Guitar Hero 3 impressions

[Kroogah]

I was dead set against this game after playing the demo at Gamestop. However, after nearly beating the game on Expert last night with the old X-Plorer controller and reading all the complaints about the Les Paul online, I'm ready to write the crappy demo experience off as controller problems, HD lag problems, or both. I failed "The Metal" 3 times on the demo and didn't even break a sweat on the actual game.

This is one impressive package. Like many other people last night, I kept saying "just one more song" until I finally hit a brick wall in the form of "Raining Blood" and "One". Hammer-ons and pull-offs are even easier, something that you'll be thankful for when you see the new notecharts. There is no "I Love Rock & Roll" there is no "Surrender". Even "Slow Ride" had some interesting chord work.

The story mode was one of the many things I was skeptical of, having experienced Neversoft's take on "story" through the Tony Hawk's Underground and American Wasteland games....but the cutscenes had me chuckling.

Boss battles....I'm reserving judgment until I reach Lou Cifer. I blew past Tom Morello and Slash in about a minute each. Got really lucky on Slash by killing his Yellow button in the middle of a YRYBYRYBYRYBYRYB line.

51 of the 71 songs are master tracks, and the covers are back to GH1 quality (except for Holiday In Cambodia, what the Hell drumkit is that?)

Favorite notecharts: Number Of The Beast, Cult Of Personality, Cherub Rock, Black Magic Woman, La Grange, Knights Of Cydonia, Tom Morello battle, My Name Is Jonas

Meh: Anarchy In The U.K., Stricken, Before I Forget, When You Were Young, Black Sunshine

[djbeatmongrel]

quick question, i was wondering if co-op ongs were unlockable online

[Kroogah]

quick question, i was wondering if co-op ongs were unlockable online

Pretty sure they are. But, failing that, there's already an unlock all songs cheat:

Unlock All Songs (Quickplay): (YO) (RB) (RO) (GB) (RY) (YO) (RY) (RB) (GY) (GY) (YB) (YB) (YO) (YO) (YB) Y R (RY) R Y O

You have to strum each note. The parentheses mean chords.

[Kitsune Sniper]

I'm waiting for some PS2 version impressions, since I'm a poor bastich and don't own any of the next gen consoles.

[Kroogah]

I'm waiting for some PS2 version impressions, since I'm a poor bastich and don't own any of the next gen consoles.

It's pretty much the same game. Except the guitar is a Kramer (still wireless), there's no DLC and it's not as purdy-lookin'. Here's some videos to compare:

PS2 version: http://youtube.com/watch?v=zOuk6hqit2s
360 version: http://youtube.com/watch?v=VvWkgY1VPZM

Well, One has fallen thanks to some well-timed Star Power. All that's left is Raining Blood. Or should I say "Mosh 1". Here's my progress on this damned song:

1st try: 34%
2nd try: 35%
3rd try: 36%
4th try: 37%

I wish I was exaggerating. Fortunately, it gets a lot easier after Mosh 1.

Yet another pdtecrj video here: http://youtube.com/watch?v=CnPsPM5Jw8A
Mosh 1 is 1:15 to 1:31

[Kitsune Sniper]

It's pretty much the same game. Except the guitar is a Kramer (still wireless), there's no DLC and it's not as purdy-lookin'. Here's some videos to compare:

PS2 version: http://youtube.com/watch?v=zOuk6hqit2s
360 version: http://youtube.com/watch?v=VvWkgY1VPZM

I don't care about the wireless guitar, or DLC.

I am bothered by the apparent lack of fire hands in GH2.

[Muscelli]

the wii version is a ton of fun so far..

[stuffedmonkey]

Man - I was going to buy this - but hearing that many of the songs I was really interested in are the stupid co-op encores really makes me re-think it. I hear you can unlock them for quick play with a cheat code, but I want to be able to play them in the normal career mode..

Is there any way around this?

[FlufflePuff]

I'm loving it so far. At least two great songs per set. Unfortunately, there are a good chunk of crappy 70's songs in there. To balance that, the unlockable songs are awesome this time around. Lots of great stuff in there. Unfortunately no Acrobrats. 8(

[spoon]

Anyone else (besides Perkar) have a bruise on their arm from using the new controller? 360 version.

I think it has to do with the non-rounded edges and the removable face plate?

Like the game so far. Not a big fan of the song list though. Maybe it gets better towards the end.

