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Fun but way overpriced.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 08, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I have confirmed that this game is so totally not worth its retail price tag ($49.99 last time I was at Best Buy, I think it might be about $5.00 cheaper on Amazon). I guess I'll start with the negatives because those are easier to remember.

-There are only 30 songs total, as opposed to the previous games' 58 tracks. There are no unlockable tracks that you can buy in the store. You get the set 30 and that's it.
-Way too many obscure songs. I recognized most of the bands, but some of the songs they chose from certain bands are most definitely not their recognizable hits. Even some of the encores (which are supposed to be the super secret awesome songs that everybody knows and loves) were disappointing. Who the heck is Limozeen, anyway?
-While it's great that they got master tracks for The Warrior and I Wanna Rock (two of the better songs on the game), the master tracks on those songs fade out. Live bands don't fade out. It kind of killed my Rock Star mood when I discovered those two songs faded out. Surely they could have managed decent covers of those two songs with creative endings to compensate for the fade-out.
-Speaking of covers, I understand that the original version of Ballroom Blitz by Sweet did not come out in the 80s, but trying to throw in a cover of a crappy cover by freakin' Krokus was lame. They should have just picked a different song.
-The extras are limited. As I said, there are no extra songs to buy in the store. All the guitars you can buy in the store are the same as the guitars you can buy in GH3, as are all the skins for those guitars. The only other thing you can buy in the stores besides guitars and skins is an extra character, the Grim Ripper. There are no extra styles or outfits to buy for the characters. They have one 80s style, and that's it.
-While the playable characters were altered into 80s style clothing and hair, the stock band members were not. They all look the same as the previous GH games.
-The venues are not noticeably different. The only main change I noticed was that the venue that was the Vans Warped Tour in previous games changed to something called Rock for Safety, or something like that.
-The gameplay seems easier, which makes the lower levels somewhat boring. The only song I didn't 5-star on the first try was Seventeen by Winger on Medium, and that was more because I was distracted by something rather than the difficulty of the song. Perhaps Hard will still be difficult enough for me, but the way things have gone so far, I wouldn't be surprised if I actually try to play Expert.
-Lack of songs with female vocalists, which may just be a testament to the state of rock bands in the 80s (or ever). But still, if I'm remembering correctly there were only 3 songs out of the 30 that had female vocalists.

Now for the positives. Yeah, this list will probably be shorter, but the game is still good overall. It's just overpriced.

-It's still fun. It's Guitar Hero. It's addictive and fun, and there is really only one song I dislike enough to only play in order to advance through the levels--Krokus's cover of Ballroom Blitz. I don't mind the other songs at all and would be fine playing them multiple times if I needed to in order to get 5 stars.
-The 80s styles for the characters are pretty fun. I like the Grim Ripper's 3-D glasses. :op

Okay, yeah, definitely a short list. The game is definitely worth playing. It's just not worth buying for $50. I would suggest renting it or if you absolutely must own it, wait until you can find a really cheap used copy.

Rock the 80's

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: May 06, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Very good game..I have only recently gotten into Guitar Hero, my wife is a huge fan of the series and she got me into playing them. This is by far my favorite of the 3 that I have played. (have not played GH3 yet)
Like all the GH series, its fairly easy to pick up if its your first try, and they have a very good selection of songs from the era.
If you like the GH series, you will love Encore. If you are new to the series, I would recommend starting off with GH1 and working your way up, because they get a little more difficult as you move up. But all in all.. a very fun game that I would recommend to people.

Buy this last, it's half a game by comparison

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: April 27, 2008
Author: Amazon User

My brother in law happened to have this sitting around and let us have it. It's just like Guitar Hero 2 except it about half the game. It has less songs, and no extra songs you can buy. It has half the characters and the ones it does have are just new outfits on the guitar hero 2 characters. It has a bunch of good songs on it, but it's value should be about 1/2 of a full game since it took about as much work to make as an expansion pack. Think of it as an expansion pack for Guitar Hero 2.

One Word: LAZY

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: March 17, 2008
Author: Amazon User

When this first came out, I almost bought it, but at the last second I changed my mind and rented it later. I'm glad I did.

