Guitar Hero Metallica

Guitar Hero: Metallica Review (Xbox 360)
By: Andy Eddy

I have to be honest: I never thought we’d see the day when a game called Guitar Hero: Metallica would be sold. My reasoning was that the band, which has been one of the most outspoken on the topics of piracy and digital distribution, would be too anxious about the effects of exposing its song catalog in such a medium as video games. Obviously, Activision (along with its publishing/development business units, RedOctane and Neversoft) offered the guys all the assurances in the world that its tunes would be quite safe—and probably backed that up with the promise of a nice payday for the foursome as well. Make no mistake, they’re a band and a business.

Metallica’s “Death Magnetic” album, released as a downloadable pack for Guitar Hero III this past September, probably was a good demonstration of the delivery—and audience attraction—to the metal band’s music, but by that time, the game focused on the group was well underway. You can tell by looking at Guitar Hero: Metallica’s Backstage section, which contains numerous videos of the band (more on that in a second), one of which shows a motion-capture session for the song “Master of Puppets,” which happened in April 2008. And the band is fully into it, judging by that clip and the others that come with the game.

Indeed, looking at the entirety of the Guitar Hero: Metallica product, it’s easy to see that, not only is the band’s cooperation no longer in question, the four musicians dove into the pool headfirst and took a long swim in the waters. Other behind-the-scenes videos (which are becoming the equivalent of Hollywood’s handling of movie DVDs, with their deleted scenes, peripheral productions related to the film and voice-over commentary from the producers, director and cast) show Lars Ulrich struggling to re-create a drum line in motion capture, as well as bassist Robert Trujillo doing his signature spin, the results of which are shown in wireframe and then as a replica character in an inset that shows how the magic takes place.

Sure, a game called Guitar Hero: Metallica will have its main attraction be “playing along” with the band’s songs, but much like the first foray into this realm for Activision et al with Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, a big draw is the amount of added content that players will get to learn more about the band and its members.

It’s important to note, though, that for GH: M, Activision didn’t take the exact same approach as the Aerosmith game, which had video interviews with the Boston-based band filling in the history with anecdotes and a pseudo-timeline of its evolution from playing at high-school dances to filling major arenas. (It’s also great that Guitar Hero: Metallica supports a four-piece band, not just a guitarist.) Sure, you “play” in some of the world-famous venues where Metallica has played and you also get a good selection of music from other big-name metal bands (instead of opening acts, as Aerosmith’s game offered, you get bands that Metallica admires and idolized during its rise), such as Motorhead and Judas Priest.

All that is what makes GH: M so strong—that it’s a solid offering as a Guitar Hero game, but also that it isn’t a rubber stamp of the Aerosmith concept, which indicates that Activision isn’t interested in following the exact same formula as it brings out other similar band-specific games (which, of course, hasn’t been made official in the form of announcements, though Guitar Hero: Van Halen is a top rumor as one of the next games). If you aren’t familiar with what’s in the package, we’ll give an overview.

The Career Mode, which is the obvious starting point for many players, takes you through a loose story about a Metallica tribute band auditioning for them and trying to get closer, though it’s being hindered by another “poseur” band trying to get in between them. All this happens in occasional cutscenes, but I also have a feeling that most will pass them up in favor of getting into the music. GH: M offers close to 50 playable songs, so there’s a ton for players to bite into and, as has been the case since Neversoft took over the development chores, the challenge is strong for a number of reasons. I’m generally a “Medium” guitarist in these games, and I was tested a number of times from the use of multi-finger chords, but more from the occasionally odd syncopation that needs to be replicated with the fingers—especially when Kirk Hammett rips into a solo.

Career also enables you to earn money through each successful song created, which can be used to buy new gear and outfits for your onscreen persona. Stars (up to five) are also earned for song completion and its quality, which enables you to unlock access to more of the song list and different venues in which to play, as well as access to different instruments and pre-created characters.

he five basic levels of difficulty (Beginner through Expert) will be a big enough test for any player, but there are some added challenges. The person choosing the singing will often find some sections that are more taxing than normal, either from the need for…uh, more volume or from the imprecise warbling that some metal singers have. Even James Hetfield’s signature trail-off at the end of growled lines and his propensity for nuances will put the mic holders through the wringer.

