Guitar Hero: Aerosmith

Developer: Neversoft
Publisher: Activision
Release Date: June 29, 2008
Systems: Xbox 360 (reviewed), PS3, PS2, Wii
ESRB Rating: T
Official Web site

In a nutshell: Rock this way.

0:00 This and Rock the 80s are the only Guitar Hero games I haven't played yet, and my fake-guitar obsession knows no bounds, so I figured I'd give this disc a spin despite not being a huge Aerosmith fan. FYI, I'm using the Rock Band Stratocaster because a) it's better and b) it's the only one I have that works on the Xbox 360.

0:01 After a decent bit of loading, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry introduce the Neversoft logo. Pan to "NIPMUC" where there's a dance tonight. 2-D cut-outs of nerdy high school kids dancing, then Aeroesmith's van crashes through the wall and Tyler spills out and throws up the horns! People in the audience offer up contracts in deference to his extreme rocking. Backstage, Tyler hugs Perry and suddenly they're in "Aero Force One" flying to stadium gigs around the world. Seems suitably over-the-top for an intro. I really like the animation and art style.

0:02 So I'm not going to explain the gameplay much here because, come on, it's Guitar Hero. You know the drill by now.

0:03 The silver lady from the Just Push Play album cover is on the title screen. Seems appropriate. Let's dive into "quick play." Four of the eight initially available songs are by Aerosmith. The Kinks' "All Day and All of the Night" is the only one I really know, and it's a cover version. Phooey.

0:07 The cover version turns out to be surprisingly decent. I get a 25G "Sick as a Dog" achievement for my five star, Hard difficulty performance. I forgot how much better the background performers look in Guitar Hero when compared to the grainy, music-video style in Rock Band.

Read the full review at Crispy Gamer