TimGilbreath.com

Take my favorite band of all time, and let them release a version of one of my favorite games of all time, and you’ve got a recipe for me waiting for the doors to my local gamestop to open last Sunday.  The latest version of the Guitar Hero franchise has arrived, and although the gameplay hasn’t changed, the tonal assault delivered surpasses anything Activision has given us to date.

You already  know what to expect with Guitar Hero: Metallica….fast, furious, heavy, and challenging riffs and leads throughout.  The most attractive point about this game is that the songs are difficult, but not impossible….unless you want them to be.  A new difficulty level allows you to bang away at the drums on Expert+, supporting an additional foot pedal to emulate Lars’ exact style and patterns.

I wanted to wait until I had progressed further before I wrote a review, but I can already tell you what a gem this game is.  The premise is a bit cheesy, of course; you are inspired by Metallica to start your own band, and lo and behold, you manage to get an opening spot for the metal gods (don’t we wish it was that easy?).  The game features almost 50 songs, 28 of which are Metallica master tracks.  When you play a guest act song (and there are some incredible ones here, including “The Boys are Back in Town” by Thin Lizzy and a live version of Bob Seger’s “Turn the Page”), you play as yourself, and when a Metallica track is selected,  you come onstage as the band themselves.  The models are accurate, with crisp graphics, and although the standard Guitar Hero “cartoony” type feel is present, the band members look like themselves.  One dissappointment, although real-life musical characters can be unlocked, you will not find Jason Newsted or Cliff Burton in the lineup, for obvious personal reasons to the band.

Songs rage from moderate to insane, with plenty of their toughest tracks available to play, including “Master of Puppets”, “Mercyful Fate”, “Fade to Black”, and others.  You can pretty much bet that anything from the Master of Puppets, Ride the Lightning, and Kill ‘Em All albums will be tough.  Although a solid “Hard” difficulty player on Rock Band 2, I found myself failing some of the tougher songs on Guitar Hero: Metallica on that level and had to stoop to Medium (which at times I found a bit boring, depending on the song).

Online play is here, with everything Guitar Hero World Tour offered and a bit more, including a slightly more involved online band play component, which is much welcomed.

Even if you’re not a Metallica fan, but just a Guitar Hero afficianado, this game will provide plenty of entertainment.  If you’re like me, and spent a portion of your life (or still do) living and breathing the world of Metallica, this is a buy, not a rent.

Us Guitar Hero fans have known about the upcoming Guitar Hero: Metallica game, but recently the entire tracklist has been posted, and wow, are there some good ones in here!  The game is being released on March 29th of this year, and of course, I’ll have a review up shortly after that.

Guitar Hero: Metallica Official Song List

Metallica Tracks:

• “All Nightmare Long”
• “Battery”
• “Creeping Death”
• “Disposable Heroes”
• “Dyers Eve”
• “Enter Sandman”
• “Fade to Black”
• “Fight Fire With Fire”
• “For Whom the Bell Tolls”
• “Frantic”
• “Fuel”
• “Hit the Lights”
• “King Nothing”
• “Master of Puppets”
• “Mercyful Fate (Medley)”
• “No Leaf Clover”
• “Nothing Else Matters”
• “One”
• “Orion”
• “Sad but True”
• “Seek and Destroy”
• “The Memory Remains”
• “The Shortest Straw”
• “The Thing That Should Not Be”
• “The Unforgiven”
• “Welcome Home (Sanitarium)”
• “Wherever I May Roam”
• “Whiplash”

Other Artists:
• Alice in Chains - “No Excuses”
• Bob Seger - “Turn the Page”
• Corrosion of Conformity - “Albatross”
• Diamond Head - “Am I Evil?”
• Foo Fighters - “Stacked Actors”
• Judas Priest - “Hell Bent for Leather”
• Kyuss - “Demon Cleaner”
• Lynyrd Skynyrd - “Tuesday’s Gone”
• Machine Head - “Beautiful Mourning”
• Mastodon - “Blood and Thunder”
• Mercyful Fate - “Evil”
• Michael Schenker Group - “Armed and Ready”
• Motörhead - “Ace of Spades”
• Queen - “Stone Cold Crazy”
• Samhain - “Mother of Mercy”
• Slayer - “War Ensemble”
• Social Distortion - “Mommy’s Little Monster”
• Suicidal Tendencies - “War Inside My Head”
• System of a Down - “Toxicity”
• The Sword - “The Black River”
• Thin Lizzy - “The Boys Are Back in Town”