Brikar

This will be more on-going impressions than a one-shot review, but here goes:


...Whoa.

"Guitar Hero: Metallica" kicks ass. I've only been playing for a couple hours, but already unlocked a solid chunk of the songs available in this game. The graphics are a bit dirtier than earlier games, less colorful, too. The game employs a gritty film-grain over all the animations, too.

The characters move much more realistically than in previous GH games. The movements for Metallica are extremely authentic; the band went in and did all the motion capture for their digital counterparts. There's lots of little gestures that should be easily recognizable.

Lots of little cool additions. James will occasionally shout something to the crowd before the song begins, sometimes announcing the song or saying something rowdy. The "story" of the game essentially follows a metal band (your band, which you name, choose a logo for, and create your own characters) that signs on to be the opening act for Metallica's next tour. At each stop on the tour, the Devil will attempt to bump you off the show and push a glam-rock outfit called "The Posers" on the 'Tallica boys.

You play the opening set, songs by other acts such as Alice in Chains, Bob Seger and Lynyrd Skynyrd. Once you've hit enough stars, the Metallica portion of the show is unlocked and you can either skip right into that or keep playing the other songs. Each tier is unlocked by how many stars you've earned, rather than songs completed. If you end up getting stuck on a particular song, it won't halt your progress in the game since earning more stars on easier songs will allow you to skip past.

Certain songs, once completed, will unlock extras such as concert footage, behind the scenes videos, "Metallifacts" (pop-up trivia tracks for certain songs), new guitars for your digital avatars to wail on, and so forth.

So far, the gameplay has been pretty stellar. Most of the songs have been really fun. I'm going to reiterate that I wish Metallica's cover of "Turn the Page" was in the game instead of the Bob Seger original, because this song is a bit of a snoozer. The guitar part is highly repetitive, and the song itself is very slow and just sounds out of place with other songs in the game. It's probably better playing it with a full band than any one particular instrument, but since I was just doing guitars today, I'm disappointed.

As for the Metallica songs, they're a blast to play. The game starts off with "For Whom the Bell Tolls", and I already got to play a few excellent tracks like "King Nothing" which was loads of fun, "Nothing Else Matters" which was a bit more challenging than I expected, and "Enter Sandman" which was a lot easier than I expected. I had to chuckle when I got to "No Leaf Clover", and the back of the stage opens up to reveal an orchestra waiting to play.

I'll post more as I play more over the next couple days.

__________________
"A million monkeys typing until the end of time will produce the complete works of William Shakespeare. Ten thousand monkeys typing for ten thousand years will write a Hemingway. Ten monkeys typing over Columbus Day weekend will give you a Dan Brown."

http://olympusmans.blogspot.com
http://benforrealz.blogspot.com

Bean

I have to wait till the 5th to get it.

I hate you, I hate you, I hate you.....

__________________
"I haven't faced death. I've cheated death. I've tricked my way out of death and patted myself on the back for my ingenuity. I know nothing."

--James T. Kirk

Brikar

I know you do.

Anyway, the difficulty is definitely ramping up. "All Nightmare Long" just kicked my ass, but that's nothing new since I've had that song for months. And watching the "Metallifacts" for it reveals some interesting tidbits, such as that the demo title for the song was "Flamingo", and it acknowledges that "Death Magnetic" has quickly gained a reputation as "a return to form", quoting critics. Unfortunately, it looks like they don't have enough to say, so the trivia actually loops back on itself as the song goes on. Bummer. I'd rather see nothing on the screen than see something I've already read.

The songs are definitely getting harder, but are still tons of fun. "Fade to Black" and "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" are awesome. "Fuel" was really tricky, and the first song I did poorly on before I hit "All Nightmare Long". "Sad But True" was excellent, and features some really cool camera work.

The stages are based on the album artwork. The Master of Puppets stage has a bunch of crosses and giant hands overhead. At one point, the hands change position do the "rock hands" whatever that's called, and it's hilarious.

