The Verdict:
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Guitar Hero: Metallica
| Genre | Music Rhythm |
| Developer | Neversoft |
| Publisher | Activision |
| Modes | Single Player, Co-op, Versus |
| Rating | BBFC 12 |
| Released | 29.05.2009 |
Metallica are back! No, they haven’t recorded a new album. They haven’t planned a new tour. And no, they haven’t brought out a new money-milking TV Programme. They have in fact got their very own Guitar Hero! Featuring over 40 songs from Metallica themselves and over 20 guest acts chosen by Metallica, every Metallica fan is going to know if it’s worth the purchase.
With Guitar Hero games gameplay doesn’t change much at all. All you really need is the 5 little orbs flying down your track for you to hit in time with the music. So the fundamentals are there but there are a few tweaks that may improve your Guitar Hero experience that little bit more.
The smaller improvements include a star meter, similar of that to Rock Band but instead you will just see a number in a star with a gradually rising bar that, when filled, will increase the number inside the star. The number still remains at a maximum of 5 and increases with score but this is a nice little touch that can help you nail that last 5 star of a set list or see where you struggle in those tricky solos.
Another one of those little changes only comes during band play, and only when you’re not doing so great… Because, as we all know, there’s always somebody to blame when you fail, and they always try to hide it. Now they can’t! When you and your band fails a song a large broken instrument symbol will pop up and reveal the culprits. Once again it’s a nice little touch but may not be the right way to go. After all, these games should encourage teamwork, but at least now there’s no denying you can’t do that solo! Add all this in with improved rock meters for each band mate and you really can tell the guitar heroes from the guitar zeroes in your band.
Now there comes a big change! A change that could be good, it could be bad! But it’s a bit dramatic. In the olden days of Guitar Hero there was a simple list of songs as oppose to Guitar Hero: World Tour’s “gig” approach. Guitar Hero Metallica goes back to the old list style, but instead of having “complete 3 songs to continue” it’s now more along the lines of “earn 8 stars to continue”. So your progress is purely based on how many stars you earn in each song. This idea however is unfortunately flawed! Each setlist leaves enough songs to defeat the challenge that previous games had and in the last setlist you can still earn stars from the first! So the challenge is gone but there’s still loads of songs to do! If you do want 100% on the career you need to do every song so it’s not all ridiculously easy. Although you can achieve a expert career completion by just completing the final song “The thing that should not be” which is very easy and you don’t even have to do the rest on expert! But you may have played World Tour and found the drums very easy. Expert may have been a doddle and you maybe wanted that little bit more. Now, and this is only on drums, you have Expert+ to take on! Double Bass pedal and increased speed of failure makes it a challenge, still not the toughest, but something new to tackle! So to trim it all down in to a single sentence – It’s all very different and very easy, still awesome fun but the challenge is gone.
The graphics haven’t really changed since World Tour. The characters and instruments still have a great amount of detail and the orbs are the same bright, 3D little things they have been since Guitar Hero 3. The Menus have taken a much more Metallica styled approach and the instrument playing has definitely become more accurate! Other than that there is nothing to report really.
With Guitar Hero sound is always a tough bit. It really depends on personal preference to the music. So this game is really for the fans of Metallica and the Metal genre. Overall the setlist is very good, with hits like “Master of Puppets”, “Battery” and “For Whom The Bell Tolls” it’s a good choice of songs by Metallica themselves and the development team. Unfortunately some of the big songs have been missed out, “Blackened”, “…And Justice for All” and “The Unforgiven II” are all missing but this could leave potential for a DLC pack in the future.
Of course, Setlist isn’t the only part to Guitar Hero. Broken notes, crowd noise and overall sound quality are important features. The Broken notes have all been toned down so you get more song and less bleep, this is good because you still know you’ve missed but don’t have the whole song ruined. The crowd noise is now helpful too, the crowd will wither roar or sigh when your rock meter moves, add in the shouting of James Hetfield at the start of songs and you have a much better live experience. Sound quality is clear so you can enjoy the metal so the sound, which could make or break the game, definitely makes it!
And so finally, we come to longevity. As with any Guitar Hero game you can replay and replay each and every song, constantly trying to improve your score and just simply listening to the songs that you’re playing. The game isn’t too shy on songs, sure it doesn’t match up to the 84 of Guitar Hero World Tour but 60 + songs isn’t bad and with the Death Magnetic DLC fully compatible it’s certainly a big expansion.
Overall, Guitar Hero: Metallica is good. The improvements are definitely improvements and they work to make your Guitar Hero experience that little bit better. The setlist is long and for any Metallica fan it’s a dream despite the lack of some songs. The achievements are fun to work for, the music studio from World Tour adds that little bit extra and making a new character is always fun! So really, it’s a must for any Metallica fan and a brilliant purchase for any music or Guitar Hero fan! If only World Tour lived to it’s expectations this well!