Guitar Hero 3: The Boss Matches Suck, the Rest Rocks

[MisterNoisy]

And not an 80g?

Because of bc or what?

Correct. 80GB is software. I would trade 20GB for hardware BC any day of the week. You get a free game with the 60GB at EBGames now. Heavenly Sword can be that game. Also, you get the 5 free Blu-Ray Deal.

R&CF not available as the free game?

[schild]

Of course not. It's 6 days old.

[Grand Design]

Samwise: Honestly, I'll probably end up with both.  I've been milking this PS2 for about five years, and it's time to upgrade - the fact that the PS2 version has no downloadable content provides me with the excuse to get a PS3.


I assume that the PS3 still allows you to drop any SATA drive into it, so I could settle for 60g. 

The bc is important to me - hell, I still play my PS1 JetMoto 2 disk on the PS2.


Allright, sold. 

Now to resist the urge to leave work early...

[Sky]

The announcement that GH3 was going to be on the PC came just in the nick of time.    

I agree. I was momentarily very weak between GH3, GTA4 and Mass Effect....the moment passed. Plenty of great pc gaming to get me through until 2015 when Bioware finally makes the PC version ;)

[Special J]

Got it for my 360 yesterday and yeah I think it kicks ass.  Wireless is so much nicer.

Now loved GH II but I suck at it, having just started scratching hard and finding it very tough.  I'm ripping through medium, just shy of battling Slash.  The boss battles are kind of lame, but it's a pretty small part of the game.  I like the stages and the events during encores.  The fretboard is easier to read at least on the characters I tried; some GH II fretboards gave me trouble seeing some notes.  The track list is a pile of awesome.

Hammer-on/pull-offs are definitely way easier.  I really struggled doing them before but I do much better on them now.

Rock Band is neat, but I wonder if it's trying to do too much.  I don't really have much interest since I would never get enough people together at once to make full use of it.  Plus I don't want to do any damn karaoke, so drums are about the only extra thing I might do.

[Phildo]

So... has anyone else figured out how to play against your friends without some scrub joining your game first?  Activision's automated phone support has exactly zero information on the game, and there's nothing on their website regarding playing specific people.

[bhodi]

This game rocks. I'm destroying medium before I move to hard/expert, to get back into the groove and get some cash... I've got lag through the stupid HDMI port/1080p/progressive scan/whatever -- it's really really annoying. My PS2 which is also hooked up works just fine as long as it's not in progressive. Boo.

It's also like playing the entire soundtrack to dazed and confused. There are what, 4 songs from that CD on here?

[schild]

I had to set my delay on lag to 37ms.

[bhodi]

The most annoying part is that they didn't move the actual bar at the bottom -- they just adjusted where the 'valid' hitbox is (to below the actual bar). This really blows, since I can no longer line up and adjust visually, I have to do it by sound alone now. It's set at 50ms for me, so that I can actually hit the strum when I hear the notes and have it count. Things with constant strum (barracuda) still mess me up occasionally since it seems I'm actually closer to the next button by time I hit the first one -- if I don't count, I sometimes miss the trailing notes on the end.

Their calibrate lag thing is confusing and sucky too. If the clicks and the circle don't line up, they don't make it clear what you're expected to sync on -- when it hits the center of the bulls eye or when the sound is heard. I had to just guess and increase it until it seemed right.

[schild]

I synced on circle.

[Lantien]

Finally finished up Hard single player. Wow is tier 7 and 8 not fun to play. It doesn't help that with a few exceptions, I'm not crazy about the musical selections either. Cursed a fair amount playing the final song. Still haven't fine tuned when's the best time to dick over the boss.

Now that I've finished (Hard anyways) the whole setlist of Guitar Hero 3, I definitely think the people I live with and my own musical tastes has me more excited on playing Rock Band. The songs that we all enjoyed playing were songs of moderate difficulty that at least one of us enjoy listening to.  Out of the higher tier songs, I figure the songs that will get some play around here will be limited.  Probably stuff like Cherub Rock, Pride and Joy, and maybe 3's and 7's. Maybe Muse's song, but my timing on the long strumming parts is off.  Probably need to see it multiple times to get that down.  It doesn't help that the whole house is a bit strumming impaired.

