Guitar Hero: Aerosmith (Wii) Review
When Guitar Hero: Aerosmith was first announced, the general public speculated that a game based on only one band would surely be a hoax. However, there is nothing fake about it; and with other band-centric versions of the classic rhythm game, such as Guitar Hero: Metallica, on the way, Guitar Hero Aerosmith is the lab rat for this venture.
It works – provided you actually like Aerosmith… because if you dont, a whole game focused on the one band might not be for you. However, if youre a fan of Guitar Hero, you will still get a kick out of it. Guitar Hero: Aerosmith follows a “story”, which I say with quotation marks because, while its not a story per-se, the game roughly follows the groups history from their first show in 1970, through some big events in the group’s life. More members of the band are unlocked later in the game as well. The games graphical style has not been updated substantially since we last saw Guitar Hero III, although they do possess a charm about them that fits Aerosmiths artistic style very well.
The games interface is all new, of course, and there are new stadiums and venues to play (with some being real locations from Aerosmiths career), but it all works pretty much the same with the on-screen interface being virtually unchanged. This is, of course, not to say its bad looking; even on the Wii in standard definition, the Guitar Hero interface looks good and you can easily see whats going on at any given time. The same problems with animation still plague the on-screen rockers, with Joe Perry and Steven Tyler appearing to be very stiff in their movements. All of the Aerosmith and (unlockable) Run DMC characters look very true to their real life counterparts.
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith contains around 40 tracks; 31 of which youll have to play through in the career mode. What is strange about the career mode is that the game doesnt even start off with an Aerosmith song, which felt weird considering the title of the game. Now, I’ll admit, Im not a huge Aerosmith fan. I know a few of their songs and, although they are alright, I found it strange that some of the band’s most notable songs were not included in the game. Most of the groups songs from the 70s feature and the newer ones are left out. For every set of five songs, which are required to be completed before moving on, there are three Aerosmith songs in the set and two from what can best be described as “friends of Aerosmith”.
Between each set, unlocked is a short interview with the band – or a certain member of the band – that discusses the venue that the next set takes place in, why its in the game and the association it has with the band. These videos are of reasonable quality and longer versions are unlocked later on in the shop. All but four songs in the game are master recordings, but it wouldve been nice if instead of getting a cover on the songs, they got Aerosmith to record them themselves. Thats not to say that Aerosmith did absolutely nothing with this game, as they did record songs from their first album and remade some of their tunes to better suit the game.
The game and the way it plays have not changed since Guitar Hero III, which really is not shocking, but when Guitar Hero hit the PS2 it was fresh and exciting. With every new release of Guitar Hero, having unchanged mechanics, you can feel yourself creeping closer and closer to the opinion of “Why bother?” The games multiplayer modes and online are all included as per Guitar Hero III, with the tutorial mode and training mode returning too (the former being exceptionally detailed and helpful).
The game slows down songs for you to be able to learn sections that may be giving you grief. In addition, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith also features a scalable difficulty meter, with “easy” being good for children and new players, and “expert” being sufficient for the experienced. Online play retains the same interface as Guitar Hero III, which worked well. Youre able to tell who is online; the leader boards also make a return, as well as everyones favourite: Friend codes. Also returning is the Wii remote functionality, with the speaker, motion sensing and rumble all being utilised in an attempt to further authenticate the experience. The games price may be seen as an issue, as there are far less songs in this game compared to Guitar Hero III, and there is no downloadable content, so what you see is really all you get.
The mileage you get out of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith will pretty much vary on two factors: How much you like the title band and how much you like Guitar Hero. If you love Aerosmith and love Guitar Hero, this game will provide you with hours of fun. If you dont like Aerosmith at all, youre probably better off waiting for Guitar Hero: World Tour, which will not only provide variety in the new songs but also reinvent Guitar Hero. Slightly. There is nothing wrong with these sorts of expansions, though – especially since the Wii doesnt even have downloadable content (yet)… but if you dont like the band, you probably wont like the game.
