Guitar Hero II

Features
By published

Success brings the guitar-thrashing romp a major-label signing - and a sequel

Bass and rhythm parts are, by nature, quite repetitive and on easier settings and simpler songs can feel too much like an unglamorous support role.

At their best, though, the insistent rhythms and subtle pattern shifts require a hypnotised concentration that's quite new to the game, while show-boaters can find plenty to enjoy in Sweet Child o' Mine's bass line or the climactic squalls of twin lead that end Lynryd Skynyrd's Freebird.

Those two crowd-pleasing rock epics look likely to be the foremost instances of wishlist-fulfilment in GHII's songbook. The other tracks revealed suggest a surprisingly esoteric selection, one that is not so exciting at first glance but offering a broader range of styles and perhaps more long-term satisfaction.

The jazzy flourishes of Rush and Primus, The Police and Pretenders' clipped guitar pop, the frantic stop-start thrash of Psychobilly Freakout, and kitsch instrumentals like Misirlou and Jessica (better known as the themes to Pulp Fiction and Top Gear) should all prove welcome detours from the riffing and squealing that are Guitar Hero's bread and butter. It's clearly an aficionado's choice and perhaps not the easiest sell.

But maybe it doesn't need to be because, to anyone who's been near one of those toy Gibson SGs, the prospect of more and better Guitar Hero is the easiest sell in the world.

Edge Staff
Edge Staff

Edge magazine was launched in 1993 with a mission to dig deep into the inner workings of the international videogame industry, quickly building a reputation for next-level analysis, features, interviews and reviews that holds fast nearly 30 years on.