It is up for argument if Aerosmith is “America’s Greatest Rock Band”, but it’s not an argument when it comes to longevity, record sales, and a long list of number one hits. Aerosmith has paid their dues over their long career and have rightfully notched themselves into the annuals of Rock n’ Roll history. Neversoft and Activision taking cue with Guitar Hero has decided to pay tribute to Aerosmith in the first band exclusive Guitar Hero game.

In the latest edition Guitar Hero you will be loosely following the careers of Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Brad Whitford, Tom Hamilton and Joey Kramer. Whitford and Perry are main gunslingers for Aerosmith, Joe Perry being a very innovate and under rated player in my humbled opinion. On the lead vocals is Steven Tyler who is almost like a gaming character himself and solid beat man Kramer on the drums. Aerosmith has been around longer than most of you will remember launching their first album, Aerosmith in 1973. Now in 2008, Aerosmith has released 14 studio albums, 5 live albums and 8 compilation CD’s. Gathering more info, Aerosmith has sold over 150 million albums around the world, now that is one successful band. If you’re not sure if you know any Aerosmith songs then I can list a few of their most successful singles over the years and maybe you’ll recognize the ballad hits “Dream On”, or “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing”, or a few of their rockers “Walk This Way”, “Rag Doll”, or “Dude (Looks like a Lady). Looking over Aerosmith’s long list of hit singles its now clear why Activision has singled out the Boston natives to have their own licensed Guitar Hero game.

Back In The Saddle Again
One aspect of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith that has come under criticism is how things haven’t changed from Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock to this new alliteration of the game. Now this could be good for gamers who love the Guitar Hero formula and don’t want to see any changes, however it also shows an unwillingness to expand upon the series. Frankly, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith this is the same game with a few new songs, animations and cut scene excerpts. Everything is intact with the same characters and encore set you know and love. If you are a hater and haven’t found the appeal of Guitar Hero than even the power of rock from Aerosmith won’t be changing your tune. Guitar Hero: Aerosmith should really be looked at like an expansion pack to Legends of Rock rather than a full blown new edition of the game.

Aerosmith isn’t the only act that is featured in the game, as Neversoft has pulled out a few other classic bands to add their musical touch to the game. The way the new game is structured is that you play a few songs as the opening act and then when you successfully passed the songs its time to bring on Aerosmith and perform with them. This also leads into encore songs and new venues, just like the previous versions of the game. Here is a list of the non-Aerosmith tracks featured in the career mode in Guitar Hero: Aerosmith.

There are also a number of Bonus Songs added in the game that can be purchased with money earned within the game. This is mainly comprised of more Aerosmith and a few Joe Perry songs from his solo endeavours. Actually, some of the coolest Aerosmith songs are found in “The Vault” section of the game that run from their early stuff like “Pandora’s Box” up to some later material like “Shakin My Cage” and “Talk Walkin”. In total Guitar Hero: Aerosmith features 41 tracks including a guitar battle with Joe Perry.

Let the Music Do the Talking
Contributing to the great sound of the game the members in Aerosmith re-recorded several parts like vocal and guitar overdubs. They also re-recorded the four songs that have been included off their first CD. This along with the motion capture feeds from the members of the band really help find that Aerosmith personality and over the top action that they are known for. The graphics are on the cartoon side like the pervious versions of the game which lends itself better to the Guitar Hero word. There is something about playing a plastic guitar and jumping around with your rock n’ roll idols seems to make more sense when everything is a little off center from reality. Besides the look being fundamentally the same, Neversoft has boosted the output resolution from 720p to 1080p which looks great, if you have the means. The colours really pop out in the later set designs and looks great on the big screen.

Walk This Way
The career portion of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith follows the band through an illustrated version of the bands history filled with landmark locations buildings and set decorations from Aerosmith’s sets over the years. Five of the concert years that have been duplicated is Pump, Toys in the Attic, Just Push Play, Nine Lives and Get Your Wings. I was also glad to see the Super Bowl performance, but where was Brittney? Run-DMC and Aerosmith also get some action together in a re-lived moment with Walk this Way, the first real popular song to blend rap and rock n’ roll together. One axed idea that was used in Guitar Hero III that didn’t make its way onto the Aerosmith edition is co-operative play during the career mode.

Along with unlocking new venues and songs to perform, Aerosmith themselves are featured in little cuts of live interviews talking about a certain time period in their career. These little snip-its are the most interesting part that I found being an Aerosmith fan that hasn’t seen too many interview segments with the band. It is fun to see the foursome talk about memories from various gigs from Nipmuc High and beyond. The only gripe about these added segments is that the production level is shoddy. Like, the other versions of Guitar Hero you will also be able to unlock new costumes, gear, and some Aerosmith inspired guitars that get pretty funky and weird.

When you boil down the facts, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is Legends of Rock skinned in Aerosmith with a new list of songs to jam along with. If you are not an Aerosmith fan you might find it hard to get excited about this set list of songs when Guitar Hero is constantly being updated with new songs on a regular basis. Newbie’s might want to try their luck again with Guitar Hero: Aerosmith because it is slightly easier to blast through Joe Perry riffs then some of the more difficult songs that where featured in Guitar Hero III. Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is a nice tribute to a legendary rock band, too bad this version of Guitar Hero won’t hold the same high acclaim that the band has earned in its lengthy career.

How much you enjoy Guitar Hero: Aerosmith will be adjusted on how much you enjoy Aerosmith music. Neversoft has followed the formula of their previous performance to a tee. If you don’t already own Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock I would suggest you take it for a run before you try out the exclusive Aerosmith edition. Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is an interesting experiment that could lead to some great exclusive version of the game. If you love your Guitar Hero and want a solid collection of standard rock n’ roll then fire up the Les Paul and jam a with Aerosmith.

Gameplay: 8, Graphics:8, Sound:9, Innovation:6, Mojo:8 Final: 7.8 / 10