[Perkar]

halo 3 has mtn dew game fuel

game fuel for guitar hero = PBR

[Porksta]

The PS2 version also has a wired guitar.

I too played the PS2 demo, only at Wal-Mart. The HD lag was unbearable.

I do enjoy the battles, and enjoy that the lead singer somewhat moves his/her lips in a more believeable fashion. So far my favorite song to play is "Paint It, Black", but "Before I Forget is" an amazing song (I love Slipknot). I just wish they could do a good Heart cover. "Crazy On You" was a disaster, and "Barracuda" is meager at best.

[otaku]

I'm loving it so far especially morello being in it and playing as the hendrix look a like (till I got morello) just as good as the last. Loving it.

[Oobgarm]

The achievements for this game are ridiculous.

http://www.xbox360achievements.org/achievements.php?gameID=393

"Win 15 consecutive Ranked songs online using a standard controller"
"Play through a career on the Hard or Expert difficulty using a standard controller"
"Beat any song on the expert difficulty with the games sound options turned down to zero"
"Use the Whammy Bar on every held note on Number of the Beast"
"Complete Career Lefty and Righty"
"Beat one of the creators of Guitar Hero 3 at their own game"

Good Lord.

[Kroogah]

The achievements for this game are ridiculous.

I'm hoping beating a developer is like Tony Hawk's Project 8 where you just have to play against someone who has the achievement and it doesn't matter if you win or lose. (even though the achievement says "beat") That was an easy 50 for me. :D And my X-Plorer's whammy bar is busted, so I almost got the Number Of The Beast whammy achievement today (I missed 1 hold note completely)

I found 3 secret ones so far.

Fail a song over 90% (I failed "Before I Forget" at 99% first try, after wasting my star power)
Turn down a boss battle
Fail a single song ten times

The last one brings me to my next rant. I'm ready to call shenanigans on Raining Blood. I failed in the same spot ten, yes, TEN TIMES. And then I tried it on Hard and FAILED. FAILED A SONG ON HARD. IN THE SAME SPOT. I thought....do I really want to tear my hair out over this song, only to finally pass it and then (from what I've been reading) lose the boss battle with Lou Cifer 50 times? Some people on Gamefaqs have already broken their Les Paul controllers over Lou Cifer. Fortunately, I just string profanities together and hit the button on the front of the 360.

So I entered the unlock all songs code because I really wanted to give "Through The Fire And The Flames" a shot. Want to know my record?

2%.

TWO PERCENT. Out of five or six tries. One of those tries was 0%. Holy Jesus that intro is....remember that part in Miserlou with all the double-note hammer-ons? Just make them single notes and make it twice as fast. There you go. I actually managed to beat the song on Hard, though, which is why I'm calling shenanigans on Raining Blood.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

While I'm not all the way through the entire songlist, and I haven't gone online - I think that GH III is very solid entry in the series considering Neversoft had never previously done a rhythm game, much less a Guitar Hero game.

If nothing else the offline mode appears to be worth the price of admission, and if I didn't know a new dev team was on the job, I'd think that Harmonix was still doing a bang up job.

The new guitar (for 360 anyway) is IMO vastly improved over the wired 360 Xplorer and 1st gen PS2 SG (never owned the red GH II SG, so I'm not sure if the responsiveness was any better/worse).

The neck is about an inch longer (which, honestly makes a difference to me)

The fret buttons are more solid, much less springy/spongy feeling than the Xplorer, and far more responsive to hammer on and pull offs

And the wireless play is, well, there's always something psychological about being "tethered" to a console when playing with a game peripheral like Guitar Hero's that I don't like. Now I can really move around and not worry that I'm going to send my console flying.

[norkusa]

Is anyone having serious lag issues with GHIII, even after using the lag calibration settings? My brother says he can't even pass Medium songs because it's so bad. He put in GHII to see if it was a problem with his tv or guitar and he didn't have any problems playing that. Says there's something really messed up with GHIII for some reason.

He just checked the official GH forums and there's a few other people that had the same problem:

http://www.guitarhero.com/forums/8/forum_topics/1506

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Is anyone having serious lag issues with GHIII, even after using the lag calibration settings? My brother says he can't even pass Medium songs because it's so bad. He put in GHII to see if it was a problem with his tv or guitar and he didn't have any problems playing that. Says there's something really messed up with GHIII for some reason.

He just checked the official GH forums and there's a few other people that had the same problem:

http://www.guitarhero.com/forums/8/forum_topics/1506

That sucks!

