| Guitar Hero Smash Hits: Track Reveal Part 2
Get ready to shred your face off. Our impressions on Guitar Hero 2's Smash Hits tracks.
April 22, 2009 - Yes rockaholics, it is indeed time for more videogame stardom for you and your closest three friends (and that weird kid that shows up to every gaming session and rocks a tambourine or "rhythm" egg like he's some "5th member" or something) as Guitar Hero Smash Hits has debuted, and news is ready to start breaking. IGN hooked up with Activision and Red Octane to make sure we had the latest and greatest info on the game for you, and that begins right here with our weekly track reveal and mini hands-on impressions. Activision has been asking you, the Guitar Hero devout, which tracks you want to know about first, so if you aren't voting on the official Smash Hits website yet, you should start. Every week a new poll is going up, and every week you can set your internet dials to IGN for the latest info once the polls close each Wednesday.
Welcome to week two, where we've again gone to you, the Guitar Hero fanatics out there, to determine which track list is worthy of being revealed next on the list. The first week went to the obvious choice of the original Guitar Hero, but what is in many ways considered to be the best of the core games is getting its time in the limelight today. Guitar Hero II hit the scene with some incredible offerings, as well as a bunch of much-needed fixes that really fine-tuned the gameplay along the way. What it really comes down to, however, are the tracks, and Guitar Hero II had an amazing list, including everything from the blazing fast "Beast And The Harlot" by Avenged Sevenfold, a few more laid back songs by the likes of Foo Fighters, Nirvana, Wolfmother, and Kansas, as well as the bar we hold all self-proclaimed rock gods to – No, I'm not talking about Stairway. Stairway still denied. – with the immortal Free Bird by Lynrd Skynyrd.
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Rage? Confirmed.
The included Guitar Hero II tracks for Smash Hits are as follows:
- Avenged Sevenfold - "Beast And The Harlot"
- Rage Against The Machine - "Killing In The Name"
- Rush - "YYZ"
- Lynyrd Skynyrd - "Free Bird"
- Foo Fighters - "Monkey Wrench"
- Iron Maiden - "The Trooper"
- Nirvana - "Heart-Shaped Box"
- Lamb of God - "Laid To Rest"
- The Police - "Message In A Bottle"
- Wolfmother - "Woman"
- Kansas - "Carry On Wayward Son"
- Stone Temple Pilots - "Trippin' On A Hole In A Paper Heart"
- Warrant - "Cherry Pie"
- Alice in Chains - "Them Bones"
- Danzig - "Mother"
- Jane's Addiction - "Stop!"
- Reverend Horton Heat - "Psychobilly Freakout"
- The Sword - "Freya"
- Mötley Crüe- "Shout At The Devil"
So now that you've got the info on what tracks Activision will be bringing back for this 48 song "best of" bonanza, let's get down to the nitty gritty, yes? Each week we'll not only show off the tracks for each specific game, but also tell grand tales about our rock session with the folks at Activision, specifically centered around one main track for each reveal.
For week two it was tough not to highlight a huge slew of the songs, as most of these tracks make up my favorites in the series history. With the newly-created tabs for each song, you've also got a bit more legitimacy from many of the tracks, though much like last week's Ozzy hands-on, most of these changes are a couple notes here or there according to the actual artist master tracks. Still, having three buddies along for the ride admittedly made the game feel fresh again, and it certainly helps that the core game incorporates a lot of fixes from World Tour.
The main song that hooked me this time around was Beast And The Harlot by Avenged Sevenfold, mainly because it's a solid, fast-paced, full-band experience, and it plays great on Smash Hits. The main drum part that kicks in during the intro (even before the guitar lead-in) is a serious… beast… for lack of a better word, and the vocal track (a master track, mind you) is no joke. For many players, Beast And The Harlot was yet another level of difficulty above songs like Bark at the Moon, so to take that song again to another level by adding in a complex drum part and accompanying vocals was a great move.
There's also another aspect of it all that really comes into play here, as well as with other more complex songs. During tough solo sections or extremely complex guitar parts, having an entire band at your back can seriously help. You may not be hitting your star lines, but your band still can, meaning that you can get some much-needed assistance during the toughest sections. This happens with Beast during the main solo, as the lead guitar starts kicking into a gigantic 30 second long solo, but the drum part actually backs off a bit and supplies a steady backbeat, which is one of the easier sections of the song for the rhythm section. After getting through the solo, the guitar part has a chance to return the favor, as the drum part goes into an insane bass drum/fills section that'll take some serious practice to nail on expert.
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Umlaut ya damn scoundrel, rock that Jane's Addiction!
The same "band help" concept is also applied to a lot of other songs on the list from Guitar Hero II, as tracks like Free Bird can make use of a pretty steady backbeat on drums while the guitars go nuts with the solo. On something like Rush, there's a nice tandem once again (Come on… Neil Peart?) between guitar and drums, but the vocals are, of course, easy. You know… because they're nonexistent? The microphone still works though, so if you're like me you'll be singing the guitar part through the speakers and pissing off the rest of your band. If you don't do that on vocals, you're seriously missing out.
Overall the list from Guitar Hero II is a nice mix of face-shredding top-tier songs, as well as the laid back stuff that's ideal for four player parties. Bringing back Nirvana, Rage, Alice in Chains, Jane's Addiction, Stone Temple Pilots, Rush, Foo Fighters, and Iron Maiden makes for a great GH2 representation. Also, it's not confirmed officially, but my guess is that Activision will include a set of ripped t-shirts and headbands for "Shout at the Devil" and "Cherry Pie." That's just my hope though… nothing official yet, and it won't actually happen, since I just made that up right here on the spot. It'd be cool though, right?
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