Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle With Guitar

When I first heard that a PC-port of Guitar Hero III was on its way, I was ecstatic. I refused to think about how terrible Aspyr ports tend to be, and I just took it for what it was: the best thing, in my opinion, about console gaming coming to PC. I no longer would have to look upon my friends' Xbox 360s longingly.

Then the bad news: it would come with the Xplorer guitar instead of the lovely new wireless Les Paul. If you haven't used the new Les Paul, you won't be as heartbroken, but trust me: it is a huge difference. It's akin to using an Epiphone instead of a Gibson.

And more bad news. Apparantly Guitar Hero III is a system hog; even top of the line rigs used by IGN for their reviews had stuttering issues and low framerates at times. My system is far from bad, but my 8800 GTS and AMD 5000+ couldn't touch their rigs. Stuttering would make any rhythm game unplayable; worthless. I decided not to buy it.

Fast-forward a couple of weeks. I'm in Best Buy looking at LCD monitors and I see Guitar Hero III for PC. A mere mortal, I cannot resist. I get home, install the game, and plug the guitar in. I already have an Xbox 360 controller for windows, so I didn't even need to install new drivers for the guitar. It loads, and I go to quick play to try out a song; I am surprised.

The game runs flawlessly, nary a hickup, with a very high framerate, graphics and physics on high, at 1600 x 1200. In short, it is even better than the console versions. Why was my experience so different than that of reviewers, and many other people? Probably because I keep my drivers up to date religiously, and had the 169.17 (nvidia) beta drivers installed; I think I read on some forums that these improve performance in Guitar Hero. Also, I have a lovely Creative Xi-fi Xtremegamer card (which I heartily recommend) which probably helps out a bit.

Lower-end rigs will probably struggle, as is always the case with PC games. Is this fair? Shouldn't some of the worst computers be able to do something that a ps2 can? Of course; the fact that this is a system-hog at all is due to it being a lazy port. On a medium to high-end rig, does it show? Not at all. It runs like a dream; better than on consoles. If you are a PC gamer, with a nice rig, do not hesitate to buy this: It will be perfect. On lower-end systems, I would recommend trying to find a way to demo it to see how it runs. As there is no demo yet available, I can't exactly support any means of trying this out unless your friends has a copy, but do what you must.

As of yet, there are no mods available for Guitar Hero III. But I imagine they will come in time, and then this will surely be the ultimate version of Guitar Hero III. Until then, you can download Frets on Fire for some more (free) fun with your Xplorer guitar.

Something which surprised me, since, as a PC gamer, I'm not used to it, is multiplayer. You can play with a friend; one using a guitar, one using keyboard. I imagine if I plugged in another guitar, it'd work as well. I don't have one, so I can't test it out. This is a great feature, and I'm impressed that Aspyr included it with the PC version. The online multiplayer seems a little buggy, and I haven't been able to connect to any games. I've seen complaints about it on other forums and reviews. As this is not a priority for me, I can't really dock points from my review because of it, and I imagine it will be fixed in upcoming patches.

Cons: Weak online multiplayer; a system-hog; Xplorer guitar instead of Les Paul.
Pros: On a good rig, even better than console version; possibility of mods; good multiplayer if you have a friend over, $20 cheaper than other versions.

Edit: I would just like to add that, upon updating my drivers to 169.21, I started receiving stuttering and lagging like reviewers and others have mentioned. That proves it; any problems with this are driver related, and not actually a problem with the game itself. For the time being, I'd recommend 169.13 or 169.17 for best use with GHIII. With time, I'm sure all drivers will have it running great.

my fingers hurt, as I am totally addicted!! From what I've seen of the game on a ps2, I can't think of anything that's missing on this one - except I'm not sure how to do hyperspeed, or if you can. However, the minimum computer requirements may not get it to run smoothly.

Mac compatibility review:
(both have Leopard and at least 30 gigs of free hard drive space)

MacBook Pro: 2.2 Intel Core 2 Duo with 2 gigs of memory, video card (GeForce 8600M GT) etc match the game requirements. Does not play smoothly. Lags, and the audio hiccups just enough to be annoying. Playable, but unhappily.

White Intel iMac 2.16 Intel Core 2 Duo with 3 gigs of memory, minimum required video card(NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT) plays excellently, no lags, just perfect. Even can use crowd graphics, etc, and run it with programs like Photoshop running in the background.

I'm not sure if it is just the extra gig of memory making the difference, since the otherwise the specs are slightly better on the laptop, and the game says it only needs one gig of memory.

So I'm a happy customer, but only because my imac plays it smoothly. However, Considering the investment, I'm not sure it's not worth spending an extra $120 for a PS2 for portability, more accessories, other versions of the game, etc. You also have to have the CD in the computer you are playing on, which is annoying if you have two computers, or you are worried about durability moving it back and forth or with you if you have a laptop. Plus your progress is only saved on the computer you played on.

The online feature is great to play against other people, I have not tried battling someone using a keyboard, but it seems like it would take some of the fun out of it. The guitar has a nice long wire, so it being wired doesn't really bother me, especially since lots of people complain about the wireless guitars - however ascetically it's not my favorite style out there. The responsiveness seems really good though.

All in all great game, and I'm glad there is this version for the mac.

This year, the Guitar Hero franchise has definitely proved that it has exploded beyond the brink of excitement. With Guitar Hero II earlier this year, as a debut for the Xbox 360, and Guitar Hero III: Legends Of Rock making its debut for the Nintendo Wii and Playstation 3, gamers of the new console eras do know what it is like to jam beyond excitement. But, there have been some misteps like Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks The 80's, which didn't show it way into the heart of gamers well, by being more about guilty pleasures, and not driving in the fans. But now, there is one new addition to Guitar Hero series that can make it home, the P.C., as it finally gets its way into rocking out loud.

Guitar Hero III: Legends Of Rock for the P.C. takes on the popular music game series for the first time, as you jam to 70 different songs. The gameplay is the same as it has shown from the other game systems, but the thought of bringing it to the P.C. takes on a whole new meaning. The graphics work well with Windows XP, adn the newest operating system Vista. You get to jam your way through great rock classics like Rock And Roll All Night by Kiss, Heart's Baracudda, and the Santana standard Black Magic Woman, as well as surprises like Hit Me With Your Best Shot by 80's icon Pat Benetar, and Sabatoge by The Beastie Boys. The game also has great gameplay features like co-op mode, where two gamers can rock out in career mode, and battle mode where you match your licks against rock greats like Slash from Velvet Revolver and Guns N' Roses. While the battle mode could've had more challenges, the though of seeing this game on the computer is worth the wait. The game also includes a specialty guitar controller which works well with the gameplay.

All in all, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock is a great game to buy, and works well for your P.C. I absolutely loved playing this game, and I think it is a great buy for the hard core gamer in your gaming library. There is no doubt about it, you can really rock out loud, and it is worth the licks.

Graphics: B

Sound: B

Control: B+

Fun & Enjoyment: B for solo players; B+ for multiplayer

Overall: B 1/2+