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Guitar Hero II

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Guitar Hero II
Guitar Hero II logo
Developer(s)Harmonix Music Systems
Publisher(s)RedOctane
Designer(s)Harmonix Music Systems
Platform(s)PlayStation 2
ReleaseNovember 7 2006
Genre(s)Music video game
Mode(s)Single player, multiplayer

Guitar Hero II is an upcoming sequel to the original Guitar Hero video game and is being released for the Sony PlayStation 2 video game console.[1] [2]

Confirmed information

Guitar Hero II is scheduled for a November 7, 2006 release date and will feature at least 55 songs, the majority of which will be licensed tracks covered in-studio. Guitar Hero Gibson SG controllers have been confirmed to be compatible with Guitar Hero II, and the sequel will feature the debut of three button chords, requiring players to press three of the buttons on the controller at once to get the desired note.

Five new characters will join the roster of playable characters from the original game: these include a rockabilly player named Dax DeVille, a male Norwegian black metal guitarist, a "rocker chick", and what seems to be a Slash-like guitarist who exibits several moves of Izzy's (an unlockable character from the first game). It also seems that Judy Nails, Axel Steel, and Clive Winston, who were playable characters in the original game, will be making a return, albeit with new outfits. In addition to the new characters, the new game will feature an overhaul of the graphics, venues, and motion-captured characters.

Marcus Henderson, guitarist for the band Drist and the lead guitarist on many of Guitar Hero's cover tracks for the original and sequel has claimed, "Heavy metal will get its due in Guitar Hero II."[3]

Guitar Hero developer John Tam has said that the game is a "lead guitar game first and foremost" in response to questions of whether or not one will be able to play bass or rhythm guitar in the single-player career mode. He is also very excited to have The Ryan Carter Experience in the new game.

Guitar Hero producer Elena Seigman has confirmed a few changes to the way notes are played. Pull-offs will no longer require the lower note to be held and the window for succesfully hammering-on has been tweaked. There will no longer be chords that require holding the green and orange buttons at the same time.

Additions to the game modes include:

  • Practice mode. The player will be able to choose from predetermined sections of a song such as "Verse 1", "Bridge", "Chorus" or "Solo 1", and will also have the option of moving the notes at four different speed settings.[4][5]
  • An expanded multiplayer section gives two players the chance to engage in many different modes of play such as:
    • Co-op mode, where each player is given a section of the song to play; one player will be playing lead while the other will be playing rhythm or bass guitar, depending on the song. In co-op, the song can be failed, unlike the original game's multiplayer. Both players share star power, the rock meter, the multiplier and a total score. In order to activate star power, both players will need to raise their guitar necks in a near simultaneous motion. Co-op mode will not have a practice feature.
    • Traditional mode, similar to the original in which both players trade off sections of songs to play.
    • Pro Faceoff mode, similar to the original again, but now both players are playing the full song note for note.
    • Survival mode, the features of which have not been confirmed yet but have been rumored to either involve playing as long as possible without missing a note or failing a song.
    • Handicapped versus mode, allowing one player to drop to a lower difficulty in order to level the playing field, the actual play likely being similar to co-op mode.

Song list

RedOctane announced on April 24, 2006 that there would be another Be A Guitar Hero competition. The winning band will have their song featured in Guitar Hero II as a bonus track. Submissions for the contest ended on June 30, 2006.

On May 4, 2006, RedOctane revealed the first tracks scheduled to be included in Guitar Hero II's final song list. On July 30, 2006, a new build of Guitar Hero II added three songs to the list.[6][7]

Buffalo band Every Time I Die claimed during a show on July 4, 2006 that a song of theirs called "The New Black" would feature in the game; however, IGN was told that the company is in negotiations with the band.[8]

On the July 27 edition of Gamespot's online show On the Spot, John Tam, Guitar Hero producer, confirmed that the song list is complete, but is being kept under wraps by the marketing department. He also confirmed that they have "more original tracks than just the Primus song."

