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Product: Guitar Hero II
Company: RedOctane
Date: 05/15/2006
Avaliable On:

Guitar Hero quickly became a favorite among members of our staff as well as nearly any gamer who was willing to give the off-beat rhythm game a go. Building on the success of the original, RedOctane is rolling out a second Guitar Hero game that promises to be even better than the last.

Fundamentally, Guitar Hero II is much like the original. The game’s format will revolve around the same “Tour” concept. However, the game will also come with a number of improvements. First on the list is track list, which should include about 40 songs, including “Stutter” (KISS), “Psychobilly Freakout” (Horton Heat) and "You Really Got Me" (Van Halen) among others. Around 20 indie songs will also be included, jumping the final song count to around 60. In short, Guitar Hero II will offer more game than the original.

Another big addition is a Practice mode, which was one of my personal requests in the last game. The mode expands on the tutorial portion of the original as well as allowing players to go through specific portions of a song. Expanded Co-op play is also being included. Head-to-Head modes will make a return, as will an all new “Duet” Mode. While playing this mode, one player will take lead guitar while another will take bass (or rhythm) guitar. Each player will be able to set their own difficulty when playing together.

So far, Guitar Hero II looks to be making all the right additions while also delivering on everything that made the original such a blast to play. Look for Guitar Hero II later this year.

Starscream aka Ricky Tucker

GameVortex PSIllustrated TeamPS2