This was an anticipated release for me. In the early 90′s I was a Metallica fan. I even learnt to play most of the “Black” album on guitar!! Lost interest in them when they went all “alternative” on me. But never fear, as this game includes a load of their early stuff!!
You probably all know Guitar Hero and how you play it. That saves me going into detail. So, take a dose of Metallica, add a load of hard rock and metal acts and you have this; Guitar Hero: Metallica!!
Career mode is were I, and most people, will start. This has you as a crazy Metallica obsessed band that will do anything to play support for your heroes. Each gig, or venue, has a selection of tracks from Metallica and other bands. You have to gain enough stars to open up the next venue. Whats good is that you can do this just playing Metallica songs if you wish!! Each new venue brings more new songs to play. On top of that there are unlockable, and playable, characters and shop items. Thats it in a nutshell. I’m disappointed though that the story/career mode didn’t follow Metallica’s career and include Cliff Burton and Jason Newstead on bass.
Obviously this game might not appeal to none Metallica fans, but saying that there are enough songs from other bands to carry this game.
Playing with any of the instruments is great, although I suspect most will stick to guitar. An option this does bring though is the “Expert+” difficulty setting. This is for drums only and allows you to add an additional drum pedal, sold separately, to your kit. Now, I struggle sometimes on “Easy”, and I had trouble finishing some songs with the difficulty ramped up. Some will relish it!!
This is the first Guitar Hero game I actually had fun playing!! Takes me right back to my youth!! Just because you are not a fan does’nt mean you should dismiss this!!
VideogameUK verdict: 8/10
