with bass guitar open
notes, expert-level sustained chords and slide bar notes carrying over
to the entry. Anyone who has played a music game in the past handful of
years will be able to jump straight into the game with all of its
mechanics being second nature. Players won’t find anything that
revolutionizes the genre in Metallica, but if they enjoy music games, they’ll find a hell of a lot of fun.
Metallica also controls just like anyone would expect Guitar Hero (or Rock Band, if you’re on that side of the fence) to. Hammer-ons, pull-offs, taps and slides still execute effortlessly and even previous Guitar Hero or Rock Band controllers provide the player full control in their performances. Drummers will perhaps find the most resistance, though, as Rock Band owners will encounter some limitations in Metallica. The game will automatically adjust to the four-pad scheme, but Guitar Hero’s extra base pedal isn’t compatible with the Rock Band
set and some cymbal functionality is lost (you won’t be able to play
the tutorial either, robbing you of a possible 5G in Gamerscore).
Guitar Hero: Metallica features full integration with the Death Magnetic
downloadable content album, allowing players to seamlessly load in
songs from the newest Metallica album that aren’t found in the game. Guitar Hero diehards might have a slight problem, however, with the fact that non-Death Magnetic downloadable content isn’t playable in Guitar Hero: Metallica. Ultimately, it’s not a big deal to switch over to World Tour,
however, full DLC integration would have been nice to see for ease of
use. During game play, the HUD also seems to have cleaned up a tad and
the progression meter for the song’s star rating is a very welcome
addition and is even more concise than Rock Band’s circular gauge. While most of the tweaks and additions are small, they are indeed welcome, giving players a sort of World Tour version 1.1.
With the expansive list of modes and the social allure of the game, thankfully, Guitar Hero: Metallica
will bring players back for more, even after the career mode is said
and done. Sure, a few of the achievements might force a few more
playthroughs for some gamers, but with limitless song possibilities to
be found on GHTunes, competitive and social online play, multiple
difficulties and more, there is a fair amount of genuine replayability
featured in the title. Extremists might not be satisfied until every
song has a five-star rating, the final career earnings level is met or
all achievements are earned while the casual crowd might pull it out
with friends and family occasionally for quickplay, meet with friends
(or strangers) online for more quickplay or download familiar tunes
with ease from GHTunes. No matter where a player falls on the scale,
it’s very unlikely players will find Guitar Hero: Metallica to be a “one and done” deal.
Every song in the game features five difficulty levels, with some
introducing an Expert+ for the drummer, ensuring there are songs for
both the beginner and most seasoned of players. While Metallica’s
nature pulls the difficulty a little more to the harder side, the
career mode tiers progress in an expected nature with the harder songs
being reserved for the end. Anyone who does have trouble with the
songs, though, can build their skill in practice.
Veterans of the music game genre pre-Guitar Hero may have
some qualms with the nature of game performance, but it’s a minor price
to pay to provide fun to the masses. For example, the star note combos
still have an awkward balance with all combos netting the same amount
of power no matter how many notes are involved and scores are more
favored toward knowing when to use star power (which easily keeps
players in the game without effort) as opposed to timing and accuracy.
The star rating system also seems a tad meaningless as the rating
progresses automatically when players aren’t even performing (you’re
already almost half way to the first star before the guitar part in “No
Leaf Clover” even begins). Furthermore, the timing window is extremely
generous compared to other music games, further diminishing the rhythm
game basis of timing, but, again, these facets slide the game to a more
accessible and enjoyable state for gamers and non-gamers alike. While
leaderboards do allow the best to brag, Guitar Hero has always been about picking up a plastic instrument for fun, and that enjoyment is still large and in charge in Metallica.
Since Guitar Hero: Metallica falls in one of the most
milked franchises in the market (and one that launched an army of
clones), it’s impossible to call the game wholly original and, again,
nothing radically new has been introduced since the release of World Tour. Also, the title banks on the popularity of Metallica, which, obviously, won’t attract everyone. Still, Guitar Hero maintains one of the highest consumer recognition rates in the country and as long as people keep buying Guitar Hero games, that obviously means people still want them. You’d really have to hate Metallica or Guitar Hero to not get into this installment so it wouldn’t be hard to imagine this title would be highly appealing to fans of the series.
GemuBaka Final Review Score: 4 out of 5
While Guitar Hero: Metallica might seem like a pricey song expansion pack, players get a full-fleged experience with mode offerings comparable to Guitar Hero: World Tour.
Neversoft took Metallica’s involvement seriously with incredible
graphics and animation and, of course, the title represents each
artists’ music offerings well. The game play hasn’t advanced one bit
since World Tour, but given the franchise’s pedigree, fans of
the series won’t be looking for a drastically different experience.
While the number of songs on-disc is a handful lower than World Tour,
everything players love about Guitar Hero is here with a fresh coat of
paint. Metallica’s involvement gives plastic guitar players a lot of
notes to shred and the double bass action on the drums will challenge
even the most seasoned of drummers. Fans of music games shouldn’t pass
this one up unless they just really can’t stand Metallica.
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