Guitar Hero: Aerosmith - Greatest Hit or B-Side?

The Guitar Hero franchise’s dominance over the rhythm-action genre came under attack last November with the release of the critically-acclaimed commercial hit, Rock Band.  This fall, Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero World Tour will clash in a veritable battle of the bands, seeking to win the love and adoration of fake musicians everywhere.  As a result, Guitar Hero:  Aerosmith, released on June 29^th for PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3,Wii, and Xbox 360, seems like an afterthought - an expansion pack aimed only at Aerosmith devotees and hardcore GH fanboys.  Does this virtual homage to one of the greatest rock and roll bands in history make you want to just push play, or is it the same old song and dance?

Guitar Hero: Aerosmith features the same well-honed gameplay and rock-inspired presentation that’s made the series a mega-hit.  Depending on your status as rock n00b or grizzled roadie, however, this will either be music to your ears or strike a sour note.  Players new to the series will be instantly impressed; seeing Steven Tyler strut across the stage with his signature swagger will sway even the most ambivalent of gamer to Guitar Hero’s side.  Long-time fake ax aficionados, on the other hand, will still find enjoyment, but the minuscule set list of 41 songs (compared to Guitar Hero III’s mammoth set of 73 songs) will leave them wanting more, especially considering GH:A is a full-priced title.  Even Aerosmith fans – the demographic this title is marketed at – may feel slighted, as not all the songs present are Aerosmith tunes.  Rest assured, most of their big hits (“Walk this Way,” “Sweet Emotion,” “Livin’ on the Edge,”) are playable, but the inclusion of songs by other bands certainly disintegrates some of GH:A’s magic.
Guitar Hero III’s difficulty drew mixed reactions:  some loved the punishing barrage of colored gems arranged in progressions the human fingers weren’t meant to contort to, while others despised the painful “fun.”  For better or worse, Neversoft sided with the latter group, resulting in a more forgiving overall difficulty for GH:A.  Whether you think this is a godsend or not will depend on your expertise.  I won’t bore you with the details of my weeks-long struggle to finish GHIII on Hard mode, but I will say that I was able to jump into Joe Perry’s shoes on Hard mode and not fail a single song.  In fact, I was able to five-star (or Gold Star) most of the songs on my first try – a far cry from my frustrating experience with GHIII.  Expert mode did provide an expected bump, but even then I was able to finish it without breaking a sweat; there was (thankfully) no Through the Fire and Flames-style shredding required.

One of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith’s greatest flaws is that it comes across as bare bones.  When you consider Rock Band’s addictively fun multi-player and Guitar Hero World Tour’s promise of song creation and a kick-ass drum set, you can’t help but look at GH:A with a sense of disappointment, since it doesn’t expand on the established formula and recycles a ton of content (characters, outfits, artwork, unlockable guitars, online battles) from GHIII.  Even for long-time Guitar Heroes, I can only recommend this one as a rental.  You’ll play it for a weekend and quickly forget it, realizing that unlike the titular band, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith won’t be inducted into any Halls of Fame. My score: 7/10