I'm gaming on 360 using component outputs on a Panasonic LCD TV, and I found there to be no discernable lag. No calibration needed.

[Kitsune Sniper]

I tried out this game at two places today.

The first one was at Toys'R'Us. I played Rock You Like A Hurricane (Hard) but the lag threw me off a bit. I tried it in Medium, got used to the lag, and liked the notechart. But the guitar... ew. It was bolted to the floor! I'm 5'11" tall, and usually have the guitar at waist level. Here it was at crotch level. Oh and the strum and tilt functions wouldn't work. Blargh.

The second one was at Gamestop. They had the full version there, and some kid was hogging the machine until I asked him to let me try some Poison song (Talk Dirty To Me or something) since he couldn't get past 40%. The lag was pretty bad there too, but I got used to it quickly and beat the song on my first try, IN HARD. And I'm not that good at GH! The clerk was just all "WTF" as I said thanks (I bought something for a friend there) and left.

It feels okay, at least. I want to buy GH3, but I'll wait a week, at least until I have enough cash to buy it without regrets.

Edit:
Oh yeah, the 360 guitar really sucks ass. It was the new model. I didn't like it at all. Gimme my classic GH2 PS2 guitar, thank you.

[kaedesdisciple]

With all the complaints I'm seeing about the new guitar, I think I'm just going to lay low on this one until I can pick up just the game only a bit cheaper and stick with my X-Plorer.

[Trumpman]

I got it for Wii and let me tell you the game is awesome. It has a little too much metal for my tastes, but it's still fun. I'm stuck on the end of hard career mode right now. "One" is the new Freebird; it doesn't get hard until 75% through the song. I saw a video of Dragonforce...it looks RIDICULOUS!

[Borman]

Everyone complaining about lag is just not giving the game enough time. The timing is clearly different, but its not off or lagging. The game was built from the ground up with none of the old code, so it was bound to be different. But Ive beaten hard with no issues

[Muscelli]

onyone wanna play me on the wii version, heres my friend code: 055949283992



my name should be aaaaaaaaaaaaaaba or something..

[Kitsune Sniper]

Everyone complaining about lag is just not giving the game enough time. The timing is clearly different, but its not off or lagging. The game was built from the ground up with none of the old code, so it was bound to be different. But Ive beaten hard with no issues
Actually, the lag I mentioned was due to improper HDTV / LCD monitor settings. I dunno about other people, but the demo kiosks were set up like that and were annoying.

[norkusa]

Everyone complaining about lag is just not giving the game enough time. The timing is clearly different, but its not off or lagging. The game was built from the ground up with none of the old code, so it was bound to be different. But Ive beaten hard with no issues

I doubt they made the game impossible to play on purpose. Missing a few notes is one thing, but completely missing *all* of them in simple Medium-level songs is another. It's most likely a compatibility issue with certain LCD tv's and the calibration settings in GHIII. They screwed up the last release with that whammy bar problem, so I wouldn't be surprised if they messed something up in GHIII.

[Slate]

halo 3 has mtn dew game fuel

game fuel for guitar hero = PBR

What does that have to do with it? :?

[ProgrammingAce]

What does that have to do with it? :?

I'm sorry, did you just ask what beer has to do with Guitar Hero?

[Nirvana]

Cherub Rock. My Name is Jonas. Suck My Kiss. Talk Dirty to Me. Bulls on Parade.

Honestly, I freakin love those songs. I am so freakin glad they got the real versions of most of the songs in this game. It needs some Nirvana though ;)

My friends and I had trouble using the Guitar Hero 2 bundle guitars, because it seems like the game is more sensitive to strumming up and down. However we converted to using wireless controllers and it works fine now

[Oobgarm]

I've tried this on three different TVs and have had no difficulty or problems with lag.

*shrug*

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

With all the complaints I'm seeing about the new guitar, I think I'm just going to lay low on this one until I can pick up just the game only a bit cheaper and stick with my X-Plorer.

Personally, I think the new guitar (I've got the 360 version) is much better than the 1st generation launch PS2 black Gibson SG and the original wired 360 Xplorer.

The fret buttons are much more "solid" and responsive without forcing the user to over-squeeze them during play, and their slightly smaller size allows for what I believe to be an easier time not confusing neighboring buttons for each other between fingers.

I've used both the black SG and the wired Xplorer pretty extensively, however I'm not really sure how the action is on the official red Gibson SG that came with GH 2, or the official wireless PS2 version.

