Reviews// Guitar Hero II (PS2)
An uncontrollable urge to hop about the room and headbang
As you play the game, your chosen avatar and their band will play to a crowd of people. Naturally, the better or worse your performance, cheerier or jeerier will be the audience’s response. Even though you won’t be able to take the background imagery in for all the strumming action you’ll be doing, from the perspective of others in the room it’s an entertaining thing to watch. The graphics, to this extent, serve their purpose well.
When people aren’t looking at the on-screen rockers who are strumming in time to your actions, they’ll be checking out your real-life crazy guitar antics. Just like the first game, playing Guitar Hero II is best with the SG Controller, and when holding this peripheral, strange things happen to you.
When I played the songs I had this uncontrollable urge to hop about the room, headbang, or even make insane jumps – hopefully without the breakage of limbs like Jimmy from ‘cult’ (as in ‘amusingly obscure’ rather than faded 80s pomp-rockers) website, ‘Guitar Hero Broke My Knee’.
This game has this power to unleash the inner rocker from anyone holding the guitar. And it feels good: from simply bouncing in time to the riffs while hitting the right frets, to activating Star Power by holding your guitar vertically.
And if you’re looking for mates to join in, Guitar Hero II has a split-screen mode where you can challenge another wannabe to a rousing duel over Alice In Chains or Lynyrd Skynyrd.
With a ton of extra such as new songs, bonus videos and new characters to purchase through the game’s ‘store’, you can extend the life of the game several times over. Why, there must be around ten or twenty bonus tracks to earn using money you win in the Career Mode.
During the single player mode, you also get the chance to perform an ‘encore’, thus unlocking another classic anthem. There’s nothing left to say now, other than get your rock face on and play until your fingers lock up!
SPOnG Score: A
Guitar Hero II is an absolutely rocking game, if you excuse the pun. It’s pretty much exactly the same as the original, which is no bad thing – and yet it adds the extra kick of several new features that will test masters of the first game. The multiplayer, the unlockable items, the varied tracklist and the pure exhibitionism of the SG Controller makes this game the saviour of any party.
This game has this power to unleash the inner rocker from anyone holding the guitar. And it feels good: from simply bouncing in time to the riffs while hitting the right frets, to activating Star Power by holding your guitar vertically.
SPOnG Score: A
Guitar Hero II is an absolutely rocking game, if you excuse the pun. It’s pretty much exactly the same as the original, which is no bad thing – and yet it adds the extra kick of several new features that will test masters of the first game. The multiplayer, the unlockable items, the varied tracklist and the pure exhibitionism of the SG Controller makes this game the saviour of any party.