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6 Stars

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: December 10, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This is one of the best games ever released.

Hits:
- Great songs. Many classics and lesser-known songs are on this game. (You Really Got Me, Carry On Wayward Son, War Pigs, Can't You Hear Me Knocking, Sweet Child o' Mine, Bad Reputation, Last Child, Jessica, YYZ, Misirlou, and last but not least, Free Bird)
- The songs are also very fun to play, even on Hard and Expert modes, especailly Carry On Wayward Son, Sweet Child O' Mine, Last Child, and Jessica.
- Multiplayer mode is superb. It has ended GH1 arguments with my brother over who plays first. If you have GH1, get the controller bundle with this game for this reason.
- Practice mode will make you much better. IT allows me to beat songs like Expert mode Free Bird (on slowest speed)
- You get to play at Stonehenge
- If you play good, fans will wave lighters

Misses
- A few terrible songs (Freya)
- On multiplayer, player one is always heard louder than P2 (this may make it harder for the second player)

In all, a great game,better than GH1. Buy now

Drop that zero and get with a Hero

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 7
Date: November 09, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This is a very impressive sequel. The cooperative action is fantastic. The venues are greatly improved. The boss battle style encore for each set is spot on. They expanded everything from the first game, but the expanded track listing leaves something to be desired. Unfortunately just like the annual DDR games there are some tracks that you'll know and enjoy because you like the song and others you won't really recognize or like and generally won't play.

First let me get the negative out of the way. The track listing is really skewed. With the exception of a handful of classic rock songs like Free bird, the music seems limited to 80s & early 90s, and mostly on the 80s side. The most recent song was a mid 90s song by the Foo Fighters. I don't really have a problem with that, but the inclusion of more recent artists like Franz Ferdinand or Incubus in the first game was a plus.
Also the songs by Aerosmith, Rolling Stones, & Alice in Chains among others are possibly the least popular in their back catalog. It seems that Red Octane simply did not want to pay for more popular songs. Do you really think the best Aerosmith song is "Last Child?" I bet it is one of the cheaper one to licence. I love the Rolling Stones, but I don't think "Can't you hear me knockin'" is even in my top ten. Some of these songs are in the game so the box can have the artist's name on it. The filler songs do stand out. Also the purchasable songs are as blah as it was in the first game, with the exception of Strogbad's "Trogdor the burninator" with enhanced guitar solo.

Guitar Hero (Game Only) was great but had a limited selection of song genres. This game expanded the number of songs, but further limited the genre choices (they eliminated all modern music). I wish they tried for popular songs rather than popular artists, but there are more than enough great songs in this game. The game is close to deserving of a perfect score, but I would give it something like a 97%.

Very Disappointing Sequel

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 5 / 11
Date: November 11, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Let's start with the good: If you're familiar with the first Guitar Hero's multiplayer mode, you will REALLY appreciate the sequel's Pro-Face Off mode, which allows both players to play the whole song through (without switching back and forth on one track). The great thing is you can play the whole song through without worrying about failing, since you're just going head to head. It makes for a fun time. Also good is the new practice mode, which really helps you get through the tougher solos.

The bad: Personally, I think that the song choices are sadly lacking for the second edition. Whereas even the lesser known bands and songs chosen for the first edition were enjoyable to listen to and fun to play, the second edition's offerings even from the big name bands are often much too long and just plain boring. (Note, Free Bird isn't bad. It's one of the exceptions, fortunately.)

The ugly: The production value of the songs in GH2 is MUCH MUCH ... *MUCH* lower than those in the first game. The covers are just not performed as well, and the overall *sound* of the songs is pretty weak.

Overall, the game is a pretty poor followup to the first. You might want to rent this one instead of buying.

Could have been better

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: December 16, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I'm somewhat disappointed by GH2. GH1 was a great, but not perfect game. GH2 fixes GH1's flaws by adding a practice mode and allowing you to compensate for video lag on LCD TVs. The new two-player cooperative mode (available in addition to two competitive modes) is great.

I feel the developers took a step back in a couple places, though. First, the difficulty levels are all messed up. GH1 had a nice, even progression from easy to medium to hard and finally to expert. GH2's medium seems too easy (I quickly ran through all 40 songs with 5 stars with only a couple of replays at a time when I could only get 5 stars consistently on maybe 20 of 30 songs in GH1). GH2's hard is a huge leap in difficulty, closer to GH1's expert than GH1's hard. GH1 had a nice progression within each level: on hard, the first songs would only have a few orange notes and then as you got further into the set list there would be more orange notes, then orange chords, etc. GH2's hard seems to throw everything at you right in the first group of songs (which I think is a lot harder than the second group -- Strutter and Heart Shaped Box should probably have been in the first group).