I know everybody plays the game slightly differently, just like real guitar playing, so what I find to be comfortable and responsive may not be for others ... but I don't think the quality has been lost or is lacking in the end product.

Thumbs up for me on the 360 Guitar Hero III controller.

[MoreEbolaForYou]

I got the wii version. I was just going to buy the ps2 version since I already have 2 guitars, but the clerk said they wouldn't have game only for awhile. I'm pretty glad I upgraded. The guitar seems much nicer. Would be great to be able to play co-op though. Anyway, the songlist is pretty alright. Pretty painful to have to play Slipknot and Disturbed (I'm a ridiculous music nerd and those two a serious insult to my painfully sensitive finely tuned and extremely closed minded musical senses), but it's out of the way and I'll never have to do it again. At least on the hard setting. I've already gotten past Raining Blood on hard, only 3 more songs to go.

[Neil Koch]

but the clerk said they wouldn't have game only for awhile.

Someone must have been trying to work on their commssion...

http://www.gamestop.com/product.asp?product_id=281775

[Oobgarm]

I've been doing a bit of thinking.

I really like Guitar Hero. I think the series did peak with II, though III is a good game in it's own right. Those of us who enjoy the gameplay certainly understand what I'm saying.

However, I wonder how it's going to fare with some of the more casual folk, a demographic that was a heavy factor in the series' success.

I had the opportunity to talk to a few folks last night about the game while working at Best Buy. They were fence-sitters, unsure if they should drop the $99 to get a game that really didn't jump out at them, outside of the brand recognition. Upon further conversation, it was determined that the highlighted songs on the box didn't draw them in. So I took them over to our net-enabled computer and showed them the full tracklisting.

The response heard from both parties: "Who are some of these groups? I've never even heard of half of these songs."

And that, I think, is going to be the downfall of the game. Those who have a musical taste attuned to the setlist love the choices. But when you sit back and look at it, the setlist doesn't have that ball-kicking power the other games did. Definitely not the amount of songs that will pull in people and convince them to buy.

You've got GnR, The Killers, Pearl Jam, Disturbed, and Metallica as recent or current big-name acts that will definitely gain notoriety from the demographic this game is targeting. Older tunes by Mountain, The Who, Kiss, the Stones, and Aerosmith might be a bit beyond casual folks' tastes. Further down the line, you have modern stuff like Slipknot, AFI, Muse, and DragonForce that are very segmented in their fanbase, i.e. a much more limited appeal. Then finally, you have Tenacious D, Priestess, Living Colour, Sonic Youth, and Social Distortion that are even less known to most regular folks.

I dunno. I really like the game, but I hate to think it's going to have a limited appeal. I'm sure that right now, most people will buy it simply because it's a new Guitar Hero. But I think you'll see a lot more copies of this used sitting on the shelf at the local GameStop.

[NE146]

Older tunes by Mountain, The Who, Kiss, the Stones, and Aerosmith might be a bit beyond casual folks' tastes.

What the...

I'm not sure what demographic you're understimating, but those are some of the biggest bands in the world. :p i.e. the perfect ones to use for 'casual' folk?

[s1lence]

What the...

I'm not sure what demographic you're understimating, but those are some of the biggest bands in the world. :p i.e. the perfect ones to use for 'casual' folk?

Yeah aren't classic rock stations some of the most popular in the US other then Country?

[norkusa]

My brother said he slid a pice of paper underneath the strum bar and now the game plays fine. Guess it wasn't a lag issue but something to do with the game detecting 2 strums instead of 1. Problem sounds too wide-spread too be an issue with worn out controllers though so it could be an issue with the game (like in GHII how the whammy bar wouldn't register):

http://www.guitarhero.com/forums/8/forum_topics/1647?page=1

[Kitsune Sniper]

Someone must have been trying to work on their commssion...

http://www.gamestop.com/product.asp?product_id=281775

You realize that games run out of stock and they don't know when they'll get new copies in, right? :P

[The Shawn]

I just went through the game on Medium (Bought it last night for the ps2) I gotta say I'm not overly impressed with the song list other than Reign in Blood and One, I mean what ta heck is "Hit me with your best Shot" on there for? That wasn't exactly a "Rock legend song" I know, I grew up in the 80's

Other than that it seems to move a lot faster than GH2 and I can't possibly see myself being able to go any higher than Medium and still have any fun, honestly after the slayer tune my fingers were numb.

