March 31, 2008
The structure of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is essentially Guitar Hero 3 -- no major changes to the way things like Star Power and setlists work. But everything is presented as a timeline of Aerosmith's rise to fame beginning with the first show they ever played at Nipmuc Regional High School (this is the first venue for Career mode). The "opening band" is represented by a couple of tracks from those other artists that somehow made an impact on Aerosmith. The first tier includes the likes of "All The Young Dudes" by Mott the Hoople and "Dream Police" by Cheap Trick. (Check below for the first 10 revealed tracks.) And it's not just a "we love these songs" sentiment governing the selection...The Kinks are included because they were stingy with stage space when the two bands played together way back when. |
After the usual Guitar Hero stable of characters warms up the crowd with those songs, Steven and the boys take the stage. The final set list breaks down to 40 percent from the other bands and 60 percent Aerosmith tunes, and the collection isn't just a repeat of Big Ones: The band wanted some of their more sentimental, fan-only songs like "No Surprize" to go along with the radio hits. Again, this pleases Group A, as should the other decorative elements like changing the Guitar Center-sponsored shop to Aerosmith's Vindaloo studio and incorporating video interviews with the band between song tiers that add some more Behind the Music-type information. Developer Neversoft did respond to complaints that the career mode in GH3 had some...uneven difficulty. They claim to have smoothed out a curve that rose way too quickly in some of the later tiers and difficulty levels while retaining the entertaining note patterns and chord changes. There's even one boss battle in the game, though they were hesitant to divulge exactly who that would be. (The smart money's on Alicia Silverstone.) First 10 songs as they appear in Career mode: Tier 1
Tier 2
By Andrew Pfister 03/28/2008 |