Claim Your Inner Rock God

Published November 7, 2007

The rhythm-based concept that drives Guitar Hero 3™: Legends of Rock can be understood by even the most novice gamer, but mastering its lightning-fast gameplay proves just as challenging as the most hardcore games available today. Consider the following tips before you begin strumming your way to stardom. They should get you started in the right direction, and help you to avoid the common Guitar Hero 3 pitfalls. Good luck.

Use the four-fingered grip.

Easy Does It

The Guitar Hero franchise was already famous for its challenging gameplay, and developer Neversoft certainly kept the hardcore, expert fans in mind when designing Guitar Hero 3. There's no shame then in playing on Easy. In fact, it's downright essential if you're either new to the series or simply didn't spend a great deal of time with either of the previous offerings. You can dive into the deep end on some games, but not Guitar Hero 3.

Hold the Lower

It's natural for the novice player to tap and strum each note individually, and while this method can prove effective during the early songs on Easy difficulty, it's a habit you should break as quickly as possible. Instead, always hold the lower notes (the buttons further up on the fret board) when playing a higher note.

For example, hold down the green and red buttons when playing yellow. This way, if the next note is red, simply lift your finger off the yellow button and you're already in position to play the note.

That's just rough.

Four-Fingered Grip

The most common guitar grip finds most players fingering the fret board with three fingers. Unless you're naturally gifted at sliding up and down the frets though, you'll want to use all four fingers. Moving up and down the frets is just too imprecise for non-advanced players. It may seem uncomfortable at first to use four fingers, but it will pay dividends in the long run.

You may even want to employ this technique when playing on Easy. That way, when you switch to Medium difficulty and have to come to terms with the blue notes, you'll already feel comfortable fingering that extra note.

Trust the Song

Guitar Hero 3 is a musical rhythm game, and as such, trust your ears just as much as your eyes when timing your notes. If you listen to the song as well as watching the notes, you'll play with more instinctive timing and that's a good thing. Trust your hearing.

What You Know

It's not necessary to claim victory over every song in the Guitar Hero 3 rotation in order to proceed to the next venue. Base your song selections on what you're already familiar with instead of simply moving down the list. It's a heckuva lot easier to play a song you grew up on than one you've never heard before.

Can you rock the masses?

Practice, Practice, Practice

Guitar Hero 3 is not a game of instant success. No matter your skill level as a gamer, you can't simply tackle a difficult song such as Slayer's "Raining Blood" on Medium or Hard (let alone Expert) and think you'll score big time or even finish the song.

If you're playing on anything but Easy, use Practice mode before each song and play at least one run-through on Slow speed and another on Full speed before playing live before an audience. This will save you a lot of frustration.

Hammer Timing

Veterans of Guitar Hero II will no doubt try their hand at the Hammer On, Pull Off techniques used to simplify a complex series of notes. While this technique does still work, the timing required to pull it off is now much less forgiving. Newcomers would do well to leave this technique to the experts or simply spend a great deal of time in Practice mode perfecting the art of Hammer Ons and Pull Offs.

Competitive Handicap

The ramp up in skill required to move from Medium to Hard difficulty is significant, let alone the gaping chasm separating Hard from Expert. Don't let this gulf stand in your way from either competing or playing cooperatively with the more skilled folks on your Friends List. Each player is allowed to determine their difficulty level independent of their cohort, making for a natural and balanced handicap.

These tips should get your fingers flexing, your toe tapping, and get you ready to claim your inner rock god. Now rock on!

Article by Ryan Treit