In the new issue of OPM (Official Playstation Magazine), it mentions "Killing in the Name" by Rage Against the Machine as one of the songs in the game. It is yet to be confirmed by RedOctane.

On August 21, RedOctane released a video on GameSpot confirming "Sweet Child O' Mine" by Guns N' Roses as a playable song in the game. On August 22, GameSpot released yet another video, confirming "Free Bird" by Lynyrd Skynyrd as a playable song. The latter song proved to be an ironic surprise, as the original Guitar Hero featured a loading screen gag of "They don't really want you to play 'Freebird'. They're just heckling you," a reference to fans screaming for the song at various rock concerts.

According to GameSpot, RedOctane made three new song announcements at the Leipzig Games Convention on August 23, though it is very possible two of those songs are the aforementioned "Sweet Child O' Mine" and "Free Bird". Speculation has also pointed to "The New Black" or "Killing in the Name" being confirmed.[9] So far nothing has been confirmed and the whole story is under much speculation. Some believe it was just Gamespot confirming "Madhouse", "Trippin' On a Hole In a Paper Heart", and "Shout at the Devil", while some are speculating that the third song is being held under wraps.

On August 23, Voivod posted the following on their website: "In other news we were asked by the makers of the Guitar Hero Game if we would let them use a song for GH2, so after some thought we could see no wrong in having 2 million kids learn Piggy's riff on a Playstation!"[10]

Venues

There are several venues that have made appearances in various videos in both official videos released by RedOctane and in the E3 demo. Among these are:

  • What appears to be a high school gym, visible in the official "Shout at the Devil" video.
  • An updated version of the RedOctane venue that appeared in the first Guitar Hero, visible in the video of "Trippin' on a Hole in a Paper Heart" and in the video of "Sweet Child O' Mine".
  • The Cavern Club, a small club covered with flashing black and white stripes, visible in E3 demo videos of "War Pigs", "Arterial Black", "John the Fisherman", "You Really Got Me" and in the video of "Free Bird".
  • The Vans Warped Tour, which has a graveyard theme, visible in E3 demo videos of "YYZ", "Strutter" and "Who was in my Room Last Night?".

The venues will now have lighting that moves in sync with the music, and the band themselves have already been confirmed to be playing with Orange amps and DW drum kits, with more in-game endorsements expected.[11]

Awards

At E3 2006, the game won the following Game Critics Awards: Best Puzzle/Trivia/Parlor Game.[12]

Future games

Activision, which agreed to acquire RedOctane in May 2006, has announced that a 3rd installment of the Guitar Hero series is set to launch sometime next year, most likely during the 4th quarter of 2007 or the 1st Quarter of 2008.[13] It has also been rumored by the gaming site Joystiq that possibly four more Guitar Hero games will be released in the coming year. Joystiq claims to have received this information via an anonymous source as neither Activision nor RedOctane has confirmed these games.[14]

See also

References

  1. ^ Guitar Hero II for the PS2
  2. ^ IGN: Guitar Hero II Interview
  3. ^ Interview with Marcus Henderson on Guitar Hero II
  4. ^ "John Tam's Page on 1UP.com". 1UP.
  5. ^ "ScoreHero.com :: Gamespot - On The Spot show". Gamespot.
  6. ^ "Song List". IGN.
  7. ^ "IGN: New Guitar Hero II Tracks". IGN.
  8. ^ "Guitar Hero II Song Leaked?". IGN.
  9. ^ "Guitar Hero II gets November Euro release". GameSpot.
  10. ^ "Voivod Home Page". Voivod.
  11. ^ "A Day Spent in the Presence of the Mighty Guitar Hero 2".
  12. ^ "2006 Winners". gamecriticsawards.com.
  13. ^ "New Call of Duty, Guitar Hero, and 007 coming in 2007-8". Gamespot.
  14. ^ "Quartet of Guitar Hero games in the works?". Gamespot.
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