However, everyone can feel sorry for (or enjoy watching the good and bad performances of) the drummer who tries to take on GH: M’s highest offering. Close to half of the song list provides one more difficulty level for the drummer in the form of Expert +, which shows Lars’ skill and effort bang for bang. To pull it off, a second kick pedal is needed, because some songs are a wall of bass thumps behind often wild skin pounding. I’m sure YouTube will soon be populated by those shooting for max bragging rights in that department—and more power to those skilled enough to pull that off. (Also, as with Guitar Hero World Tour, if you want to play on Rock Band drums, the charts are automatically adjusted to match the different format, though you’ll miss out on the Expert + level.)

[Correction: You can get Expert + with the Rock Band drums—or with the Ion Drum Rocker set, which is “seen” as a Rock Band set to the Guitar Hero games—but until recently, it would have been pretty difficult to play these charts with Rock Band’s single pedal. Since then, MTV and Harmonix have introduced a second bass pedal and adapter to supplement the normal Rock Band kit. Apologies for the error.]

Mostly, the rest of the game compares to what has been offered in Guitar Hero World Tour, where anyone from a solo player or a four-piece band can engage in the tune re-creation. You can design custom players that range from caricatures to strange cartoon musicians in the Creator section; practice or Quickplay any of the songs; take advantage of the Recording Studio to create your own tracks and use the GHTunes section to download other players’ tunes; and engage in multiplayer competition (head to head on the same system or over Xbox Live in a number of competitive and cooperative modes). It’s a truly full package.
By far, though, the biggest draw comes from all the extras. In addition to the previously described videos, there are also lyrics for every song (except, of course, the instrumental “Orion”) and album information about each song. The coolest offering is a Metallifacts overlay for all Metallica songs: When you play one, you get the in-game Metallica characters playing the song, but text comes up every few seconds to give you some trivia about the particular song, such as reminiscences from the band or inspirations for that tune or the lyrics. I’m not a big Metallica fan, but I was fascinated by some of what I read.

Certainly, Guitar Hero: Metallica is a great offering, with what seems like a more thorough covering of the band’s main songs than the Aerosmith game had, but mainly that it offers you to play any of the parts a la Guitar Hero World Tour. (Again, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith only supported guitar play.) I will offer the disclaimer that it’ll probably mainly be a draw to those who are already fans—musical preaching to the choir, so to speak. Also, those who are already playing a full-band game (such as Guitar Hero World Tour or Rock Band) might be hesitant to spend another $60 on a Metallica game, thinking that’d be money better spent on a wealth of downloadable songs they’d rather play (again, assuming those who are Metallica fans will buy the band-specific game for the songs and the cool extras). It wouldn’t seem, at least from current expectations, that Activision will turn around and offer Metallica’s full catalog within the Guitar Hero World Tour store, and we don’t expect that Rock Band would have the ability to offer them (because Activision probably locked up the band’s tunes in some exclusivity, though that’s just a guess).

From a production standpoint, I think Neversoft outdid itself in translating the band’s motion capture and facial scans into darn good 3-D models, and a lot of the musicians’ mannerisms were injected into the animation as well, for added authenticity. The remainder of the game’s graphics and interface are a mix of what we’ve seen in other Guitar Hero titles, with nicely stylized graphics and text that are gritty and sketchy scribbles.

Sure, maybe some direct video interviews with the band would have added more unique content to the bundle, but it feels right that Guitar Hero: Metallica concentrated on the music from the seminal band. (Heck, I’d still like to see the band-specific Guitar Hero entries be reduced from full $60 retail price also, but this one certainly makes the argument for a full price better than the Aerosmith one did.) It’ll be interesting to see where–and with what bands—Activision takes the concept next. ( http://reviews.teamxbox.com )