I am quite happy that most of tunes were done bye the original masters though and the unlockable videos are cool but for 95 beans for the PS2 version w/guitar I can't say it's worth it...

Shawn

[Oobgarm]

What the...

I'm not sure what demographic you're understimating, but those are some of the biggest bands in the world. :p i.e. the perfect ones to use for 'casual' folk?

Nah, you're right. I don't know what I was thinking there.

Perhaps some of the kids these days won't care about them, I guess.

[RyoGeo]

I. . . I mean what ta heck is "Hit me with your best Shot" on there for? That wasn't exactly a "Rock legend song" I know, I grew up in the 80's

Shawn

Not that I'm all defending GH3, but um . . . Pat Benatar? Hell is for Children, You Better Run, Hit me With Your Best Shot? These are not iconic to you as someone that grew up in the 80's? Which 80's were you in? Have you seen Fast Times at Ridgemont High? There's a whole contingent of girls in the movie that are specifically called out as dressing like Pat Benatar. Maybe your 80's are the late 80's, but the chick sold millions of records.

If you don't like the list, hey, no worries. But Benatar being on the roster certainly makes sense to me.

[The Shawn]

Not that I'm all defending GH3, but um . . . Pat Benatar? Hell is for Children, You Better Run, Hit me With Your Best Shot? These are not iconic to you as someone that grew up in the 80's? Which 80's were you in? Have you seen Fast Times at Ridgemont High? There's a whole contingent of girls in the movie that are specifically called out as dressing like Pat Benatar. Maybe your 80's are the late 80's, but the chick sold millions of records.

If you don't like the list, hey, no worries. But Benatar being on the roster certainly makes sense to me.



Um' no, I'm an early AND late 80's child, if your gonna' quote Fast times at Ridgemont then maybe a little Moving in stereo with the Cars would be more proper. And No, Pat Benatar was never considered a "Rock Legend" And if she was going to be included in a GH game then maybe Love is a battlefield would have been a better choice.

Shawn

[theshizzle3000]

Yeah I was cruising through the game on hard until I hit the roadblock that was "One" and my only real complaint is that you cannot unlock a non-battle version of "Devil Went Down To Georgia".

[RyoGeo]

. . . Moving in stereo with the Cars would be more proper. And No, Pat Benatar was never considered a "Rock Legend" And if she was going to be included in a GH game then maybe Love is a battlefield would have been a better choice.

Shawn

Moving is Stereo would have been HAWESOME. And yeah, Rock Legend may be a bit over the top. You surprise me with Love is a Battlefield though. Seems awful pop. More so, to me, than the others but hey, that's music.

BTW, there's a dude at the Gamestop I frequent near work that I watched as he battled Lou. Damn, that song is just nuts. It took him a number of tries, but he ended up finishing on Hard. There were a number of 'plinks' to be sure, but he did do it.

[geneshifter]

I'm also pretty disappointed with the songs in this installment. GH2 was better. And, I've also had the problem with the strumming. I wish I hadn't bought the game now and waited for Rock Band.

[digtempest]

Anybody here bought the red and white Target 2- SG guitar PS 2 bundle? I did and I think the whammy bar is too close to the strummer.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Um' no, I'm an early AND late 80's child, if your gonna' quote Fast times at Ridgemont then maybe a little Moving in stereo with the Cars would be more proper. And No, Pat Benatar was never considered a "Rock Legend" And if she was going to be included in a GH game then maybe Love is a battlefield would have been a better choice.

Shawn

As an 80's child myself, I think that while Pat Benetar didn't have the longevity into current rock music of say - Joan Jett (her closest contemporary stylistically), the SONG "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" IS a recognizable moment of 1980's guitar rock (IMO, and apparently Neversoft's too) worthy of inclusion.

It was Benetar's biggest hit, and if you chart it's success (#9 on Billboard in 1981) I'm sure it was on the charts as long as and/or sold as many if not more albums than some of the other selections in the game.

[Guru of Time and Space]

Does Raining Blood use Postmortem as an intro or does it just go right into the song?

-GoTaS

[Kroogah]

Does Raining Blood use Postmortem as an intro or does it just go right into the song?

-GoTaS

It's exactly as it is on the album, with the long held chord at the beginning, plus the high-pitched wails and the DUN-DUN-DUN of the drums before going into the opening riff. It's the original recording off of Reign In Blood.

[The Shawn]

It's exactly as it is on the album, with the long held chord at the beginning, plus the high-pitched wails and the DUN-DUN-DUN of the drums before going into the opening riff. It's the original recording off of Reign In Blood.

