One of the biggest metal bands on
the planet, Metallica has been a hugely popular musical act for the past 30
years. Now, Activision is paying tribute to the metal gods with their very own
entry to the Guitar Hero franchise, Guitar Hero: Metallica.
Following in the same vein as Guitar
Hero: Aerosmith, which was a title that featured that band prominently, Guitar
Hero: Metallica offers up 49 total tracks, 28 from Metallica and 21 others from
assorted bands picked by the band themselves. Additionally, the game ups the
ante from the Aerosmith iteration of the series by providing support for a full
band, and introduces the intense double-bass pedal utilizing “Expert +” mode for
drummers (requires a second bass pedal). Additionally, the game offers a variety
of extras for fans of the band, including videos and trivia, making for a
complete package that any Metallica fan would do well to get a hold of.
The game’s set list is one of the
most impressive lineups the series has ever offered. The Metallica tracks
present an awesome retrospective of the band’s robust catalog, giving players
songs from each of their albums, from “Kill ‘Em All” all the way up to “Death
Magnetic.” The list is quite varied as well, with popular hits like “Master of
Puppets” and “Enter Sandman” as lesser known (but still great) tracks like
“Orion.” Aside from Metallica there are many tracks from other artists
handpicked by the band, with great songs from bands like Mastodon, Slayer,
Motorhead, and many others. While the majority of the track list is metal, there
are some great classic rock songs here as well, including tracks from Thin Lizzy,
Lynyrd Skynyrd and Bob Seger.
The difficulty level in the game has
been a pretty big subject of debate, especially considering how intense some of
the band’s songs can be, especially some of their early work. However, while the
game is certainly tougher than the previous band-based game, Guitar Hero:
Aerosmith, the game ramps up the difficulty in a very intuitive way and avoids
being overwhelming from the start.
The Expert + mode is definitely the
biggest new feature in the game. This mode is substantially more difficult,
requiring the player to make use of two bass pedals instead of the usual one.
While not every song in the game supports Expert + mode, the ones that do will
certainly offer up a great challenge for expert drummers that want to channel
their inner Lars.
The game’s drum features go beyond
the new Expert + mode. There is a new open “Drum Over” mode that allows you to
freestyle over any track in the game without the constraints of the note
highway. While you’ll probably need to be a bit of a real-life drummer to get
the most out of this extra mode, it’s still pretty fun to mess around with.
The game also includes the Music
Creator featured in Guitar Hero World Tour. However, the Metallica version adds
a couple of new tones, letting you use bass sounds by Tom Araya (of Slayer) and
Lars Ulrich’s drum sounds when creating your own tunes.
Aside from the gameplay elements,
Guitar Hero: Metallica offers up some great extras for fans of the band. The
game includes unlockable videos of their performances, lyrics to their songs,
but perhaps the coolest new feature is the addition of Metallifacts.
Metallifacts give you a presentation of a performance by the band, while at the
same time offering up pop-up trivia bits (akin to VH1’s Pop-Up Video) about the
band and the song. This is a great feature for Metallica fanatics who want to
learn more about the group and some of their classic songs.
Graphically, the game looks pretty
solid. While a lot of the presentation is the same as Guitar Hero World Tour,
there are some Metallica-specific elements like fretboards and icons that add to
the overall package. The band has been nicely recreated, avoiding the “muppet
look” of GH Aerosmith in favor of a slightly more realistic look. The game
features some real world venues from the band’s history, each of which are very
detailed and nicely recreated.
The aforementioned soundtrack is
definitely the highlight of the game, and each of the 49 tracks in the game are
master recordings, some of them rerecorded by their respective bands if no
masters were available. Each song sounds fantastic, and comes through in Dolby
Digital 5.1. surround sound, adding to the experience.
Guitar Hero: Metallica is not only a
great collection for fans of the band, but also one of the most compelling and
fun entries to the Guitar Hero franchise in years. The set list is awesome, and
the Expert + drum mode is a great move on behalf of the producers. Check this
one out in you’re a Metallica fan or even just a Guitar Hero player.
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Gameplay: 9.0
The game utilizes the Guitar Hero mechanics that we’ve all come to know very
well, but adds a few great new features, like the Expert + mode, Drum Over mode,
new Music Creator features, and one of the best setlists the series has ever
offered.
Graphics: 8.5
The game does a much better job of capturing the likeness of its namesake
band (better than GH Aerosmith, at any rate), as the group is well represented
here. Aside from that and some Metallica-based accents throughout, the rest of
the look is pretty standard fare for Guitar Hero.
Sound: 9.5
One of the best track lists ever for the franchise, all 49 tracks are master
recordings and sound fantastic.
Difficulty: Medium/Hard
Concept: 9.0
More than just a standard side project, Guitar Hero Metallica brings the
series as a whole forward with new features like the Expert + mode.
Multiplayer: 9.0
The online features are pretty much exactly the same as the set in World
Tour, with a few names changed in the power-ups from the Battle modes to reflect
the band.
Overall: 9.0
A compelling collections of tracks from the titular band and others, Guitar
Hero: Metallica is not only a fine retrospective of the band’s storied career,
but also the most fun Guitar Hero game in years.
