Guitar Hero Smash Hits: Track Reveal Part 3
We unveil Guitar Hero III's tracks. One word: DragonForce.
April 29, 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 RedOctane 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.
It's week three, and what better Guitar Hero game to go with on week three than… Guitar Hero III! Whoah, I'm awesome for that one, right? So I'm not sure what's happening with the people over there voting – maybe they just love chronological order? - but yeah, we're in our third week and we're going with the third game. And yeah, right now some smartass is saying "But IGN, Guitar Hero 80's addition was actually the third game!" and to that I say "Nay." In the world of rock, spin-offs and greatest hits albums don't count in the true order of things. Guitar Hero III is next, and we had a chance to rock the hell out of it.
No playful reminiscing on this one. No rattling off what songs I just can't wait to play through. Just one word, three syllables, and infinite awesomeness: DragonForce.
![[IMG]](http://wiimedia.ign.com/wii/image/article/978/978058/guitar-hero-smash-hits-20090429050538890-000.jpg)
Random thought: After playing Priestess, I want to follow it up with some Airbourne. C'mon Activision... "Too Much, Too Young, Too Fast" is a must!
The included Guitar Hero III tracks for Smash Hits are as follows:
- Pat Benatar - "Hit Me With Your Best Shot"
- Living Colour - "Cult Of Personality"
- Heart - "Barracuda"
- Kiss - "Rock And Roll All Nite"
- AFI - "Miss Murder"
- DragonForce - "Through The Fire And Flames"
- Priestess - "Lay Down"
- Slayer - "Raining Blood"
From the looks of it – at least this far – Guitar Hero III has the smallest set of songs in Smash Hits, but let me also add that it has the highest concentration of pure face-shredding goodness as well. Cult of Personality kicks all sorts of ass (and we can finally wail on it), Barracuda was a must, but check out the end of the list there… Kiss, DragonForce, Priestess, and Slayer? Not bad. Not bad at all.
In fact, while the biggest song on the list for me personally is DragonForce's "Through the Fire And Flames" – I liked them before they were cool, ok? Everyone else jumped on the GH bandwagon. I'm the only real fan… - I have to mention the insanity that is Slayer on Expert+ with the new double bass drum. Our own Ben Abt from IGN sales (also a Guitar Hero addict) volunteered about 20 nights-worth of sweet lovin' hip energy – seriously, this one is going to take years off your love life - to give the double bass part a try, and it was vicious. Alternating between a mash of face pads and cymbals along with a steady stream of 64 notes that looked like a solid line of purple on the drum chart, Slayer brings the hurt on anyone that fancy's themselves a Guitar Hero drummer. I'm not one to take sides on the whole Rock Band vs. Guitar Hero feud that will forever be going on, but after seeing this song in action let me just say there's not a single track out there on Rock Band that does what Slayer has here. It's tough stuff.
![[IMG]](http://wiimedia.ign.com/wii/image/article/978/978058/guitar-hero-smash-hits-20090429050525312-000.jpg)
Yes this is Slayer, and no, it isn't being played on Expert+ on drums here. You'd know...
The main focus for this week's unveil though has to be DragonForce. I love Through the Fire And Flames, though the intro still kills be on expert, so when I saw this one on the list it was a personal vendetta to knock it down in some capacity. As a couple notes on it, the intro solo section is now one hammer-on, or "purple" notes, so you can use the touch pad or finger tap it without any strumming needed. It was a bit easier, but after failing it still a couple times and not wanting to hold up the band I moved down to Hard so we could see the rest of the song. For purists out there, you might be pissed that you got the whole "hit the first note with my elbow and then finger tap" system down, but for the rest of us the song is now playable, so I'm personally happy to see the option for the slider or straight finger tapping.
I also had a chance to wreck my vocal chords on the microphone, and while the TV was a bit low to hear the band over my own wailing (the louder the better on a song like Fire And Flames) it was still pretty great to get the full-band feel. If you haven't heard the song before, let me first say "welcome to civilization, caveman," and secondly state that yeah, the drum part is pretty crazy. When Ben already out after his Slayer endeavor (I believe he was icing his pelvis?) it didn't take long for us to fail a few times with the song, but if you're looking for a reason to pick this game up even though you've got all the other titles already, I'd put most of Guitar Hero III's offerings, DragonForce at the helm of those, as a big reason why you should snag it. This song with four players is what dreams are made out of.
We'll have a whole lot more on the way soon, including another unveiling next week with the next set of tracks. Check out the latest images included with tonight's update, and be on the lookout for video just as soon as Activision loosens up the reins a bit.
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