Awesome!

Here's my take on Guitar Hero: it's a great game. The song choice is varied enough to appeal to almost anyone. In fact, I would say, in terms of song selection, this game's better than the sequel. A word on that: the songs are covered, not the original performers. The learning curve is relatively gradual, although there's a substantial increase in difficulty between medium and hard mode. But within each level of difficulty, the game does a good job of slowly increasing the complexity of how you're moving your fingers across the fretboard. The game also appeals to a wide variety of ability levels. Easy and medium modes are great for the casual player. Hard and extreme provide the expected levels of difficulty to players who want more out of the game. The unlockable extras (unlocked with in-game cash) were well done, as none of them affect gameplay itself, but rather provide additional content to players who "put in the time." This way, the game isn't turning away the less-addicted just because they didn't feel like getting carpal tunnel just to make a little extra game cash.

There are two factors that detract from the gaming experience: hammer-ons/pull-offs and the brevity of the game. Hammer-ons/pull-offs were greatly improved in the sequel, but they weren't quite as polished as they could have been for this entry. As a result, they can be tricky to do properly, and it doesn't feel like it would on a real guitar. And the game's not necessarily short, there are just less songs in a career than the sequel. One other point worth mentioning: the absence of a practice mode is also a drawback.

This is a great title for anyone who ever wanted to play guitar with a rockin' band, but hasn't yet devoted the time to learning how to play. If you've ever turned your stereo up and rocked out, this game's for you. If you've had a rough week and you just need to dance it out... go buy Dance Dance Revolution.

In short, it's a great game. It's a wonder no one thought of this sooner. It would have earned 5 stars if I had reviewed it BEFORE playing the sequel.