Celebrate Metallica
Published April 21, 2009
When Guitar Hero®: Aerosmith® released on Xbox 360®, it set the stage for band-specific games in the franchise.
A moment Guitar Hero fans have been waiting for.
Using a deft blend of the title band's music (spanning nearly the entire breadth of their career) along with tracks from other groups handpicked by Aerosmith, and showcasing a deep abiding love of the band via venues, motion-captured performances, outfits, guitars, and the like, GH: Aerosmith proved you could produce one kick-ass rock and roll game that also worked as a celebration of the much-loved band.
Neversoft strikes a rare and needed balance between
the obvious challenge of keeping up with Hammett
and company and the game's inherent fun factor.
Enter now Guitar Hero® Metallica®, a marriage of game and band perhaps even more perfect than its inspired predecessor. In the past, Metallica songs in Guitar Hero games have acted as benchmarks, a brilliantly challenging standard with which you could define your Guitar Hero skill level and perfect your craft.
If you could tear through a Metallica song on Expert, you had arrived, so to have an entire game dedicated to metal's most iconic group is a stroke of brilliance.
Variations on a Theme
The game's most noteworthy feature of course is the music itself, which encompasses twenty-eight Metallica songs (including such classics as "The Unforgiven," "Master of Puppets," "King Nothing," "Battery," and "Creeping Death") and twenty-one songs from artists as varied as Queen, Judas Priest, System of a Down, Slayer, and Foo Fighters.
Ulrich is a machine on drums.
Even more remarkable than the set list is the quality of gameplay each song brings to the table. Metallica songs in particular tend to encompass several movements per song. For example, "One" from …And Justice for All may begin with a gentle, almost sorrowful melody, but it transitions into a searing heavy metal riff that stands quite apart from its melodic intro and interludes.
Each movement often carries with it a variation on a theme begun earlier in the song, making for tracks so varied you almost feel you're strumming your way through multiple songs in one.
World Tour Engine
Separating this game from the Aerosmith version is the Guitar Hero World Tour engine, which allows you to play drums (Lars Ulrich), lead guitar (Kirk Hammett), bass (Robert Trujillo), and, of course, sing vocals (James Hetfield). Indeed, the game introduces a brand new element for hardcore drummers, support for a second foot-pedal, a must for those hoping to keep up with Lars' relentlessly paced percussion.
The Music Studio feature makes a reappearance, allowing you to custom craft your own metaltastic songs with brand new samples tailor-made to fit the Metallica theme.
Challenging But Fair
Also worthy of note is Neversoft's excellent work translating the note tracks for each instrument. Tackling Metallica songs in previous games has always been a daunting proposition, but here Neversoft strikes a rare and needed balance between the obvious challenge of keeping up with Hammett and company, and the game's inherent fun factor. Challenging, but not overly frustrating is the watchword.
Metallica Fan Service
In addition to the incredibly detailed character models for each band member, and the motion-captured animations that bring their authentic stage presences to life, Metallica fans can look forward to content celebrating their favorite band. This includes virtual replicas of instruments made famous by the band, which you can then purchase and use for your own character.
Challenging? Sure. Impossible? Well, on Expert maybe …
The behind-the-scenes videos showcase live performances from the band for a wide variety of songs. You can even look up the lyrics for every in-game song and check out a gallery that includes dozens of photos of the band, and even original lyrics.
Series fans can of course expect all the features found in previous games. This includes Face-Off competitive modes over Xbox LIVE®, including 2-versus-2 guitar competitions and Head-to-Head offline competitions. You can view Leaderboards at any time, use Quickplay to queue up any song you've already unlocked in Career Mode, and much more.
Guitar Hero Metallica brings to life metal's most iconic band, celebrating the band and metal music. Whether it's Kirk Hammett's blazing guitar work, Ulrich's psycho-paced drumming, Trujillo's evocative bass, or Hetfield's raw vocals, GH: Metallica has something to offer every metal fan and franchise fan.
Article by Ryan Treit