Anyone found Bonus Tracks that are really enjoyable?  So far, the only one's I've bothered to unlock are I'm in the Band, In Love, Radio Song, Ruby, and She Bangs the Drums  .  I'm blowing the rest of the money on characters and sweet sweet guitars.  

Oh, speaking of money/unlocks; I finished Hard, and on a lark, played a single song on Medium.  Yep, you get money for Medium, even if you finished the song on a higher difficulty.  You get money for songs completed in Coop Career too.  I THINK the breakdown is 900 for 5 stars in Medium, 1200 for 5 stars in Hard, and 1800 for 5 stars in Expert.  I think someone earlier in the thread says you get money for songs completed in Easy now too.

Speaking of unlocks: are some of the unlockable character's alternative costumes (not styles) contigent on the completion of a difficulty?  I'd elaborate, but I'm not sure if that constitutes a spoiler or not.

I'm fairly agnostic about systems to get. I went into a devil's agreement with roommates that everyone would buy a system; I ended up having to buy the XBox360. As someone who's interested in Mass Effect and has no friends who own a PS3 but have multiple friends who own XBoxes, I'm not complaining.

[Jerrith]

Anyone found Bonus Tracks that are really enjoyable?

Make sure you try out Impulse.  I think it's really good.

[Nonentity]

YES, RAINING BLOOD ON EXPERT COMPLETE

SUCK MY DICK, SECTION MOSH 1

[Nonentity]

Alright, I beat it on Expert, got my Through the Fire and Flames on.

Goodness gracious.

I made it all the way through the game on one set of AA batteries!

I guess that bodes well for the quality of the wireless guitar... EXCEPT FOR THE DETACHABLE NECK THAT MAKES BUTTONS RANDOMLY NOT WORK

dumbest idea ever

[Grand Design]

First, let me say that the new PS3 is solid.  Having only played GH3 on it, I can't comment too much, but the machine and its native OS are streamlined and intuitive.  When I walked out of Best Buy, I felt like I had robbed the place.  $650 netted a 60gb PS3 with all bells and whistles, a second sixaxis controller, GH3 with guitar and 5 blu rays.  Plus the outrageous sales tax.  I was expecting to pay closer to $800 and get less.  The setup was simple and, despite what I've read, I was able to navigate the menu system lickity split. 

Guitar Hero 3.  It's not revolutionary.  Thankfully.  That had already been accomplished, and the big changes that were made were the bad ones.  Boss Battles stick out like a sore thumb.  They are annoying interruptions to an otherwise seamless game.  They aren't unenjoyable, but they are gimmicky.  It felt like trying to play Guitar Hero while someone was moving the guitar, breeding swine and had set the curtains ablaze in order to distract me with smoke.  No wait, that's exactly what Boss Battles are: distractions.  And it makes sense, because the last time I saw a battle of the bands, the singer from Crotch Rocket was aiming a fire hose at the guitarist from Fracas as he tried to play a solo. 

What?

The tabbing is so much better.  As a result, the songs are more difficult, even on the lower tiers.  It's nice to be challenged right out of the gate.  The song selection isn't great, but I'm not complaining.  I really want to see what will be available to download.  One thing that struck me about the song list - a lot of very repetitive material.  When I finished 'Story of my Life' I commented that we had just heard the most repetitive song ever written.  As if irony and fate had conspired to kick me in the soul, 'Rock and Roll All Nite' was the encore. 

The guitar itself is a nice upgrade.  Detachable neck and dongle aside, the 'feel' is much better.  The buttons aren't as loose as my PS2 guitars and take a little getting used to.  I do have a small complaint.  I am college educated.  I managed to set up the PS3 without a hitch.  I was able to navigate the menus and bring it online.  Why did it take me over twenty minutes to figure out how to get that damned guitar to talk to the PS3?  I'm just saying.  Maybe hiding the instructions behind the stickers was a bad idea. Thank you for making me look like a complete dumbass.

I give it 5 stars. 

[Ragnoros]

Guitar Hero is a fun game.

However every change they made was for the worse. That is failure.

Plus GH2 had a better set list.

[Ookii]

Guitar Hero is a fun game.

However every change they made was for the worse. That is failure.

Plus GH2 had a better set list.

First question!  Do you play games?

Second question!  Do you listen to music?

