Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock

Videogame fans who’ve been standoff-ish of the phenom that has been the Guitar Hero series, either because they’re musicians snubbing their noses at the concept or the fact that initially, strapping on a fake guitar makes you feel/look like a dork, should submit now, as the Guitar Hero series is unquestionably an absurd amount of fun. Volume three of the franchise doesn’t make any radical changes to the gameplay (although there are boss battles now with Slash, Tom Morello and "Lou,” a battle mode and a vague story about the rise of your band). You still strap on a guitar controller with five buttons and strum and play along in puzzle gaming fashion to a number of rock, metal and other tracks (but mostly rock and metal). However, it’s absurdly addictive and, for the uninitiated, very challenging. However, stick with it and after some trial and error (III features some of the toughest leaps in difficulty yet), you’ll be blasting through Rage Against The Machine’s "Bulls on Parade,” Sonic Youth’s "Kool Thing,” and "Cherub Rock” by the Smashing Pumpkin’s before developing Carpel Tunnel Syndrome to Slayer’s "Raining Blood” and Metallica’s "One.” However, unless you are a seasoned pro and can tackle the toughest difficulty (that fifth button is a bitch), stay far away from Dragonforce’s bonus track. There’s also co-op and on-line play, and for those who rip through all the songs, downloadable content from the Foo Fighters and Velvet Revolver, with more to come. Although it’s not exactly cheap for new songs. If you’re an old hand, Guitar Hero III may feature mainly more of the same addictive, wannabe guitar histrionics without really making any great leaps forward in terms of gameplay, but for those looking to jump into the series, Legends of Rock provides an adequate springboard to stage dive off of. Just make sure someone is there to catch you first.