Now there are two ways to play and buy this game. First you can buy just the game and play with the standard control, or you can buy the game with a guitar control and really get into it. I did not try playing it with the control because I had a guitar sitting there. I will have to say though when I first started playing the game I felt like an idiot. I mean a 27 year old girl standing in front of a TV with a plastic guitar strapped to her moving around to the music. But after the first song all that went away and I had others coming in asking to play too.

Here is the part though where I will warn you, I’m a little biased about this game for two reasons. First I got to play Danzig’s “Mother” and second there is a character named Pandora. But I really think that if you love music and either play guitar or wanted to play guitar you will enjoy this game. There are numerous characters you can choose to be and they are all different looking. You have a rockabilly type guy, a metal guy, punk guy, several girls, among others. And the songs you get to play span all genres too. Kiss, Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Kansas, Alice In Chains, Guns N’ Roses, Thin Lizzy, Lamb Of God, Megadeth, Suicidal Tendencies, and Stray Cats are just a few of the 55 plus that are on here.

Now I played the first one and a few things are changed from that one. The screen that the notes run across is a little lighter so you have an easier time seeing them. What I really like that is different, is after you finish a song you have the choice of seeing how you did. They break the songs down into sections (opening, guitar solo 1, 2,3, closing, etc.) so you can see what percent you got for each and the areas you may need to work on. Also in my opinion they made the earlier levels much easier.

Gameplay is a simple concept. On the guitar there are 5 color tabs on the neck, one white button to strum, and a whammy bar. On the screen a color dot moves down and when it hits the bottom circle you hold down that color tab and strum. You can hold down notes well before they get there as long as you don’t strum. It sounds easy but it may take you a little bit to get the timing down. If you don’t want to go through career mode that is ok too. There is a quick play option that has some of the songs already opened for you and more will open as you complete them in career mode. You can also earn money to buy guitars and other songs like the “Trogdor” song. The biggest song that you can open though is Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird”. You can open this on medium level or higher; but once opened you can play it in easy mode in the quick play section.

Ok so there is more than one person that wants to play. This is possible too. You can go head to head against each other to see who played the best or one can play the guitar riffs while the other plays the bass line and there is no competition. And for those left-handed people out there have no fear. You can change it over to left hand in the controls and flip the guitar over. But before I end my review I offer two pieces of advice. 1. Don’t fight the urge to move, it throws off your timing and well you feel like you are really playing more. And 2. Be prepared for your wrist to hurt. I didn’t realize how long I had played for and was in pain for hours when I stopped.

-Pandora has been a writer for Shakefire.com since 2002.  Contact her at pandora@shakefire.com

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