This game is nothing but GH2 with 80's window dressing. I mean, the opening sequence is EXACTLY THE SAME, only the characters are now sporting 80's styles. As soon as I saw that, I got a bad feeling, and it only got worse from there. Everything--and I do mean EVERYTHING--is right out of GH2. I couldn't even make it through the first round before quitting in digust. This is nothing but pure laziness on the creators' part, just a desperate attempt to milk some more money out of this franchise.

Guitar Hero 80s

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: February 26, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This game appears to be easy at first but I am failing songs on Hard and have just a few racked up for Extreme. It's got a great song selection if you are a fan of 80s music. It's a good game. Graphics and concepts much more simple but still very fun.

Not worth the money!

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: February 17, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Guitar Hero rocks the 80's is as fun as the other Guitar Hero games but it is a major ripoff. I rated it 4 stars for how much fun this game is to play but only 2 overall.

It does have some cool 80's hair metal and new wave songs. A couple of the songs are kind of stupid but that is my own personal opinion.

The problem with this game is that it is not worth $[...]. I saw another reviewer say it would be great if it was $[...]. I would completly agree with that reviewer. There are only 30 songs on this game with no extras that you could buy. The other guitar hero games have around 60 songs when you buy the extras. Seems like the game is just a big money maker. I recieved this game as gift and couldn't return it because I didn't want to look unapprieciative.

Also, there are no special extras like in the other guitar hero games. There are a few guitars and finishes but only one extra charachter. There are no outfits to buy, videos, or songs. I really do not care much about buying extra guitars but, it just goes to show how much of a money maker this game really is. I would buy any other guitar hero game but no this one. If you want to play it, rent it for a day or two to see if 30 songs are really worth $50 new. You could easily beat the game in a couple of hours if you have had experience playing the other guitar hero games.

Guitar Hero Encore Rocks the 80's

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: February 08, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I highly recommend this game to those who love to rock out with Guitar Hero and those who love the 80's. If you are a die hard fan of Guitar Hero like me, then you will buy this game just because it's an opportunity to play new songs. This game invites a new generation to the game and lets them see just how awesome (and somewhat challenging) the game really is, they wont be laughing when they are missing all the notes that you breeze by. I'd say the game is more difficult compared to the previous 2 games but that makes it even more awesome. So overall I say if you like Guitar Hero, get the game.

Could have been better.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: January 27, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I love the GH games to death, though I was admittedly a bit disappointed with this one. It was obviously just an expansion, but all they really did was add a few (and I stress the word few) new songs, and did a little twist on the colour scheme of the UI. They REMOVED characters and added VERY tacky outfits to them (yes, I know the 80s were tacky but these outfits were just POORLY designed).

They didn't even remove/change any of the guitars so it was a bit weird to be playing a game set in the 80s but still using the same exact guitars.

The only other problem that I had with it was the store. Since they removed things, you have all this extra money at the end that you don't know what to do with! LOL I was somewhat amused.

Must Play for Guitar Hero players

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: January 11, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This game is really an expansion pack of Guitar Hero 2. Has some good metal songs: Bang your Head, Round and Round, Balls to the Walls, 18 and life, Seventeen, etc. But, too many of the songs are obsecure (for the 80's) songs. Why did they choose a Scorpions ballad and Radar Love by White Lion?

Were the developers of this game born in the late 80's. They definetely should have included Cinderella, Motley Crue, Tears for Fears, Depeche Mode, and Guns N Roses.

Also, I still dont know why the couldnt license more of the original songs. I doubt WHITE LION, Ratt, and the Scorpions are so wealthy they would have turned down free money.

Still, it is a must own game for all Guitar Hero Players. ROCK ON, DUDES.

These people are NUTS. BEST SETLIST!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: January 09, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This game is overpriced, but seriously, DLC on the newe games is 1.99 or more per song, so this isn't bad. But the setlist is top notch, and I don't need to unlock new characters. It is an encore pack, overpriced, but totally worth it! Wrathchild, Electric Eye...

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