Tech News on G4New 'Guitar Hero' pressed for 'Aerosmith' fansJuly 24, 2008By John Powell - G4 Canada |
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Sure, I liked ‘Dream On’ and their collaborations with Run DMC but my interest in Aerosmith faded after the release of an album featuring an unimaginative side of beef as its cover. Moo. Moo. Moo. It took me by surprise that of all the bands to choose from, Aerosmith would be the first group ever to be given their own edition of ‘Guitar Hero’. It is not like the name Joe Perry comes to mind when you first think of guitar gods past, present and future. It is not that he sucks or anything, far from it. It is just he doesn’t stand out at all and maybe that’s an intentional thing. As far as I can tell though, the entire band is the same way. Besides, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, I dare you to name the other members? Can’t do it? Didn’t think so. Aerosmith has always been one of those bands where there really is no need to go beyond a greatest hits package, same with Def Leppard, The Scorpions and Motley Crue. After playing through career mode, the one thing that stunned me was that I only recognized nine out of the 25 Aerosmith songs available. Sorry, but for the life of me I have never heard of ‘Beyond Beautiful’, ‘No Surprize’ or even ‘Uncle Salty’? The track list includes ‘Back in the Saddle’, ‘Dream On’, ‘Livin’ on the Edge’, ‘Sweet Emotion’ and ‘Love in an Elevator’ but where are ‘Young Lust’, ‘F.I.N.E.’, ‘Janie's Got A Gun’, ‘The Other Side’ or ‘Eat The Rich’?
The best part of the storyline though is when rappers Run DMC hit the stage with ‘Walk this Way’ and a killer rendition of ‘King of Rock’, which incidentally never sounded better. The Run DMC interlude comes at exactly the right point in the game and is so much fun to play through. ‘Guitar Hero: Aerosmith’ features no change in the gameplay at all but the custom animations of Aerosmith and Run DMC are so good, you may miss a couple of notes taking it all in. Hats off to the developer who decided to animate Joe Perry whipping his guitar with his own belt. It is not as good as Jimi lighting his axe on fire but it rocks nonetheless. Even though career mode is kinda on the skimpy side, the game does its job well and that is to provide a fleeting distraction for fans until the next full out chapter in the series is released. You had just better like ‘Aerosmith’ though. You better like them a lot. While we are on the subject, ‘Guitar Hero: Iron Maiden’ or ‘Guitar Hero: Rush’, paleeze? Guitar Hero: Aerosmith Rating: 6 / 10
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Truth be told, this life-long metalhead never gave a flying flip about Aerosmith until ‘Pump’ was released. 
If you are not a true blue Aerosmith fan all is not lost though as Steve and the boys don’t make up the entire track list. The other 12 tunes include ‘Complete Control’ by The Clash, ‘All The Young Dudes” by Mott the Hoople, Cheap Trick’s ‘Dream Police’ and best of all, The Cult’s ‘She Sells Sanctuary’, which on its own is worth slogging through all the unfamiliar Aerosmith material.
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G4 Canada (formerly TechTV Canada) launched in September 2001. G4 is the one and only television station that is plugged into every dimension of games, gear, gadgets and gigabytes. Owned Rogers Media Inc., the channel airs more than 24 original series. G4 is available on digital cable and satellite. For more information, see www.g4tv.ca.