Yeah, I thought that was pretty cool myself, Angel of Death would have also been a goodin' if they had released the original with Tom Araya's "Death scream" Or maybe some Hell Awaits..heh.heh.

[Guru of Time and Space]

It's exactly as it is on the album, with the long held chord at the beginning, plus the high-pitched wails and the DUN-DUN-DUN of the drums before going into the opening riff. It's the original recording off of Reign In Blood.

Well, I was just asking because the original pressings of the album had the tracks messed up and Raining Blood would start at the very last fast thrash part of Postmortem ("do you wanna die?"). People just grew used to that over time I guess.

But, thanks for letting me know. I've been asking other messageboards and no one would respond.

-GoTaS

[eggwolio]

I have the 360 version and picked the PS2 bundle at Target up for a friend. I was a bit puzzled that contrary to what the box said, the PS2 version came with one white/red guitar and one red/black guitar. I also think the PS2 got better unlockables.

Overall, I think the game has gotten easier. I've had more success with the hard tracks than I ever did on GH2, and it seems like you need to be a little less accurate with the timing. I thought maybe I was just getting better, but I went back to GH2, and the same songs still kicked my ass, only worse, because I let my timing get a little lax from all the GH3.

I also picked up the Smashing Pumpkins faceplate, which I thought looked quite awesome despite the fact that the box misspelled the band's name.("pumkins?") Unfortunately, my opinion on this has changed drastically, as the image is wearing more and more and there are big patches in it which developed the day I got it. Hardly worth my fifteen bucks. I'm going to email redoctane and see what they can do for me, but I may just return it to Best Buy. I'm not particularly rough on my video game equipment, and I find it silly that the graphic would just start vanishing like that.

I'm probably going to pick up the wii version in the long run as well as my 360 one, then at least I'll get the robot, who is the coolest unlockable character I've seen, and I'll be able to play online with my friends back home. I also liked in the PS2 one that you could make the characters play the SG controllers. The unlockables in the 360 aren't bad, but I'd much rather have metalhead over the god of rock, or even the grim ripper.

[Slate]

My brother said he slid a pice of paper underneath the strum bar and now the game plays fine. Guess it wasn't a lag issue but something to do with the game detecting 2 strums instead of 1. Problem sounds too wide-spread too be an issue with worn out controllers though so it could be an issue with the game (like in GHII how the whammy bar wouldn't register):

http://www.guitarhero.com/forums/8/forum_topics/1647?page=1

Ugh, It's happening to me too! It caused me to lose a ranked battle of School's out, And i'm a great player, too! (I've beaten freebird on expert)

[Kroogah]

Well, looks like Lemmy beat the rest of us to the Expert Career crown. I knew he'd be first after he stomped me online (I beat him at Cult Of Personality, then he beat me at Cities On Flame, Raining Blood AND TTFATF)

I hunger for more matchups. Slate, you have been added. We'll see who has class and principals. (and a word that rhymes)

I'll be on all nite Saturday, most likely. We really oughta bring the online matchup forum back.

[GrandAmChandler]

Looks like Downloadable Content songs have been leaked!

http://kotaku.com/gaming/rumor/guitar-hero-3-dlc-leaked-318234.php

-GAC-

[Half Cab Leroy]

Just have the boss battle against Lou before I beat it on expert.

[meancode]

Is anyone else having a hell of time trying to get an online game? I am on the 360, and when I try and do a quick match, it says joining game... then failed to connect to game. if I search it says the session no longer exists when I select it from the list.

I have played 2 songs online so far. The first I won by getting 100% :) and the second song the opponent dropped in the middle of the song. He was winning, so I doubt he quit.

My initial impressions of the online part of this game are not very hight at the moment.

HA! My 500th post.

[meancode]

I agree with what others here have said about the game getting easier. I am not sure if the window of opportunity to hit a note is any bigger, I can't tell that. But, it is easier to use Star Power. Hammer Ons/Pull Offs are a lot easier, and the note charts on lower difficulties seem a lot easier. In GH II Rocks the 80s, for example, Easy had Blue notes and Medium had Orange notes every once in a while. I don't find any of that here.

