Once again it's time to rock out with the second Guitar Hero title in the matter of five months for the Xbox 360. In Guitar Hero: Metallica, players are eligible to play through close to 30 Metallica songs and 20 or so other songs too boot. If there were one legendary band deserving of star treatment with their very own Guitar Hero title, it would have to be Metallica. In comparison to the last “spin-off” or “star-driven” Guitar Hero title, Guitar Hero: Metallica is head and toes above water when matched against Guitar Hero: Aerosmith – an obvious cash-in if there ever was one – and Guitar Hero: Rock the ‘80’s. The track listing in Guitar Hero: Metallica is one of the best entries so far – if you like Metallica that is. Offering up among the greatest Metallica hits known to mankind, metal fans will be peeing in their pants in joy when they get their first chance to shred to their favorite Metallica tracks.
Outside of Metallica, you’ll have the ability to play through songs from legendary metalheads such as Judas Priest or ultra-hard Slayer. If you aren’t a fan of metal, then maybe the selection of Queen, Alice in Chains and Lynyrd Skynyrd will tickle your fancy. While you might think that Guitar Hero: Metallica would be one of the most difficult titles in the franchise, it’s almost exactly the opposite due to how forgiving it is. If you’ve played through Guitar Hero III, you’ll remember how insanely hard “One” was towards the end of the set list, so this theory of Metallica only producing epic songs that will give your fingers calices has been proven wrong. There are plenty of early songs from the masterminds themselves that will allow novice players to get thrills out of rocking out to their favorite tracks. Also, that’s not to say that the difficulty doesn’t get hard as Activision and Neversoft have given players a chance to tackle the new Expert+ drum difficulty.
Adding in a second bass pedal, players will try to emulate Lars’ drumming skills to perfection. This second bass pedal is only used in the Expert+ difficulty level, so that’s a small downfall for players who don’t can’t venture that far into the game. A few other things have changed from normal Guitar Hero practices. No longer will you have to unlock all songs via a tier system, but rather you’ll need to get five stars on a handful of tracks to unlock the whole set list. If you can muster up the ability to get five stars on the early tracks, unlocking the rest of the set list is gravy. It’s simple and removes the stress from the earlier titles that pestered players by making them play through every single song. Lastly, the graphics have been improved on with new animations and more realistic character models. The band worked on motion capture with Neversoft, so it’s actually Lars representing the cartoon Lars in the background going to town on the drums.
Having laughed at the past iterations in the series, Guitar Hero: Metallica does a serviceable job with its avatars in the background rocking out. The main reason to pick up Guitar Hero: Metallica is, of course, if you are a fan of the band themselves. The catalogue of songs is among the greatest selections for Metallica fans, even if they aren’t into rhythm. Sure, not every Metallica single is presented, but for the 30 or so tracks provided, there’s a plethora of singles for fans of the metal gods. On top of that, there are special features to be unlocked that include behind the scenes footage, song lyrics, trivia and much more from and about Metallica themselves. This is the end all / be all Metallica game aimed at fans and metalheads who want to thrash with their friends. Buy Guitar Hero: Metallica right now and you’ll find yourself entertained until at least the holidays.
