Distractionica Electronica

Never one to shy away from gimicky controllers and hype, I got my hands on Red Octane's Guitar Hero. (Hey, they're a local company. I'm just supporting my community, man!)

Needless to say, it's damn fun. More fun than Taiko Drum Master. The drum game tended to annoy me since half the time you weren't tasked with keeping the beat, but rather playing notes by hitting the drum. hrmph.

Well, with Guitar Hero, you're tasked with hitting the notes. Luckily, the difficulty setting makes sense too. You aren't expected to hit 16th notes until Expert level.

Real guitar players will be frustrated by the hammer-ons and pull-offs, and will probably dislike the strum bar. But, as a drummer, they don't bother me. What DOES bother me is the guitar controller. I know that Red Octane got a deal with Gibson (aka Epiphone), hence why you see Gibson guitars all over the packaging and in the game, BUT... why the fakey Gibson SG? If Red Octane wanted to give us the "ultimate" Gibson, NOTHING is more immediately recognizable than the Gibson Les Paul. Who knows, maybe EpiphoneGibson is working on its own full-size Les Paul controller. That would rawk.

Now... song selection.
The good:
Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out
The Ramones - I Wanna Be Sedated
Boston - More Than A Feeling
Ozzy - Bark at the Moon
Stevie Ray Vaughn - Texas Flood

The overdone:
Joan Jett - I Love Rock and Roll
Motorhead - Ace of Spades
Pantera - Cowboys from Hell
Deep Purple - Smoke on the Water

The notably missing:
AC/DC - Back in Black
Chuck Berry - Johnny B. Goode
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Sweet Home Alabama
The Kinks - You Really Got Me
Steppenwolf - Magic Carpet Ride
Kiss - Rock and Roll All Nite
Anything by Led Zeppelin or the Rolling Stones

One can only hope that the sequel to Guitar Hero will include some Rolling Stones, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Kiss, U2, Jeff Beck, The Police, Dick Dale...

Of course, Dick Dale songs would only be available at expert level and would need to include a seizure warning.

I must also note, that the details in the game make it truly a guitar rock fan's game:

• The dials on your amp go to 11
  
• Your in-game avatar kicks over amps and smashes his/her guitar
  
• Tips like: "They don't really want you to play Free Bird, they're heckling you."

The dials going to 11 garnered instant laughs from me.

The crew at work have yet to attempt it, but as multiplayer modes are available, there WILL be a battle of the fake guitarists. Oh yes, there will be...