[NinjaJoey23]

I downloaded the demo tonight, and I'm not impressed. The window for notes seems to be much larger now. When the notes are coming fast and close together, it doesn't matter whether I play sloppy or precise, I still hit all of them. Also, they downplayed the actual guitar line. This may be more realistic, but it leads to not being able to hear one's own playing. There were several times tonight when I was playing a string of notes or a rhythm, but the music didn't matter, since I couldn't hear my part over the vocals anyway.

The songlist seems pretty good, but after playing the demo I went back to GH2, and I think it is much better.

[sirhansirhan]

I played this for the first time today (on the PS2), and it's a lot better than I thought it was going to be. The track listing is pretty solid (Paint It Black, Black Magic Woman, and Kool Thing are the best)--maybe even the best one on a GH yet. The battles were pretty poopedy, and I had a few other quibbles, but for the most part I was pleased. I'll probably get it for the Wii in the relatively near future.

[kedawa]

I played the 360 version at a friend's house on friday and I really like the selection of tracks, but his guitar is defective and turns on star power as soon as you get it.

[meancode]

I am playing with the X-plorer, and am not looking forward to the Les Paul, considering all the bad things I have been reading about it.

Question for everyone: Do you know if it is possible to play The Devil Went Down to Georgia in quick play? If not, thats lame.

[kaedesdisciple]

Overall, I think the game has gotten easier. I've had more success with the hard tracks than I ever did on GH2, and it seems like you need to be a little less accurate with the timing. I thought maybe I was just getting better, but I went back to GH2, and the same songs still kicked my ass, only worse, because I let my timing get a little lax from all the GH3.


The timing on gh3 does feel much more forgiving. I was playing my nephew's gh3 yesterday and I knew for sure I was missing the timing on notes by those fractions of a second that would have killed me in 2. Lo and behold I found myself in the middle of a 300 note streak where I thought I should've been in the red. Like you, I went back to gh2 again after that and got stuck in the exact same places as before.

[Flack]

Here's a cheat for playing the game in left-handed mode.

http://hijinksensue.com/2007/11/03/cheating-at-guitar-hero-3-the-lefty-flip/

[meancode]

Here's a cheat for playing the game in left-handed mode.

http://hijinksensue.com/2007/11/03/cheating-at-guitar-hero-3-the-lefty-flip/

Wow, thats going pretty far.

[NE146]

Any of you guys play like I do and really "pick" (i.e. flick) the switch hard up and down like a real guitar string.. each time making it fly quickly back to neutral position on it's own?

Well is it me or is GH3 way to sensitive to that? Something I don't experience in the other games is in GH3 when the bar returns back to neutral after a hard flick, it registers that as an extra strum and thus often gives me a miss instantly after a perfect hit. :grrr: And the thing is it's the same behavior on 360 GH3, as well as PS2 GH3 using a GH1 controller. It must be the game...

Anyone else play that way and experience this? :-/

[rbudrick]

NE1, I play with a pick and I've never had that problem.

Now, My friend got the PS2 verasion this weekend, and i must say, with all the talk of this game being very forgiving, I must disagree HIGHLY. I've beaten GHII on expert with out much effort, and I found myself missing a CRAPLOAD of notes. I found the game to be extremely unforgiving, even on easy mode. I was nailing notes, and it was saying I missed them.

What made matters more confusing, though, was that I'd hear the ping sound of a missed note on about 1/4 to 1/3 of the time, then it would say I had 96%. WTF!? We were all very confused.

Am I alone in this? Did I enter some vortex to opposite world?

-Rob

[Porksta]

NE1, I play with a pick and I've never had that problem.

Now, My friend got the PS2 verasion this weekend, and i must say, with all the talk of this game being very forgiving, I must disagree HIGHLY. I've beaten GHII on expert with out much effort, and I found myself missing a CRAPLOAD of notes. I found the game to be extremely unforgiving, even on easy mode. I was nailing notes, and it was saying I missed them.

What made matters more confusing, though, was that I'd hear the ping sound of a missed note on about 1/4 to 1/3 of the time, then it would say I had 96%. WTF!? We were all very confused.

Am I alone in this? Did I enter some vortex to opposite world?

-Rob


You were probably hitting notes that weren't there. For example, play a song on easy. Before any notes show up, just start strumming until you get into the red. You can still 100% the song even though you "missed notes."

[meancode]

Any of you guys play like I do and really "pick" (i.e. flick) the switch hard up and down like a real guitar string.. each time making it fly quickly back to neutral position on it's own?

