Review : Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80's

Like, oh. my. god. It's totally another Guitar Hero game! It's ya know, totally gnarly ...NOT!

Gawd..gag me with a spo..*ahem* All right. Enough of this goofball talk. Let's get down to the nitty gritty with Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80's.

GH80's marks the final collaboration of Harmonix and Red Octane, the two teams that created Guitar Hero and Guitar Hero 2. Harmonix was bought by MTV and is working with EA on the upcoming game "ROCK BAND". Red Octane has tapped developer Neversoft (of Tony Hawk fame) to create "Guitar Hero 3:Legends of Rock". I wish I could say it was a sweet sendoff, but in the end it feels like a half-assed effort to grab some cash before they part ways.

If you played Guitar Hero 2, then you know much of what to expect with GH80's, only less of it. The characters have been stylized with "80's" themed outfits, but only the playable ones. The rest of the band looks like they did in GH2. This makes your guitarist look less like an 80's rocker and more like the guy who thought he was showing up to a 80's retro party and noone bothered to correct him. On top of that, there are less characters then GH2. Clive,Xavier,Lars,Casey and Eddie have all been cut and all of the 2nd outfits for the characters have been cut as well.

As far as stages, its the same deal. Less stages then GH2, but the ones that are there have been "80's-ifed". The RedOctane club and Stonehenge have been cut. Overall the stages and redone characters look good, but it still feels like GH2 cut down and slapped with a new coat of paint.

Now the important part, the music. Here is the set list (no bonus songs this time out and given this is on the PS2 only, no downloadables either)

1. Opening Licks

* "(Bang Your Head) Metal Health" - Quiet Riot
* "We Got the Beat" - The Go-Go's
* "I Ran (So Far Away)" - A Flock of Seagulls
* "Balls to the Wall" - Accept
* "18 and Life" - Skid Row (encore)

2. Amp Warmers

* "No One Like You" - Scorpions
* "Shakin'" - Eddie Money
* "Heat of the Moment" - Asia
* "Radar Love" - White Lion
* "Because, It's Midnite" - Limozeen (encore)

3. String Snappers

* "Holy Diver" - Dio
* "Turning Japanese" - The Vapors
* "Hold on Loosely" - .38 Special
* "The Warrior" - Scandal
* "I Wanna Rock" - Twisted Sister (encore)

4. Return of the Shred

* "What I Like About You" - The Romantics
* "Synchronicity II" - The Police
* "Ballroom Blitz" - Krokus
* "Only a Lad" - Oingo Boingo
* "Round and Round" - Ratt (encore)

5. Relentless Riffs

* "Ain't Nothin' But a Good Time" - Poison
* "Lonely is the Night" - Billy Squier
* "Bathroom Wall" - Faster Pussycat
* "Los Angeles" - X
* "Wrathchild" - Iron Maiden (encore)

6. Furious Fretwork

* "Electric Eye" - Judas Priest
* "Police Truck" - Dead Kennedys
* "Seventeen" - Winger
* "Caught in a Mosh" - Anthrax
* "Play With Me" - Extreme (encore)

That's right. 5 Master tracks. GH2 (ps2) had 2 and the xbox360 version added 3 more for a total of 5. So at least you get the same amount of master tracks. I can't help but think that alot of these songs would be cheaper to get the master track given they are so old, but what do I know?

The covers this time around, to be honest, are fairly horrible. GH1 had some excellent covers and GH2 dispite a couple duds (Killin the name of, i'm looking at you) also had some very excellent covers. GH80's however, I would say maybe 2? 3? of them are decent. That's wholly my opinion though. Additionally, I have to wonder about some of the note charts as well, a few of them felt..off to me. One of my favorite things about GH is how it "feels" like you are playing the song. The pressing of the notes match perfectly to the song itsself and you can't help but "rock out" when you whip through a fast solo and end with a screeching high note. GH80's had a few tracks that felt clumsy almost, like I was pressing buttons, but it wasn't corresponding to what I was hearing.

I've gotta wrap this up, as its pretty long. I'll sum up.

Highlights - It's still Guitar Hero with new music. Play with me, Holy Diver, Police Truck are some of the best ones and most fun to play.

Lowlights - music selection isn't nearly as "80's rock" as it could have been. $50 price tag for what is at most a $20 "expansion". Less characters, less venues, less music to play.

I give it *** stars. Rent this sucker, but don't pay 50 bucks for it.

(I'm making new rating icons, so for now deal with the ghetto stars :D)

I remain -