Metal

Ask any metal fan a list of the greatest metal bands, and you will get the typical replies of Iron Maiden, Slayer, and the like. However, one of the most recognized bands of all is Metallica, a group that has been around for decades. There is some discontent however, on which Metallica is the best. After the group released The Black Album in 1991, people began to call them sellouts, willing to sell their music to become more commercially successful, and what way is better to sellout than getting your own Guitar Hero game?

Music games

The Guitar Hero series has quickly taken its place in the pantheon of gaming giants with the likes of Halo and Madden. The series has made more money at retail than some countries GDP with four full fledged games, two portable adaptations, and two spin-off games. Surprisingly, the series JUST made the transition from guitars only to full band play ala Rock Band. Sadly, that transition didn’t make it in time for the first Guitar Hero game focused on a single band, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith.

For those who have never played a music game (23 million units sold people! Where have you been?!?!), the basic premise is that players use plastic guitars, drums, and a microphone to simulate a full rock band. Colored notes scroll down the screen, where the player must hit/hold the corresponding button on their controller. Along with guitars, bass’, and drums, players can sing along using a microphone in a way similar to games such as Karaoke Revolution. Here’s the thing though. If you are new to music games, you may want to stay far, far away from this latest addition to the genre.

Difficulties

As anyone who has played Guitar Hero III or World Tour can tell you, Metallica songs are pretty damn hard. The solos are long and complex, the drumming difficult, and bass lines are good enough that you won’t be left standing alone wishing you were the guitarist. If you expect to walk through this game easily, you will probably fail… a lot.

If you do choose to stick around, you will be pleased to note that all of the basic difficulties are here, from Beginner to Expert (that’s the one where you bleed). New to the game is the drum exclusive Expert-Plus. People who preorder the game receive an extra bass pedal and splitter enabling you to have dual kick pedals for those harder drum charts. Of course, if you feel like you can keep up with one foot pedal, you can always just use that.