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Guitar Hero: Metallica comes equipped with all the modes and gameplay types from World Tour, including fully featured multiplayer, leaderboards, the song creator and GH Tunes. Multiplayer offers up a handful of different gaming types, all of which are functionally sound. The controversial-yet-popular battle mode now features Metallica specific attacks, like the Fade to Black power-up that blackens your opponents note highway as they play. I have not been a fan of battle mode in the past, but the tweaks made this time really make it a fun experience. The only mode I had a problem gaining access to was the Band vs. Band due to a lack of players. This was also something I experienced in Guitar Hero: World Tour, so it is not surprising that it hasn't taken off in Guitar Hero: Metallica. The leaderboards offer your standard career mode rankings, song rankings and a modified Rock Rank board, all of which can be sorted in a variety of different ways. The song creator and GH Tunes are carried over directly from Guitar Hero: World Tour, so if you were one of the lucky ones able to figure out how to create music that is actually listenable to, you will be right at home.

If I have a complaint about the game, it is the fact that the only downloadable content (DLC) that works with the game is Metallica's Death Magnetic album, which was available for either Guitar Hero III or Guitar Hero: World Tour. Coupled with the fact that none of the content on Guitar Hero: Metallica can be transferred to Guitar Hero: World Tour (ala Rock Band to Rock Band 2), Guitar Hero: Metallica becomes a very closed off experience. With so many music/rhythm games being released, it would be nice if a set standard could be maintained. As much as I like Metallica, not all my friends do, and the ability to bounce between "Beat It" (from Guitar Hero: World Tour) and "Enter Sandman" is something that, with the technology available (and Activision's main competitor doing it), should be standard.

Some people are going to complain that Guitar Hero: Metallica just isn't worth the same price as Guitar Hero: World Tour. World Tour features 30+ more songs than Guitar Hero: Metallica and it receives DLC support on a weekly basis, something that Guitar Hero: Metallica most certainly won't be getting. However, Neversoft has really packed this release with a ton of extras. Each song has some sort of bonus material with it, from lyrics to song notes to the awesome Metallifacts videos. Metallifacts are essentially the background gameplay video (the band on stage performing) supplemented with interesting facts about each song. In addition to all of that, the game is also packed with live concert footage, like a bootleg video of "Orion," and behind the scenes video footage on the making of the game, including the extensive motion capture used to make the characters so realistic.

Made for the Fans

Neversoft has tweaked the World Tour formula for the better, and mixed some Metallica in. The game is a treasure trove of Metallica history for fans and it is evident that Neversoft put a lot of heart and soul into making this title. For those who long to be the Master of Puppets, I can't recommend this title enough, as Guitar Hero: Metallica is the best band branded game of its kind.