Review: Guitar Hero: Aerosmith (360)

The fact that Activision are charging full price for this game is a bit of a con. The menu layout is identical with the only difference is that now they’re all pink. Song structure is also the same, only now you play two songs from other bands before Aerosmith burst onto the stage and play two of their songs as well as an encore. Even the unlockable guitars in the vault are largely identical. It all feels like a bit of a rush job and could’ve easily been released as a downloadable expansion pack or at least for half the price.

With that said, after the disappointment of Guitar Hero 3 (Xbox 360) it’s good to see that new series developers Neversoft have learned a few things. A major problem with GH3 was the brick wall which an awful lot of people hit just before the final set. The difficulty quickly rose so much that a lot of people just gave up at this point, weeping onto their plastic Fisher Price toy guitars.  Note placement was another thing. Some songs were not fun to play because notes seemed like they were all over the place, hardly corresponding with how the song sounds. These two things have thankfully been corrected. The learning curve eases you into each song and notes now make it feel like you’re actually playing the notes. The final improvement is the boss battles, or to be precise, the lack of them. This time you only have to take part in a guitar battle with Joe Perry and it’s completely optional.

It goes without saying that if you’re a not an Aerosmith fan then this really isn’t for you, particularly if you find the thought of a virtual Steven Tyler jumping around on stage quite frightening. It’s actually Tyler’s on stage antics that caused us the most problems. It’s rather off putting when he rams his face right into the camera, which many times made us miss notes because we got a little scared. The song list (aside from the Aerosmith ones) are surprisingly decent, though as always this will always come down to personal preference. So if not only are you a non-fan of Tyler and co but also don’t like the likes of Stone Temple Pilots, Run DMC and The Cult then you’ll find nothing here. Maybe because you’re dead inside.

Despite ripping a number of the characters straight from Guitar Hero 3 (PS3) with no improvement it’s still a graphically decent title. The Aerosmith band do look like their real life counterparts, only they have that plastic look about them that so many current gen titles find hard to do away with. The venues are far better realised this time too. Getting rid of the rather fantastical (at times) locales and instead basing them around real places that Aerosmith played in, from their early gig days leading right up to the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame.

As niche as this title is, it’s still a perfectly welcome edition in the Guitar Hero series. It’s just a shame that it’s essentially Guitar Hero 3 (PS2) with a few bells and whistles thrown in. Aerosmith fans though will lap this up. Most though will be happier waiting for Guitar Hero: World Tour.

Rating: 6 / 10

Words by Adam Gulliver