[WayAbvPar]

The tabbing is so much better.  As a result, the songs are more difficult, even on the lower tiers.  It's nice to be challenged right out of the gate.

You really think it is harder? I fucking SUCK (haven't even finished the medium tour on GHII yet), and I have 5 starred every easy song I have played so far on the first try.

God the boss battles are clownshoes.

[Righ]

Second question!  Do you listen to music?

I'm not planning on playing this game, but I like the look of the GH2 setlist more than the GH3 one. There are more really horrific AOR numbers in GH3, and when it comes to the guitar bits War Pigs > Paranoid, The Trooper > Number Of The Beast. Not that there aren't some great songs in GH3 (Cult Of Personality, Holiday In Cambodia) but there are some even more awesome ones in GH2 (YYZ, Misirlou, Bad Reputation). Of course, I guess it comes down to how well or poorly they've set them up.

When are they bringing out Synth Hero so that I can try my hand at aping Rick Wakeman, Richard Wright, Klaus Schulze, Ralf Hutter, Richard Barbieri and Billy Currie? I could totally cope with playing the keys the right way up. :)

[Special J]

The tabbing is so much better.  As a result, the songs are more difficult, even on the lower tiers.  It's nice to be challenged right out of the gate.

You really think it is harder? I fucking SUCK (haven't even finished the medium tour on GHII yet), and I have 5 starred every easy song I have played so far on the first try.

God the boss battles are clownshoes.

I found easy to be very easy, with 5 stars almost the whole way, except goddamn Raining Blood; can't get better than 4 so far.  Even got gold stars on some which I couldn't do before.  But I've found medium to be more challenging than in GH II.  No fails but even some early tracks I'm going to find hard to get 5*.

[Lantien]

Yeah, it's harder.  I started on Hard, and it wasn't too bad (disclaimer: I've beaten Expert on GH1 and Gh2).

On GH3, I'm getting stopped (and I mean, I need to go back to practice and break the song down) on Holiday in Cambodia for Expert. I've dicked around with practice, it's highly unlikely unless I devote a truckload of time into mastering the solos, I have no real chance of taking down the trickier songs of tier 7&8. After Coop on hard is finished, I'm probably going to just bust the unlock code. I've made my peace that I probably don't have the chops currently to clear Expert.   

Also, looks like there's a glitch with the Wii version: http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2007/10/30/rockers-report-guitar-hero-iii-dolby-pro-logic-ii-is-missing/

Btw, how is the online play?  Am I going to look forward to just getting challenged by guys who want to play One and Through the Fire and Flames over and over? 

[Grand Design]

The tabbing is so much better.  As a result, the songs are more difficult, even on the lower tiers.  It's nice to be challenged right out of the gate.

You really think it is harder? I fucking SUCK (haven't even finished the medium tour on GHII yet), and I have 5 starred every easy song I have played so far on the first try.

I still think that the GH3 tabbing forces you to be more dexterous.  That may or may not translate to difficulty for everyone, but for my stubby fingers it does.
 
That said, I think the tabbing in GH3 makes more sense, so that lessens the difficulty in a certain sense.

God the boss battles are clownshoes.

I have to admit I was a very tiny bit pleased when I kicked Slash's ass.

But that was probably a hygiene thing.

[trias_e]

After playing the crap out of raining blood and one on expert...(so fun and so hard)

I want Guitar Hero:  Metal Edition.   


Tier 1

Judas Priest - The Ripper (Sad Wngs of Destiny)
In Flames - Gyroscope  (Whoracle)
Hypocricy - A Coming Race (The Final Chapter)
Witchfinder General - Witchfinder General  (Death Penalty)
Black Sabbath - Into the Void (Master of Reality)

Tier 2
Celtic Frost - The Usurper   (To Mega Therion)
Manilla Road - Crystal Logic (Crystal Logic)
Gorguts - Testimonial Ruins (From Wisdom to Hate)
Supuration - Through the Transparent Partition   (The Cube)
Nevermore - Insignificant  (Dead Heart in a Dead World

Tier 3
Fireaxe - Food for the Gods  (Food for the Gods)
Angel Witch - Atlantis (Angel Witch)
At the Gates - Terminal Spirit Disease (Terminal Spirit Disease)
Candlemass - Dark Reflections  (Tales of Creation)
King Crimson - Red (Red)