Well is it me or is GH3 way to sensitive to that? Something I don't experience in the other games is in GH3 when the bar returns back to neutral after a hard flick, it registers that as an extra strum and thus often gives me a miss instantly after a perfect hit. :grrr: And the thing is it's the same behavior on 360 GH3, as well as PS2 GH3 using a GH1 controller. It must be the game...

Anyone else play that way and experience this? :-/

Many others have voiced concerns about the double strumming thing.

[Flack]

"Guitar Hero 3 Through the Fire and Flames XPERT."

(This is insane.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9ao_vOsZkg&NR=1

[NE146]

Many others have voiced concerns about the double strumming thing.

Got a link? I'd be interested to see what they're saying..

I've since been forced to adapt by actually HOLDING the strum bar between my thumb and index finger, and never letting it go when strumming it up and down. Either that or just depressing it with my thumb and not letting it return on it's own.

Although I know a lot of people play that way, it sucks to me since it feels so foreign. But yeah I've just played a couple rounds and confirmed again what I'm experiencing. The classic example would be one single long held note. I'd hit it fine and hear the note start, then a split second later after the flick I hear the mistake sound and the note stops for the duration of it. And this is on the PS2 using the SAME SG guitar controller that still works fine on GH1, GH2 & GH-80's.
:sob:

[Kitsune Sniper]

Here's a cheat for playing the game in left-handed mode.

http://hijinksensue.com/2007/11/03/cheating-at-guitar-hero-3-the-lefty-flip/

Oh jeez, not HIM. He HAD to post that, didn't he? I'm surprised he hasn't posted it at Scans Daily...

[ProgrammingAce]

NE1, I play with a pick and I've never had that problem.

Now, My friend got the PS2 verasion this weekend, and i must say, with all the talk of this game being very forgiving, I must disagree HIGHLY. I've beaten GHII on expert with out much effort, and I found myself missing a CRAPLOAD of notes. I found the game to be extremely unforgiving, even on easy mode. I was nailing notes, and it was saying I missed them.

What made matters more confusing, though, was that I'd hear the ping sound of a missed note on about 1/4 to 1/3 of the time, then it would say I had 96%. WTF!? We were all very confused.

Am I alone in this? Did I enter some vortex to opposite world?

-Rob

I have no problems playing on a high def monitor over VGA, but when i went over to my GF's place this weekend i couldn't hit half the notes. Same 360, same guitar, only difference was her SDTV.

[rbudrick]

I have no problems playing on a high def monitor over VGA, but when i went over to my GF's place this weekend i couldn't hit half the notes. Same 360, same guitar, only difference was her SDTV.


Interesting...I'm on a PS2, though, no high def, just SDTV.



You were probably hitting notes that weren't there. For example, play a song on easy. Before any notes show up, just start strumming until you get into the red. You can still 100% the song even though you "missed notes."


Yes, that would make sense, except it did it on about 1/4 to 1/3 of the notes, not 4%. Basically, it was counting most "missed" notes that I know I nailed as unmissed. I just don't get it.

So, let's assume for a second that what was actually happening was the spring bounceback that's been mentioned. Perhaps I didn't notice it happening. Would just using my GHII guitar fix the problem?

-Rob

[Kroogah]

So....finally beat Raining Blood. The first time I cleared Mosh 1, the rest of the song went by like nothing.

And now, Lou. I will beat this probably never. It's really aggravating playing for damn near an entire minute only to have Lou get the double notes powerup and instantly kill me with it. Lou gets the first powerup every time since you can not make him miss. Hooray, beating the game on Expert has a luck factor involved. GG Neversoft.

From trolling on Scorehero, it looks like the only way to reliably pass the intro on Through The Fire And The Flames is tapping. i.e. 2-handed Eddie Van Halen strum the first note with your elbow and hope for the best. I can do it pretty reliably on...."Slowest" speed. "Slower" I get about 80% of the notes and "Slow" it's more like 50%. Strumming with your elbow and concentrating on tapping at the same time is fucking hard to do.

[Kroogah]

Also, 2 pictures to remind myself why I haven't smashed the Les Paul into a million tiny bits:

http://www.spaceballsthewebsite.com/yashiro/bullsfc.JPG

First gold star on Expert. Naturally I wasn't connected to Live at the time, so no leaderboard wankery for me.

http://www.spaceballsthewebsite.com/yashiro/dontneedit.JPG

Got the "Don't Need The Power" achievement. You don't have to be on Expert to do it, but it's still a pain in the ass on Hard. I only missed 10 notes, and didn't clear 200K until the final descending scales.