Guitar Hero: Metallica is fully compatible with Guitar Hero: World Tour instruments, supporting lead and bass guitar, drums, and vocals. With serious rockers like Metallica onboard, as with the dedicated Aerosmith title before it, Guitar Hero is vying for legitimacy amongst unconvinced rock fans and “serious” gamers, alike. Guitar Hero: Metallica sends the message that it’s much more than just a game played with a pretend plastic guitar, that it’s another way to enjoy the music that you love. It seems to me that Activision is aiming squarely between the eyes of the sneering rock elite. The Metallica tracks are accompanied by recognisable and very well animated motioned captured character models of the band. The camera moves and video filters create a style that suits the more feral nature of a heavy metal concert.

There is less of that parent friendly, rock clichéd feel of the game’s predecessors. Guitar Hero: Metallica is a different beast from Guitar Hero: World Tour the art design definitely sets out to serve a more discerning audience. We have, after all, already had Metallica’s album, Death Magnetic as downloadable content, why not this as well? I don’t think Activision is cynically screwing the fans at all, I think they have a clever plan and this title is part of that plan. It would be easy for me to write off Guitar Hero: Metallica is no more that a glorified content pack, better suited as a downloadable add-on for Guitar Hero: World Tour. The career mode is apparently inspired by a real group of fans that followed the bands tour in the 1990’s- as told to the developers by Metallica’s song writer, vocalist and all round hardcore rocker, James Hetfield. Heavy metal icons, Metallica, have lent their name, their likenesses and, if the publisher’s blurb is to be believed, have been involved all the way through the game’s development. My time with Guitar Hero: World Tour turned me into a fan overnight and I was desperate to have a go on Guitar Hero: Metallica. It is deceptively hard to master, especially if you are as ham-fisted as I am. Once you get over the fact that you are standing there like idiot pressing buttons on a plastic guitar, Guitar Hero rewards you with immensely satisfying experience that can be enjoyed by anyone with a passing appreciation for rock music. Oh, how we suffer for our art at Games Console. Not wanting the look a fool, I locked myself away for a couple of days with a copy of Guitar Hero: World Tour. I’d never really played a Guitar Hero game before, so when I was invited to visit Activision’s secret bunker and try out a preview version of Guitar Hero: Metallica, I was more than a little apprehensive. The first thing I did on leaving the hands-on was to go get myself a copy of Guitar Hero: World Tour. It wasn’t long before I got the hang of it, my sneering elitism melting into adoration for this new gaming genre that had suddenly been revealed to me. The Activision rep advised me that I needed to do more than just press the buttons, I needed to strum as well. I had no idea what on earth I was supposed to be doing with that silly plastic guitar, and why would I? For I was a seasoned gamer, not a child that may enjoy twatting around with a little plastic instrument.Īs I foolishly pressed those coloured buttons in time to the music, nothing happened. The truth be told, I’d never even touched a Guitar Hero game when I turned up at Activision New Zealand. The songs that are in bold are Metallica songs.Guitar Hero: Metallica was one of the first “hands-on” that I did for NetGuide Magazine. The game includes 49 tracks, 28 which are Metallica's songs, the other 21 are by bands Metallica played with, inspired Metallica, influenced Metallica, or songs that Metallica covered. It is based around the influential American thrash metal band Metallica. Guitar Hero: Metallica is the third spinoff title, and the second title based on a specific band in the Guitar Hero series.

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