Guitar Hero

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This article is about the 2005 video game. For information on the Guitar Hero series in general, see Guitar Hero (series).
Guitar Hero
Developer(s) Harmonix Music Systems
Publisher(s) RedOctane
Designer(s) Harmonix Music Systems
Release date(s) NA November 8, 2005
EUR April 7, 2006
AUS June 15, 2006
JPN TBA
Genre(s) Music video game
Mode(s) Single player, multiplayer
Rating(s) ESRB: T (Teen)
PEGI: 12+
OFLC: PG
Platform(s) PlayStation 2
Media DVD
Input Guitar controller

Guitar Hero is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems and published by RedOctane for the PlayStation 2 video game console. It features a guitar-shaped peripheral (resembling a miniature Gibson SG) as the primary controller to simulate the playing of an electric guitar. Guitar Hero was released on November 8, 2005 in North America, April 7, 2006 in Europe and June 15, 2006 in Australia.

Although it is similar to Konami's Guitar Freaks, Guitar Hero's gameplay look and feel are somewhat different. Guitar Hero has won many awards from major video game publications and its success spawned the 2006 sequel, Guitar Hero II for both the PlayStation 2 and the Xbox 360.

Contents

[edit] Gameplay

See also: Common gameplay elements in the Guitar Hero series

The gameplay is similar to other Harmonix music games, in that the player must play scrolling notes to complete a song. In the case of Guitar Hero, the player must use the guitar peripheral to play the scrolling notes by holding the corresponding fret button on the guitar neck and simultaneously pressing the strum bar. Alternatively, one can use the "DualShock 2" controller by using the R1, R2, L1, L2, and X buttons.

[edit] Scoring

50 points are earned for every note hit. Chords are worth twice as much as single notes. Each time that 10 consecutive notes are successfully played — chords counted as one note for this purpose — the point multiplier increases by one and the points each note is worth is multiplied by that number, up to a maximum four times the base amount. Star Power allows the player to temporarily double the score on every note, effectively turning a x4 multiplier into a x8 for its duration.

The final score, along with overall accuracy percentage and longest note streak, are reported at the end of a song. It is not uncommon for a song to contain 400-600 notes or more. More complicated songs on Hard or Expert difficulty can contain 1000-2000 notes. A rating of 3, 4, or 5 stars (there are no 1 or 2 stars) will also be displayed. For 4 stars you have to get twice as many points as the base score. For 5 stars you have to get three times as many points as the base score. The base score is how many points you'd get if you hit every note and held every sustain for its full length without gaining a multiplier.

[edit] Soundtrack

The game features 47 playable songs; 30 of these tracks are covers of the originals. The additional 17 songs are by lesser-known groups. Many of these groups feature members of the Harmonix development team, while some are indie Boston area groups. Drist's guitarist, Marcus Henderson, provided lead guitar on 20 of the game's 30 cover tracks.

All cover tracks are credited on screen with the phrase "as made famous by" (e.g., "I Wanna Be Sedated, as made famous by The Ramones").

[edit] Main setlist

1. Opening Licks

2. Axe-Grinders

3. Thrash And Burn

4. Return of the Shred

5. Fret-Burners

6. Face-Melters

[edit] Bonus tracks

[edit] Unused songs

These can only be unlocked through the use of a PlayStation 2 cheat device, such as GameShark, CodeBreaker or Action Replay.

  • "Trippolette" , also known as "Adv Harmony", by Andrew Buch.
  • "Graveyard Shift", which was created by one of Harmonix's artists, "Aaron".[citation needed]

[edit] Characters

There are eight playable characters in Guitar Hero, six of them being available from the beginning of the game. Though the characters never speak, their personalities come through their design and playing style. Their characters are given brief character descriptions in the game's manual booklet and character select screen.

  • Axel Steel (a jeans-clad metalhead)
  • Clive Winston (a psychedelic-esque rocker)
  • Judy Nails (a redhead alternative rocker)
  • Johnny Napalm (a punk rocker with a spiky mohawk)
  • Pandora (a dark nu-metal rocker with blue hair)
  • Xavier Stone (an African-American alternative guitarist)

There are also two extra characters that can only be unlocked in Career Mode through the Unlock Shop. They are as follows:

  • Izzy Sparks (a hair metal character)
  • Grim Ripper (the personification of Death, plays with a scythe-shaped guitar)

[edit] Awards

Guitar Hero has won numerous awards.

  • Game Developers Choice Awards[6]
    • Excellence in Audio
    • Excellence in Game Innovation
  • IGN's Best of 2005
    • Best Music Game[7]
    • Best PlayStation 2 Music Game[8]
    • Best Licensed Soundtrack[9]
    • Best Licensed Soundtrack for PlayStation 2[10]
    • Best Offline Multiplayer Game[11]
    • Best PlayStation 2 Offline Multiplayer Game[12]
    • Best Gaming Peripheral (for the Mini Gibson SG controller)[13]

[edit] Sequels

Main article: Guitar Hero (series)

Released on November 7, 2006, Guitar Hero II includes 64 songs (40 of them being licensed, 24 being independent or bonus tracks). The game also introduced a practice mode, as well as a new multiplayer co-op mode that will let players collaborate by playing lead, rhythm, or bass guitar parts together.

