Previewed: June 2, 2008
Previewed by: Mark Smith

Publisher
Activision

Developer
Neversoft

Release Date: June 29, 2008
Genre: Music
Players: 1-2

Screenshots (Click Image for Gallery)

Guitar Hero: Aerosmith puts players in the enviable roles of Perry (guitar), Whitford (guitar) and Hamilton (bass)as they rock out alongside front man Steve Tyler and drummer Kramer. Gamers will get to relive Aerosmith's legendary career, from their very first gig to achieving the legendary status they continue to hold today.

As players progress through the structured tier modes, they can rock out to dozens of Aerosmith's greatest hits, as well as songs from celebrated artists that the band has either performed with or has been inspired by in some way. I’m a huge Aerosmith fan (even before I got to meet them in person at their show in Indianapolis) and have, what I thought, was their entire music catalog, but this latest game digs deep and managed to find a few songs that have eluded my collection.

You’ll get to play in several of the historical venues that recreate special moments from the band's extensive career and watch video clips and interviews from the various band members as they give some rare insight into their lives and their music.

While this all sounds great, especially for fans of Aerosmith (and Guitar Hero), I couldn’t help but feel the entire project seemed like a self-serving promotional piece for the band. Rock Band has been releasing band-specific add-on for their game as well, including entire albums for Judas Priest and most recently, Cars, but these have been $15 download packs and not spun into a full retail game. In fact, if you remove the venues and the video clips, Aerosmith could have just as easily been offered in a download pack, at least on the PS3 and 360. PS2 and Wii gamers always seem to get the shaft when it comes to post-purchase content.

I recently got some hands-on time with this latest version of Guitar Hero and it definitely brought back some memories. You see, ever since Rock Band showed up I haven’t laid a finger on a Guitar Hero guitar. It had been nearly six months since I had played any version of Guitar Hero, so this was like coming home after a semester of school and finding out mom had redecorated your bedroom…oddly familiar, slightly weird, but strangely comfortable.

The first thing I noticed was that Aerosmith seemed “easier” than I had remembered Guitar Hero actually being – especially the third game. In the past I could usually get 100% on Medium and struggle through a song on Hard. I would never even attempt Expert. But under the pressure of a dozen or more journalistic peers, I timidly set the skill to Hard and was winning songs with 90% and higher. I tried a few more songs and kept winning, so with boosted ego, I set the skill to Expert and won…then won again, and then I failed miserably on the third song of the first set.

But even so, for a game I had never been able to regularly pass a song on Hard or even get through an intro on Expert, here I was completing entire songs on the toughest difficulty. I’ve come to one of two conclusions. Either Guitar Hero: Aerosmith has been retooled and is now easier than Legends of Rock, or six months of semi-regular Rock Band has greatly improved my guitar skills and reflexes.

Moving around the demonstration area, I was able to rock out on the 360, PS3, and the Wii. Not much has changed with the system specific idiosyncrasies. The Wii version offers solid gameplay at the expense of less-than-stellar graphics. The PS3 had some serious button response issues that tripped me up nearly every song. I’ll attribute these glitches to the game being a “demo”, at least until I play the final shipping version. As always, the Xbox 360 version rises to the top with gorgeous visuals, solid button response, and the undeniable appeal of Achievement points.

Guitar Hero: Aerosmith doesn’t stray too far from the form and structure of past games. You can play in a multi-tiered career mode, moving from venue to venue only after you have completed the set list in the current location. I’m not sure if it was just the demo, or if it will be this way in the final game, but you were only allowed one new song after completing the current one. In past games you had access to the entire set list for the venue, that way if you got stuck you could at least try something else and come back later. As it is now, you are locked into a pretty linear experience unless this changes.

All of the great multiplayer modes are back including Face Off, Pro Face Off, and the insanely fun Battle mode where you get to launch various musical attacks at your opponent while you battle for rock legend status.

To keep rockers from going into Aerosmith overload, Neversoft has included numerous non-Aerosmith songs. In each location you will play three official Aerosmith songs and two other songs from bands that have some sort of ties with Aerosmith. Many of these songs are performed by the original artist, and when cover bands are used, they are usually “famous” cover bands, or at least famous enough that they share a byline credit on the opening screen.

The final song count and track list has yet to be confirmed (or even leaked) but here are the tracks and venues we do know of.

Nipmuc High School
Mott the Hoople – All the Young Dudes *Cover
Cheap Trick – Dream Police
Aerosmith – Make It
Aerosmith – Uncle Salty
Aerosmith – Draw the Line

Max's Kansas City
Joan Jett – I hate myself for loving you
The Kinks – All day and all of the night *Cover
Aerosmith – Movin' Out
Aerosmith – No Surprize
Aerosmith – Sweet Emotion

The Orpheum Theater
The Clash – Complete Control
New York Dolls – Personality Crisis *Cover
Aerosmith – Livin' on the Edge
Aersomith – Ragdoll
Aerosmith – Love in an Elevator

Half Time Show
Lenny Kravitz – Always on the Run
Black Crowes – Hard to Handle *Cover
Aerosmith – Back in the Saddle
Aerosmith – Beyond Beautiful
Aerosmith – Dream On

Moscow
The Cult – She Sells Sanctuary
Run DMC – King of Rock
Aerosmith – Bright Light Fright
Aerosmith – Nobody's Fault
Run DMC featuring Aerosmith – Walk This Way

Offered as a standalone game or as part of a special bundle including guitar with custom faceplate (360 and PS3 only) and tour book, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith will definitely rock your world when it ships later this month. And with a nice selection of rock and roll favorites rounding out a heavy core of Aerosmith music, this latest installment will keep you rocking until Guitar Hero 4 arrives this fall.