Does Guitar Hero: Aerosmith for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 Have What it Takes?

Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is the latest in the series from developer Neversoft. More of a dressed-up track pack for Guitar Hero III than a complete new game, it adds new songs and some Aerosmith-specific features but ultimately fails to bring anything new to the table.

The game plays sort of like a history lesson on the band. You follow them from their first gig and Nipmuc High School all the way through the Super Bowl halftime show to their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. You'd expect the game to be positively loaded with great songs, given the band's nearly 40 year history and their 21 top 40 hits. The game's set list is surprisingly disappointing, however.

I'm no Aerosmith expert, but I'm also far from a pop culture hermit. I like to think I have a fairly decent grasp on popular music from the last 30 years or so. That's why I was surprised to find that nearly half the Aerosmith songs in the game were ones I'd never heard of. "Make It?" "Draw the Line?" "Bright Night Fright?" Where did they find these songs? Where is "Angel" or "Jaded" or "Janie's Got a Gun"?

They managed to get some of the songs right. "Back in the Saddle," "Dream On," and "Rag Doll" are excellent songs that lend themselves very well to this type of game. Still, nine of the 18 Aerosmith songs in the career mode are ones I'd personally never heard of. Isn't the appeal of Guitar Hero supposed to be the ability to bust out your favorite rock songs, playing along with every familiar rift? I'm confused as to why they would choose to include so many obscure tracks while completely ignoring the band's more popular music. I suppose certain songs are more fun to play through than others, but I'd rather jam along to a slightly boring song I actually know than force myself through a more interesting one I have never heard.

Inexplicable track selection aside, the game is basically Guitar Hero III with a few Aerosmith goodies thrown in. You choose from the same characters, customize them with the same outfits, and unlock the same guitars from last year's game. While this is great if you absolutely adore Johnny Napalm or Lars Umlaut, it doesn't add much in the way of value to the package.

It honestly surprises me that Neversoft didn't take the time to make changes to the game in light of the release of Rock Band. It's as if they had their "B" team cranking out this game while they threw all their best people into Guitar Hero: World Tour.

Bottom line, there's no way Activision should be charging full price for this game. The song list is small (and far from amazing), the game is completely devoid of new features, and while playing as an excellently motion captured Aerosmith is cool; it's nowhere near enough to justify this game's price tag. Basically, if you can pick it up for a good price used or are just a huge Aerosmith fan then you should check it out. Anyone else would be far better off spending their money on new downloadable songs for Guitar Hero III.

Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is available for Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Nintendo Wii, and Playstation 2.