Though Guitar Hero II was originally released on PlayStation 2, an Xbox 360 version was released on April 3, 2007.[14] On February 7, 2007, Activision CEO Mike Griffith officially announced a Wii version slated to be released sometime in the 2008 fiscal year.[15]

A reported third installment in the series, entitled Guitar Hero: 80's Edition for the PlayStation 2 is scheduled for release in spring 2007.[16]

Neversoft appears to be the lead developer for a Guitar Hero III, but no current estimated release date is known.[17]

[edit] Trivia

This article contains a trivia section.
Content in this section should be integrated into other appropriate areas of the article or removed, and the trivia section removed.
  • The song "Spanish Castle Magic" was recorded with vocals, though they are not present in the final game. The song can be sampled with vocals intact at the official Guitar Hero website. Why the vocals were removed from the song in the final version hasn't been officially determined. It has been suggested that Hendrix's estate did not want an impersonator to emulate his voice.[citation needed]
  • While waiting for a song to load, the screen shows an amplifier. The amp has three volume knobs, each is turned to 11. A random loading screen displays 'Eleven IS louder than ten'. These are references to the 1984 "rockumentary" This is Spinal Tap, in which an amplifier is praised for its ability to go to 11 rather than simply 10.
  • Though many of the loading screens give the player brief playing tips and hints, many of them are also jokes about rock and roll culture. One of the screens reads: "They don't really want you to play Free Bird, they're just heckling you." This is a reference to the Lynyrd Skynyrd song "Free Bird" and its frequent request at concerts. "Free Bird" became a playable song in Guitar Hero II, with a rather self-referencing response: "Fine. They're not just heckling you this time. Sigh."
  • Watching the credits in their entirety rewards the viewer with a number of messages, one of them asking the player if they've started playing a real guitar yet. A similar suggestion can be found for attaining Guitar God status on any of the difficulty settings in career mode.
  • After completing all songs on the expert difficulty, the player receives the "Battle Axe" guitar. At the Guitar Select Screen, the info box next to the Battle Axe states "Judge this race not by its remains." This is very similar to one of the lines in Genesis' "Watcher of the Skies" that states "Judge not this race by empty remains."
  • At the song select screen, if you scroll to the bottom, there is a graphic with the letters PMRC crossed out. This is a reference to a protest in which the band Rage Against The Machine protested the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) by standing on stage completely naked.
  • At the character select screen, when the Grim Ripper character is highlighted, the info box on the right side of the screen states, "Do not fear the Ripper," an obvious allusion to the Blue Öyster Cult song, "(Don't Fear) The Reaper".
  • The song "You've Got Another Thing Comin'" by Judas Priest was misspelled as "You Got Another Thing Comin'" in the game.
  • The unlockable bonus track "Guitar Hero" is played by Monkey Steals The Peach, a fictional band made up of rotating members of the Harmonix art team including Mike "Swid" Swidereck (Level Artist and Bassist), Ryan Lesser (Art Director and Guitarist), Daniel Sussman (Producer and Guitarist), and Jason Kendall (Art Associate Producer and Singer).
  • Detroit Tigers relief pitcher Joel Zumaya missed the 2006 American League Championship Series because he strained his hand playing this game.[18]

[edit] References

  1. ^ While the original version of Higher Ground was performed by Stevie Wonder, the cover version in Guitar Hero is based on the cover of that song made famous by Red Hot Chili Peppers, based on the in-game information for this song.
  2. ^ http://www.interactive.org/awards.php?winners&year=2006
  3. ^ http://www.gamespot.com/pages/features/bestof2005/index.php?day=4&page=7
  4. ^ http://www.gamespot.com/pages/features/bestof2005/index.php?day=2&page=21
  5. ^ http://www.gamespot.com/pages/features/bestof2005/index.php?day=7&page=7
  6. ^ http://www.gamechoiceawards.com/archive/gdca_6th.htm
  7. ^ http://bestof.ign.com/2005/overall/6.html
  8. ^ http://bestof.ign.com/2005/ps2/6.html
  9. ^ http://bestof.ign.com/2005/overall/16.html
  10. ^ http://bestof.ign.com/2005/ps2/14.html
  11. ^ http://bestof.ign.com/2005/overall/20.html
  12. ^ http://bestof.ign.com/2005/ps2/18.html
  13. ^ http://bestof.ign.com/2005/gear/3.html
  14. ^ Guitar Hero II XBox 360 Single Player Bundle (Game+Guitar) Free Gig Bag.
  15. ^ Wii will rock Guitar Hero, Gamespot
  16. ^ New EGM reveals Guitar Hero: 1980s Edition (PS2)
  17. ^ GameDaily - Breaking: Guitar Hero Development Goes to Neversoft
  18. ^ Guitar hero? Pitcher hurt playing video game.

[edit] External links


v • d • e
Guitar Hero console games

Guitar Hero • Guitar Hero II • Guitar Hero III • 80's Edition •
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