Tier 4
Voivod - Forgotten in Space  (Killing Technology)
Mercyful Fate - Descreation of Souls (Don't Break the Oath)
Bolt Thower - Armageddon Bound  (For Victory)
Iron Maiden - Montsegur  (Dance of Death)
Metallica - Orion  (Master of Puppets)

Tier 5
Coroner - Nosferatu   (R.I.P.)
Blind Guardian - Another Holy War (Imaginations from the Other Side)
Atheist - Unquestionable Presence (Unqestionable Presence)
Children of Bodom - Lake Bodom (Something Wild)
Prong - Beg to Differ (Beg to Differ)

Tier 6
Slayer - Cleanse the Soul (South of Heaven)
The Haunted - Trespass  (The Haunted Made me Do it)
Symphony X - The Turning  (The Odyssey)
Deicide - Revocate the Agitator (Legion)
Morbid Angel - Rapture (Covenant)


Would be my dream.

That last tier would be so evil. 

[Margalis]

Which game is the one that has Wrathchild? Is that GH3, Rock Band or something else?

Edit: Rock Band would make sense because the bass part is kick ass.

[trias_e]

That's the 80's expansion.  Wrathchild and Electric Eye are definitely the high points on that one.

[Bokonon]

Raining Blood and One on Hard kick my ass.

It sucks.

[bhodi]

What I want to know is where is dueling banjos for their shitty-ass boss battle? It MIGHT even redeem them, make them more entertaining. MAYBE.

Also, I hooked up my component and switched to 1080i. All of a sudden my lag vanished. It's either HDMI, 1080p, or something else. Blah. Good enough for now.

[WayAbvPar]

Finally finished my first career tier (easy, heh) .No failures (other than bosses), and 5 stars on almost every song the first time through.  Beat Lou on my 2nd try, and somehow made it through TTFATF in one shot (holy FUCK! I can't imagine it on expert). I am slowly starting to learn to incorporate HOPOs when I see them, but I still fuck up about 1/2 the time and either strum them anyway or forget to strum the note afterwards.

I hate that as you progress through the career, the songs tend toward bad metal. The driving impetus for me is to unlock/play new songs that I have heard and enjoyed, not to show how 1337 I am shredding some 1 hit wonder done by guys with long hair and leather pants.

[Phildo]

I hate that as you progress through the career, the songs tend toward bad metal. The driving impetus for me is to unlock/play new songs that I have heard and enjoyed, not to show how 1337 I am shredding some 1 hit wonder done by guys with long hair and leather pants.

Couldn't agree more!  I also like learning about new songs and bands, but the only song I've found so far is the Priestess tune.  I also don't have anyone to play through coop with, so that's like 5 more songs I can't unlock.

[trias_e]

dragonforce angerfies me.  I get worse and worse at it each time I play.  I can only get through the beginning one out of four tries.  And then always lose around 82-85%.

[Cory Jacobs]

I guess that bodes well for the quality of the wireless guitar... EXCEPT FOR THE DETACHABLE NECK THAT MAKES BUTTONS RANDOMLY NOT WORK

dumbest idea ever

No FUCKING DOUBT!

[Samwise]

I finally got this (PC version).  At a $10 discount, no less, because Best Buy has a policy that they give you $10 if they can't give you the thing you ordered inside of 5 minutes, and it took three of their best and brightest 12 minutes to figure out what I had ordered and bring it to me.   



(edit) Finished it on Medium.  Boss battles weren't as bad as I feared, but they'd be a lot better without the "mash a button before you can play again" attacks.

[Sky]

You finished it in 3 hours? I may have to rethink this one!

[Special J]

I have 5* on everything in easy.  Getting 5* on Raining Blood was harder than 5* on most Medium songs I found.  Medium is clear and I have 5* on about 75% of them.

But damn Hard is, HARD!  I have passed a whopping 2 songs on tier 1, with crappy scores.  Is there a certain way I should practice the fingering?  I'm sure there's something better than my mash buttons frantically technique.  Or should I just not go here until I can 5* Medium?

[murdoc]

You finished it in 3 hours? I may have to rethink this one!

If you don't plan on having people over to play it, I wouldn't get it.