I also enjoyed the songs in GH1 a lot more than GH2. GH2's list seems more skewed to the hard end of rock. I did not at all enjoy the thrash metal/psychobilly group (although the prog rock encore in that group was a nice change).

All of this means GH2 stopped being fun for me a lot quicker than GH1. In GH1, when I was stuck with one song left on expert, I took some time to get my final two five-stars on medium, then I worked for a while to rack up better ratings on hard (and I did eventually finish expert). In GH2, I tore through medium too quickly, and when I quickly hit a wall on expert, there wasn't enough I had the ability to improve on in the hard setting. So now I'm stuck with trying to play, over and over again, a bunch of songs I don't particularly like in order to progress on expert, or I can go back to medium and try to pick up gold stars on medium for the tedious task of playing songs perfectly. But tedium is not fun, and playing bad songs is not fun.

The shredders who spend their time trying to move up the rankings at www.scorehero.com probably welcome the difficulty. People of my modest skill level (22 of 30 5-stars on GH1 hard) will have fun with GH2, but not as much fun as it could have been. I hope that with GH3 the developers can find a balance between keeping things fun for both the mortals and the gods.

Best Game Ever. Period.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: December 19, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Guitar Hero is a truly simple spinoff based on games of yesteryear (ie simon says) but its just so much darn fun. Who doesn't love the rock star lifestyle? I know I do. This game lets you live out your fantasies and feel like your playing in a band with some of your favorite musicians. The game can really go from both extremes to very easy to ridiculously hard so it accommodates players of all skill levels. Career mode is fun but multilayer action is a blast. Buy 2 guitars because you won't want to share this game with anyone. Guitar Hero II has much better game play then Guitar Hero I in multi player mode. There are more options and different styles of games to play.

Kiss your air-guitar goodbye!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: January 30, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I got my GH2 Bundle in the mail yesterday and tried it out right away. I must say, I love it even more now that I have my own guitar ^_^

The tunes included in this game range from the ever acclaimed FREEBIRD to classics such as SWEET CHILD OF MINE, CHERRY PIE among 50+ others. Though I prefer the selection from GH1 a tad more (David Bowie and Megadeth being my top favorites), the beefed up difficulty (balanced by the training mode, the best addition BY FAR in this game).

The replay value is also alot higher, as the game encourages you to try the harder difficulties, and the unloackables are sweet, ranging from Buckethead to the ever awesomeness that is Strong Bad, something which truly gives this game an awesome edge over most other music games out there.

While we have less songs than the new XBOX 360 version (*shakes fist*), this is still a game that you owe yourself to own and enjoy every day if you have a PS2.

Oh, and before I forget, the 2 player mode(s) are among the funnest things to happen to modern multiplayer :-)

So, can a game without foul language, sexism, storyline, violence or gore be among the best out there? **** YEAH!!!!!! ^_^

Updated features on Guitar Hero II, but did not like song selection.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: February 25, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This is so much fun to play. Guitar experience is not necessary to play the game. In fact, that may even hinder you at first. I can see real guitar players not enjoying this, but if you've ever dreamed of being a guitar hero/rock star in your own home with adoring fans then this is the game for you. My 15 year old daughter picked this up very, very quickly - probably because she has played so many video games and is a dancer that knows how to keep to the beat. However, you may find it difficult to play if you cannot play syncopated music, or have trouble keeping the beat for any length of time - at first.

I prefer the first two levels of songs to the rest of them. I am, by no means, a rock fan, but I really enjoyed rocking out to the rock songs, and even the heavy metal, in spite of my lack of experience. I haven't heard of most of the songs in the upper level, and am only familiar with a few in the lower levels as this has never been the genres that I listen to. I have never played a video game and now I can say I am hooked on this one. I really recommend getting a second guitar controller for this game so you can play in cooperative mode or in face-off mode. This is an excellent way to be physically involved in a game, and to include the whole family.

