The Hero is Rising

So if you haven’t joined in on the  fun that is Guitar Hero and jumped on the Activision band wagon, then you are seriously missing out. And this is coming from a hardcore Guitar Hero fan. However, I have finally now placed down my tiny plastic guitar and let my multi-coloured fret madness subside. Why? Because I can’t keep up with the constant costs of maintaining my Guitar Hero addiction.

Every time I think I have my new setlist sorted out and I’m finally getting into jamming the songs I enjoy, a new game joins the franchise and forces me to leave my current rocking madness behind and spend another R600 on the newest iteration of a pretty much duplicate of what I already have. You think I’m lying? Well, lets look at the first Guitar Hero game to come to the PS3…Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock. In my eyes, one of the best setlists I have played so far. It had everything you could want. From Foghat to AFI to Kiss. And then, right in the middle of a killer solo, strumming along to Santana’s Black Magic Woman, I received a notification that a new addition to the Guitar Hero family was underway. Wow! A new Guitar Hero? AWESOME! Except, I had barely finished this one, how would I take on another almost 72 songs? But to my avail, it was barely able to be called an addition. Step up to the plate Guitar Hero: Aerosmith. Although it had some awesome tracks that everyone had lusted for to play, it wasn’t what us hardcore Guitar Hero fans had been waiting for.

And then, from our desperation for a Rock Band rival arose the prized gem of the Guitar Hero franchise…World Tour. Finally, the full experience was here. Drums, vocals, bass, the works! And even a song creator. I thought my prayers had been answered, but once again I was disappointed. Ridiculously hard song creation tool, ringtone sounding user created songs and a pretty short and basic career mode. And then, as our hopes drop, Activision gives us another hit to feed our addiction and keep us going on. Downloadable Content. Ah yes, the diamond in the sceptre of the Rock Band franchise had now finally come to an end. And did they deliver. With almost 200 different downloadable songs in just 3 months. This is what we had once again been waiting for. Activision, you guys were true mind readers. Except, their psychic powers didn’t extend to us poor little South African’s who didn’t get to dabble in the DLC splendour.

Unless of course you went through all the trouble of creating a US account, purchasing a US copy of the game, setting up a digital credit card to purchase off the US PSN and then, and only then could you enjoy the mass of DLC. So to make up for their mistakes, what does Activision do? They release Guitar Hero: Metallica, which included the entire Death Magnetic album and then some, plus it was rapidly available at your local gaming outlet (Musica, Look & Listen, etc) and also there for your greedy wallet on Xbox Live and PSN. The franchise wouldn’t stop however, Activision was on a capital increasing roll and they were hungry for more. They would have it all.

Enter the next set of additions to the Guitar Hero family…Guitar Hero: Greatest Hits and the new-up-and-coming title – Guitar Hero: Van Halen. Yes, I said it, Van Halen. And just like all the other titles, the Van Halen edition will also include acts from various arists who inspired Van Halen, like: Queen. It will also include acts who were inspired by Van Halen, like: Blink 182, Weezer, Queens of the Stone Age and The Offspring. But then, as if that wasn’t enough, Activision has just let slip that the dawn of music inspired games is now at hand. And what little piece of gold do they want to bring to the table? Well, 3 pieces of gold actually. And these slabs of digital gold are called: Guitar Hero 5, Band Hero and DJ Hero. Don’t believe me, check the link.

Yup, told ya! Now in my opinion they could simply have allowed you to update software, update setlists and go out and buy the standalone instruments from the beginning and make all of them usable and backwards compatible in one game. Why didn’t they do that? Because they make more money the other way of course! Well, I’m not going to buy into it. I’m not purchasing anymore Guitar Hero products! You hear me Activision! That’s it! I’m not wasting anymore money on the Guitar Hero franchise! Right after my pre-order Greatest Hits arrives. But then I’m over. I swear it! I can quit! Watch me! 

Last Updated: May 8, 2009