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Guitar Hero (video game)

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This article is about the 2005 video game. For the series, see Guitar Hero (series). For the 2004 Los Angeles Guitar Quartet album, see Guitar Heroes.
Guitar Hero
Developer(s)Harmonix Music Systems
Publisher(s)RedOctane
Designer(s)Harmonix Music Systems
Platform(s)PlayStation 2
ReleaseNA November 8, 2005
EUR April 7, 2006
AUS June 15, 2006
Genre(s)Music video game
Mode(s)Single player, multiplayer

Guitar Hero is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems and published by RedOctane for the PlayStation 2 video game console. It is the first entry in the Guitar Hero series. Guitar Hero was released on November 8, 2005 in North America, April 7, 2006 in Europe and June 15, 2006 in Australia. The game features a guitar-shaped peripheral (resembling a miniature Gibson SG) as the primary controller to simulate the playing of rock music.

Guitar Hero has won many awards from major video game publications. The game's success spawned the sequels Guitar Hero II, Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s, and Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock.

Soundtrack

Main article: List of songs in Guitar Hero

Guitar Hero features 47 playable songs; 30 of these tracks are covers of the originals recorded by WaveGroup Sound in Fremont and San Francisco, California. The additional 17 songs were original recordings by lesser-known groups. Featured tracks include "Iron Man" by Black Sabbath, "Spanish Castle Magic" by Jimi Hendrix, "Bark at the Moon" by Ozzy Osbourne, "Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple, "Crossroads" by Cream, and "Fat Lip" by Sum 41. Many of the groups that performed the game's bonus songs feature members of the Harmonix development team, while some are indie Boston area groups. Drist's guitarist, Marcus Henderson, provided lead guitar on 20 of the game's 30 cover tracks. Guitar Hero is awesome and should be treated as such. All cover tracks are credited on screen with the phrase "as made famous by" (e.g., "'I Wanna Be Sedated', as made famous by The Ramones").

Reception

Awards
IGN's Best of 2005 Best Music Game,[1] Best PlayStation 2 Music Game,[2] Best Licensed Soundtrack,[3] Best Licensed Soundtrack for PlayStation 2,[4] Best Offline Multiplayer Game,[5] Best PlayStation 2 Offline Multiplayer Game,[6] Best Gaming Peripheral (for the Mini Gibson SG controller)[7]
GameSpot's Best and Worst of 2005 Best Puzzle/Rhythm Game,[8] Most Metal,[9] Reader's Choice- Best Puzzle/Rhythm Game[10]
Game Developers Choice Awards[11] Excellence in Audio, Excellence in Game Innovation
2005 Spike TV Video Game Awards Best Soundtrack
Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences' Interactive Achievement Awards[12] Game of the Year for 2005, Outstanding Achievement in Game Design, Outstanding Achievement in Game Play Engineering (tie), Outstanding Achievement in Soundtrack

Guitar Hero was initially released to retail stores in a bundle that packaged the game disc and a Gibson SG guitar controller (since its release, individual guitars and copies of the game have become available for purchase separately). Despite the bundle's US$79.99 price point (US$30 more than the price of an average PlayStation 2 game), Guitar Hero received very positive reviews and became an unexpected hit. IGN gave the game a 9.2/10 score,[13] praising the "fantastic soundtrack" and "great peripheral". GameSpot, which gave the game a 9.0/10 rating, echoed these sentiments, stating Guitar Hero had a "great guitar controller" and "killer soundtrack" and was possibly the "best rhythm game ever made."[14] The website also noted the game took an "extremely smart approach to difficulty." 1UP.com awarded the game a perfect 10/10, stating "our scale only goes up to 10." Play UK said the game gives "bedroom air guitarists a chance to live out their rock 'n' roll fantasies."[15]

The game's average review score by critics, according to Metacritic, was 91%.[16] The consensus of most reviewers was the game had a great soundtrack (consisting of high-quality covers) and a guitar controller that was both fun and easy to use.

Guitar Hero has sold nearly 1.5 million copies to date.[17]


References

  1. ^ "IGN.com Presents The Best of 2005: Overall - Best Music Game". IGN.com. Retrieved 2007-08-11.
  2. ^ "IGN.com Presents The Best of 2005: PlayStation 2 - Best Music Game". IGN.com. Retrieved 2007-08-11.
  3. ^ "IGN.com Presents The Best of 2005: Overall - Best Licensed Soundtrack". IGN.com. Retrieved 2007-08-11.
  4. ^ "IGN.com Presents The Best of 2005: PlayStation 2 - Best Licensed Soundtrack". IGN.com. Retrieved 2007-08-11.
  5. ^ "IGN.com Presents The Best of 2005: Overall - Best Offline Multiplayer Game". IGN.com. Retrieved 2007-08-11.
  6. ^ "IGN.com Presents The Best of 2005: PlayStation 2 - Best Offline Multiplayer Game". IGN.com. Retrieved 2007-08-11.
  7. ^ "IGN.com Presents The Best of 2005: Gear - Best Gaming Peripheral". IGN.com. Retrieved 2007-08-11.
  8. ^ "GameSpot's Best of 2005: Genre Awards - Best Puzzle/Rhythm Game". GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-08-11.
  9. ^ "GameSpot's Best of 2005: Special Achievement Awards - Most Metal". GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-08-11.
  10. ^ "GameSpot's Best of 2005: Reader's Choice Awards - Best Puzzle/Rhythm Game". GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-08-11.
  11. ^ "Game Developer Choice Awards". Retrieved 2007-08-11.
  12. ^ "Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences - 2006 Awards". Retrieved 2007-08-11.
  13. ^ Roper, Chris (2005-11-02). "Guitar Hero (Game & Guitar Controller Bundle) Review". IGN.com. Retrieved 2007-08-11. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. ^ Gerstmann, Jeff (2005-11-01). "Guitar Hero for PlayStation 2 Review". GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-08-11. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. ^ Play UK Magazine. Apr 2006, p.100
  16. ^ {{cite web | url = http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/ps2/guitarhero | title = Guitar Hero (PS2: 2005): Reviews at Metacritic | publisher = [[Metacritic | accessdate = 2007-08-11}}
  17. ^ Kohler, Chris (2007-09-14). "Full-On Rock Band Makes Jamming Follow-Up to Guitar Hero". Wired. Retrieved 2007-09-16. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

External links

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