There are different modes to play:

1. Tutorials - these will give you hints on techniques and how to play the game.

2. Practice mode - you can work your way up from easy/slowest, easy/slower, easy/slow and easy/full speed to medium, hard and expert in these speeds. You will hear vocals on full-speed in whichever level of difficulty you are playing, but not on slower speeds.

3. Career mode - you can play in front of a live audience, but note that you have to play full speed on whichever difficulty level you have chosen. You need to get at least 3 stars on the songs on each level before you can move to the next (better) venue and unlock the next level's songs. (Your first level is playing in a gym). The most stars you can get are 5 stars.

4. Multiplayer - in this mode you can play cooperative - one plays bass or rhythm guitar while the other plays lead, and the great thing about Guitar Hero II is that you can both play the same song on your own level of difficulty, unlike Guitar Hero I. In cooperative you both have to play well enough together to pass the song.

Or you can play face-off - you compete the same song at the same time (again with your choice each of difficulty level). Usually the songs are divided into parts that you play, but in some parts of each song you play at the same time. You get to see who is the best performer in both cooperative and face-off, but only in the latter do you have a winner.

There are star meters in career and multiplayer mode, that allow you to lift your guitar and, basically, if you fudge your notes it doesn't matter for the duration of time that the star meter is being used. The higher the star meter, the longer you get to do this. We usually reserve using the star meter for the tricky guitar solo sections.

The gist of the game is that you have a rolling screen that has colored circles on it, and you must press the corresponding color buttons on the guitar controller at the time that the notes hit the fixed color circles on the guide. This may take some coordination at first, but you will quickly get the hang of it if you practice first, before using career mode. In career mode, if you hit too many bad notes and your meter has gone into the red, you will be booed off the stage and have to reattempt the song.

There is also a store where you can buy new guitars, guitar skins, characters, outfits for some of the characters and new songs that don't appear on the regular playlist. You can buy these things once you have earned enough money in career mode. You get paid for each gig you play and the better you play the more money you get. Also, the last song of the set pays the best.

It is an excellent experience when you pass a level and get a new song set as your character gets to experience what it is like to move up in your rock 'n roll career. There are many fun things that happen during the game that I won't mention here as I would want you to find out, just as I did. Let me just say it is thrilling to complete a song set.

I highly recommend this game for anyone who has ever dreamed of being a star and is willing to do it the easy way - in a game with a virtual audience - where you can learn as you go and don't have to be perfect to complete the game.

Strap on your ax and plug 'er in!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: March 16, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game, playability wise and feature wise is a giant step up from the original Guitar Hero. The two player mode with the individual difficulty settings allows you to play with your newbie friends without dumbing the game down for yourself, and how it lets you slow down certain parts of the song so you can master them does away with the frustration caused in the first game from failing the same song repeatedly over and over at the 75% mark and not being able to go further.
One thing that I was surprised about, is with all the hype about the big name bands that were going to be included in this game, but when it came out, the songs by some of them were ones I had never heard before. But the songs were great and very playable.
Also, with the inclusion of many cult favorites, everyone will find a song or two that is uniquely a favorite of theirs.
The difficulty on the medium difficulty songs in Guitar Hero II are harder than the medium difficulty songs on the original Guitar Hero, but the hardest songs on Guitar Hero II are easier than the difficulty on the original Guitar Hero.
Buying this game is a no brainer for anyone who is a fan of the original Guitar Hero, and unlike some sequels, anyone who has no experience with the original game can easily pick this one up and love it.

Lots of fun - for every age!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: April 16, 2007
Author: Amazon User

My son got this for his 8th birthday and loves it. Now he, my daughter and I all fight over who gets to play. (and I'm way, way older than 8...and I'm a MOM!). The game is easy for him to navigate and he has become quite a pro. His friends are over all the time to play, so if you don't like being the funnest house on the block...avoid this game! It's truly a blast.

Guitar Hero 2 songs geared for the serious guitarist

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: May 14, 2007
Author: Amazon User

We bought Guitar Hero 2 because we loved GH 1 and wanted to try more songs. I don't find the songs on this version as much fun as the first version, but I think it has to do with personal music preference. These songs are just not as familiar to us and require practice to perform them. I think a serious guitarist who is interested in the difficult licks in these songs would enjoy this version. The 2 player mode can be set to competitive or cooperative which is a nice feature. The cooperative mode is great so players that have different skill levels can still play together. Overall, we still enjoy the heck out of Guitar Hero.

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