With the success of the Guitar Hero series, it was no surprise that the Xbox 360 would be getting its 3rd game, even with a 4th (Guitar Hero: Metallica) and 5th (Guitar Hero 4: World Tour) announced. However, we were shocked, and a little bit confused when the first band to headline its own GH game would be - Aerosmith. Would this new formula be a success, or would it prove to be a mistake?

Included below, you will get the best of both worlds - a review from 360Sync, and a review from an independent Guitar Hero fan. With both reviews, you’ll be able to see if Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is for you. Our review will be in black, with the guest review in green block quotes. Enjoy!

360Sync’s Review (With Guest Review Included)

With a game like Guitar Hero, it doesn’t seem you can really mess up the formula. Even when Neversoft somehow found a way to mess up the original formula by making Guitar Hero 3 songs impossible, the fans still enjoyed the game, and it sold millions of copies. However, when you headline a band like Aerosmith, your removing one of the fun factors of the game, and hoping to capitalize on the name. The fun factor of course being variety of choice of songs. You don’t really get the same options when most of the songs are Aerosmith.

There is one difference in the progression of the career, however. This game does not follow the traditional style of Guitar Hero gameplay where you will find the songs getting harder as the set lists wore on. In this game, you document the rise of Aerosmith and play historically accurate songs and settings to the time period you are in. There is no distinct progression of difficulty.

Within the first six songs of the game, we were not impressed, since, well quite honestly, the songs suck. Coming from a person who doesn’t mind the Aerosmith hits, we haven’t heard any yet, instead being treated to songs that we were unfamiliar with.

Guitar Hero has always been about its killer soundtrack and its flawless playing style. Guitar Hero: Aerosmith looks and feels very similar to Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock being that it uses the same engines, layouts, etc. The big difference is that it is centered around the Boston super group Aerosmith. The player goes through stages of the band that Aerosmith themselves went through, starting at Nipmuc High School and ending at their Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction. Each new venue is treated to a small interview with each of the band members recalling their experiences at the time. Essentially if you like Guitar Hero, this game isn’t much different. It boils down to, if you like Aerosmith, you wont be disappointed but if you don’t, then just skip it.

We really don’t have any complaints with the graphics of the game, since we didn’t really expect a new engine in place for Aerosmith, but as usual, we have grown to enjoy the guitar layout for Guitar Hero better then the Rock Band counterpart. Something about the round buttons, and the stars. As for the other visuals on the game, they are exactly the same, the same rock bar on the right, and the same score tracker on the left. It is worth noting the extra detail that was put into Aerosmith’s performances, which matches the intensity that Aerosmith brings to its concerts.

There really isn’t anything different between Guitar Hero III and Aerosmith graphics wise. The scrolling fretboard moves seamlessly without any tears or chops and the notes explode with vibrant colors every time a successful strum has been made. They also left no detail out, everywhere from Steven Tyler’s creepy appearance to Joe Perry’s talk box in “Sweet Emotion” are all there. If you liked the look and feel of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, this game is no different.

If you are an Aerosmith fan, we can’t see why you wouldn’t purchase this game. However, if you aren’t the biggest Aerosmith fan in the world, you’ll be stuck playing songs you don’t like, and waiting to get to the songs you actually do enjoy. “Sweet Emotion,” “Dream On,” and “Walk This Way,” will have to wait until later in the game to play and enjoy. The game does include some fun songs by such bands as “Stone Temple Pilots” and “The Clash.” It takes a few songs to unlock them, but if you stick it out, you’ll be rewarded.

This game is not just Aerosmith (which most people seem to believe) the soundtrack includes songs from Cheap Trick, Joan Jett, Run DMC, Ted Nugent, and more. This games MAIN focus is Aerosmith though, so there is way more Aerosmith than anyone else. Hits including Sweet Emotion, Walk This Way, Toys in the Attic, Love in an Elevator, and many many more flow seamlessly as if you were actually playing them. If you don’t like Aerosmith I don’t know why the hell you are even reading about a game called “Guitar Hero: Aerosmith” anyway.

The game is filled with detail and extras as our guest reviewer points out, but we really thought that the unlockable character of Run DMC just stole the show (which we enjoyed). I mean really, a rapper, who now plays the guitar. Where is Snoop Doog when you need him, or any of the other rappers that wouldn’t mind a guest appearance. A few new Aerosmith bonus guitars, and a large number of new bass guitars are present in the game. Some more Aerosmith and Joe Perry tracks and behind the scenes interviews rounds out the items to purchase.

All Guitar Hero’s are filled to the brim with extra unlockables. These include characters, guitars, basses, outfits, styles, songs, and videos. Pretty much all the characters for unlocking are mainly members of Aerosmith with the exception of Run DMC who I guess plays guitar now. The only gripe I have with the extras is that the player must play through several expert careers in order to purchase everything in the vault (the store). Other than that, most of the extras are pretty enjoyable.

Finally, the game has the same Xbox Live modes as Guitar Hero 3 which includes battles (both pro and regular face-off), and co-op. The achievements, along with the overall difficulty of the game, are quite low. Of the 31 songs, only two really presented a challenge. Did we mention that Joe Perry’s guitar battle was a joke?

Either way, the final decision is up to you, with our main point being, if you like Aerosmith, get the game, and if you don’t like Aerosmith, this game is a rental. Special thanks to our guest reviewer Gregory “Soldat329x” Gammon. What do you think, do you agree? Let us know in the comments.