The Start of a Musical Franchise - updated

Author's Rating:

Pros: A Long-Lasting game

Cons: None really 

The Bottom Line: 
Buy it, its a great addition to your library of games. Fun, unique, relaxing and also nerve-wrecking.

Author's Review
GUITAR HERO II
Activision and Red Octane's Guitar Hero II caused a lot of hype, especially for XBox 360 owners in which the Guitar Hero franchise would thus be born. The introduction of a guitar-like controller into the gameplay let consumers feel as though they are actually playing music. The controller itself mimics an X-Plorer and has five buttons (Green, Red, Yellow, Blue, Orange in that order), a strum bar, and a whammy bar for changing pitches in sustained notes. There are 60+ songs to chose from, all of which are fun to play.

BACKGROUND
First of all, this is a rhythm game, which primarily means that rhythm is a very large part of this game. Colored circles (the notes) will scroll from the top of the note highway (shaped like a fretboard) down to the bottom.The highway is divided into five sections, each section representing the corresponding colored button. The timing of your strums must be pretty close to the actual time in order to be given credit for the note. When playing a note, having the correct fret pressed down while strumming at the correct time is the key
principle to the game. 

BASICS
I first heard of this game when it was on the PS2. I finally had the opportunity to play it at my friends house. It was very challenging at first; a good hand to eye coordination is useful. But as time progressed I became more familiar with the game and it became easier. So if you are awful at start, just be patient as the feel for the game will come eventually. But beware, once you get the feel for the game it becomes very addicting as you try to make your way to 5-starring every song on expert for the unlockable guitar "The Log".
When playing through a song, your performance is based on a 3-5 star rating. Each star requires a certain score. When attempting for the 5 star, it is essential to keep a combo going for a long period of time as your score is multiplied. 10 notes in a row for a 2x 20 for a 3x and 30 for a 4x which is the highest achieved. Once you miss a note or "overstrum" (strumming when their is no note their) starts your combo back to 1x.

DIFFICULTIES
There are four difficulties in the game: Easy, Medium, Hard, and as I mentioned briefly, Expert. Each one is progressively harder and also introduces something new that the lower difficulty did not include. In Easy, the basic "press fret down and strum" is the key to passing. There are also only three buttons used. In Medium, some very basic chords are introduced where you must now press down to frets instead of just one. An additional note is added, Blue. In Hard, all five buttons are used and some advanced techniques come into play. The Hammer-Ons and Pull-Offs are introduced here. These notes are distinguished by their white center. When playing a "strummed" note, these HO's and PO's may follow it, in which strumming is no longer required unless one of the HOPO's is missed in which you can strum the HOPO note and continue just pressing down the corresponding button. This skill comes with practice and time. At first, this concept was very difficult. But eventually I played very simple songs with a few hammer-ons in which I would attempt to play without strumming. Just remember, when trying to improve, don't cheat your way through by strumming each HOPO but actually try to play the HOPO's correctly. It won't work in the long term.

SINGLE PLAYER
Guitar Hero 2's main attraction is its career mode. You select one of the eight rockers to progress through an eight-venue career which ranges from the Nilbog High School to the famed Stonehenge. Each venue has 4-6 songs which must be completed before playing an encore song. The encore song is required to move onto the next venue in Hard and Expert difficulties. In Easy mode, there is no Encore available and only a portion of songs from each venue is required. In Medium, an encore is available but like Easy, only a certain amount of songs are required. As I mentioned before, the star system isn't only for showing off, but for in-game cash. Higher difficulties and higher stars earn more cash. No more cash can be earned for a song on a difficulty when achieving a 5-star. The money can be used for the Guitar Hero shop. In the shop purchases for guitars, finishes, bonus songs, characters, and videos are available.

SONGS
The songs are very fun to play despite your musical tastes. The easiest one probably being Cheap Trick's "Surrender" and the hardest one (for the career) being Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird". For the bonus songs setlist, Buckethead's "Jordan" is definitely the hardest and well-known for its lightning-speed, seizure-inducing solo. Other artists include Danzig, Nirvana, Warrant, Avenged Sevenfold, Kansas, The Police, Iron Maiden, and more. However, most of these songs are just covers, so don't be surprised if the song doesn't sound the same as you expected.

PRACTICE MODE
Ideally, if you are stuck on a song, you'd want to make sure you can play it on the lower difficulty well. In addition to that, practice mode is also available. you can practice different sections of songs at different speeds until you master the section. Hopefully, afterwards, you'll be able to pass the song. Another very basic concept that helped me a lot, although sounding very pathetic, is actually pretend that you are playing the song and know what note each colored circle corresponds to.

MULTIPLAYER
Once you want to put you guitar shredding skills to the test, try the multiplayer and play against a friend. Unfortunately, there is no online play, just local. The options for multiplayer are Cooperative, Pro Face-Off, and Face-Off. In Cooperative, you and a friend pick up the guitar/lead and bass/rhythm parts and play a song together. Then in Face-Off, you and a friend alternate playing different sections of a song, reenacting an actual Face-Off. For Face-Off, you and your opponent may select different difficulties. Then there's Pro Face-Off, the ultimate test. In this mode, both players must pick the same difficulty and play every note in the song. The person with the higher score at the end wins. Whenever I play multiplayer its usually just Pro Face-Off as both players are kept interested the whole time while simultaneously maintaining a competitive match.

FINAL SAY
The main reason why I chose this product was because it was exciting to see a new genre released into the gaming world. Besides its uniqueness, its just a fun game to play over and over. The initial price of the game with guitar cost 99.99. However after a few years, the price has significantly dropped. This game is worth every penny and you won't be disappointed by it.