So far the trophies have been named after songs. I'm not really too sure what rhyme or reason there is for getting them so far. I got "Disposable Heroes" for creating my own character, which is funny, and "The Memory Remains" for watching the Metallifacts, so I suppose I get those two. But the others? -shrug-

__________________
"A million monkeys typing until the end of time will produce the complete works of William Shakespeare. Ten thousand monkeys typing for ten thousand years will write a Hemingway. Ten monkeys typing over Columbus Day weekend will give you a Dan Brown."

http://olympusmans.blogspot.com
http://benforrealz.blogspot.com

Brikar

Watching the "Metallifacts" also allows you to further appreciate all the little graphical nuances, such as during "Fuel", when James sings "burn your face upon the chrome" and he taps his cheek.

__________________
"A million monkeys typing until the end of time will produce the complete works of William Shakespeare. Ten thousand monkeys typing for ten thousand years will write a Hemingway. Ten monkeys typing over Columbus Day weekend will give you a Dan Brown."

http://olympusmans.blogspot.com
http://benforrealz.blogspot.com

Cymro

Or when he sings "Harvester" and does that thing with his arm.

Oh wait, Harvester isn't on there cause it's not "mainstream"

Rip-Off!

Sellouts!

__________________
"Let me tell you something about humans, nephew: They're a wonderful, friendly people - as long as their bellies are full and their holosuites are working.

"But take away their creature comforts, deprive them of food, sleep, sonic showers, put their lives in jeopardy over an extended period of time and those friendly, intelligent, wonderful people...will become as nasty and as violent as the most blood-thirsty klingon."

Brikar

You can go F yourself in the A.

__________________
"A million monkeys typing until the end of time will produce the complete works of William Shakespeare. Ten thousand monkeys typing for ten thousand years will write a Hemingway. Ten monkeys typing over Columbus Day weekend will give you a Dan Brown."

http://olympusmans.blogspot.com
http://benforrealz.blogspot.com

Cymro

Damn...shoulda seen that one comin'

__________________
"Let me tell you something about humans, nephew: They're a wonderful, friendly people - as long as their bellies are full and their holosuites are working.

"But take away their creature comforts, deprive them of food, sleep, sonic showers, put their lives in jeopardy over an extended period of time and those friendly, intelligent, wonderful people...will become as nasty and as violent as the most blood-thirsty klingon."

Brikar

I failed a song for the first time today - "Hit the Lights". The first time, I only made it about 10% through, then 41% then 87% and I gave up and moved on to something else. "One" is a whole lot easier than it was in "Guitar Hero III". In that came, I couldn't even beat the song, but here I blew threw it without ever leaving the green zone.

There are some cool videos to unlock. Beating "The Shortest Straw" lets you watch Lars attempt the motion capture for that song, and fail numerous times. At the end, he practically falls out of his chair, saying that "Guitar Hero broke Lars". Beating "For Whom the Bell Tolls" (the first song in the game) lets you watch the band perform it live in some club somewhere. The video quality on that was crappy, bootleg style. You can also view the lyrics from each song you beat, as well.

__________________
"A million monkeys typing until the end of time will produce the complete works of William Shakespeare. Ten thousand monkeys typing for ten thousand years will write a Hemingway. Ten monkeys typing over Columbus Day weekend will give you a Dan Brown."

http://olympusmans.blogspot.com
http://benforrealz.blogspot.com

Brikar

"Master of Puppets" is a blast on the drums.

__________________
"A million monkeys typing until the end of time will produce the complete works of William Shakespeare. Ten thousand monkeys typing for ten thousand years will write a Hemingway. Ten monkeys typing over Columbus Day weekend will give you a Dan Brown."

http://olympusmans.blogspot.com
http://benforrealz.blogspot.com

Bean

Have I mentioned that I hate you?

__________________
"I haven't faced death. I've cheated death. I've tricked my way out of death and patted myself on the back for my ingenuity. I know nothing."

--James T. Kirk