Rock on with Guitar Hero for the Playstation 2

Harmonix studios are famous for incorporating music into video games, and even making whole games devoted to music. Their first creation in this realm was Frequency, followed by the game Amplitude, and of course the most famous of their creations, the Guitar Hero series. Guitar Hero is a very unique game in many aspects and was designed to allow the common person to rock out with the best of the best in the rock world.

Guitar Hero places you the player as the Guitarist in a band that you name and you play at shows and concerts earning money and winning over the crowd in an attempt to become a guard legend. If you have ever played Amplitude or Frequency you'll recognize the tracks that appear, but instead of switching tracks in this game to turn on various interments you stick to just one track of the guitar.

The controller that is used with Guitar Hero is in fact a guitar, adding to the realistic feel of the game. On the neck of the guitar there are 5 colored buttons, frets, which correspond to notes that appear on the guitar tracks. When a note appears hold down the correct fret and strum the guitar and you'll hear the note played. Moving your fingers along the neck of the guitar to use different frets can be difficult at first, but after about 30 minuets you'll have the hang of it.

Guitar Hero offers four different difficulties to play on. Easy only utilizes 3 frets, Medium 4, and Hard means you'll be using all 5 fret buttons. Expert is the most difficult to play on and will utilize all 5 frets and move the tracks faster as well as incorporate more notes and difficult chords. Obviously you'll want to start with easy and move up from there because learning your timing and finger positions will be the key to this game.

The songs available are amazing! Everything from Queen, AC DC, David Bowe, Boston, and many original songs preformed by the Harmonix team appear in this game. Bark at the Moon, Iron Man, More then a Feeling, and Killer Queen are just of the few famous songs you'll be attempting to play in your quest to become a Guitar Hero.

Quick Play allows you to play any song you have currently unlocked and keeps records of high scores while Career mode allows you to work your way up from a local band to becoming a guitar legend. In career mode you'll select your character and guitar and be off to perform at some local clubs. Before long your earning money and moving up in the world.

Money you earn from shows can be used in the "Unlock Shop" to purchase videos, new songs, new guitars, and new characters. Videos showcase the making of the game Guitar Hero, including the way the songs were recorded, and character design. New songs are ones that have been preformed by Harmonix employees, or old bands that have appeared in other games produced by the studio, like Freezpop and can all be accessed at the quick play menu. New Guitars can be added to your inventory and new characters, including a very happy looking Grim Reaper can be accessed once purchased.

The Guitar Hero series for the Playstation 2 is and amazing game that really puts the player on center stage rocking out with Queen, or other rock legends. You'll have to practice a lot to become good at the game, but it's worth it to be able to nail the guitar solo during Bark at the Moon. So go ahead and rock out with the Grim Reaper playing your Gibson 800 listening to some awesome music along the way.