Genre: Rhythm
Publisher: RedOctane
Developer: Harmonix Music Systems
Release Date: July 17, 2007
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Ahh, the 1980s: the decade that brought us the first computer, the Rubik's cube, Michael Jackson, and of course, the Nintendo Entertainment System. For anyone who lived through that decade, it was unforgettable. Yet, more than anything, one of the most defining elements of the '80s was its music. Artists ranging from The Police to Guns N' Roses to Janet Jackson all had a moment dominating the charts at one point or another, leading to an amazing variation in sound and quality. New advances in technology also adapted the music in ways that had rarely been done before.
MTV, the first television station dedicated entirely to musicians, launched and made music videos a must, leading to the success of talented choreographers like Michael Jackson. Electronic keyboards and other devices added a brand new sound to music that lead to the creation of new genres, such as Synthpop. Even hip-hop and rap music were beginning to thrive. With the '80s being such an amazing decade, it should come as no surprise that Harmonix's first (and only) spin-off of the Guitar Hero franchise should focus on this remarkable era.
Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the '80s isn't exactly a sequel, so much as it is an expansion pack. It's not exactly an expansion pack, however, since you don't need the original Guitar Hero to play. If you've played Guitar Hero II, however, a lot of the elements you see here are going to be very familiar. The musicians are the same, the venues are the same, and the overall gameplay is functionally identical. However, this isn't a bad thing at all. Guitar Hero II was a wonderful game, and there is very little reason to mess around with a winning formula when all the players want is an encore.
That isn't to say that you're just buying Guitar Hero 2 again when you pick up Rocks the '80s. Although the basics are the same, everything has been given an '80s-style makeover. The various playable characters are now sporting '80s fashion, with everything from giant mullets to spiked bracelets and sunglasses. Granted, this doesn't particularly do anything to change around the gameplay, but it does a good job of making the Guitar Hero II characters fit their new era. The same goes for the game's menus and even the opening video, all of which have been redone to give a sleek '80s feel. Even the trademark wit of the loading screens has been redone, offering warnings about leather pants and jokes about bathroom stalls. As nice as this graphical update is, though, the most important part of any Guitar Hero game is the music.
The new songs are the real reason for Rocks the '80s, after all. Unlike Guitar Hero II, the entire purpose of this sort-of expansion pack is to focus with laser-like precision on a specific time period, using a wide variety of music to show off the many different styles of rocking out that pervaded the 1980s, and oh boy, this is quite a mix. One of earlier songs available to gamers is "We Got The Beat," a cheerful poppy tune about dancing. Following not long after that is Accept's "Balls to the Wall," which feels almost directly the opposite in tone. This amazing variety continues throughout the entire list of songs, including a mix of pop, rock and various other genres, and hits like White Lion's "Radar Love" and Ratt's "Round and Round." The only thing connecting them is that you're the person on lead guitar, and it's up to you to make them sound good.
Guitar Hero veterans will have no problem leaping right into these new songs, since both single-player and multiplayer modes are almost indistinguishable from the last title. The real challenges are going to come down to your own skill, not from new game features. The only worry I have is that long-time Guitar Hero fans may find this new title to be lacking in new challenges when compared to Guitar Hero II, but there is still plenty of time for the final version to be perfectly adjusted to wreck the fingers of even the most skilled video-musicians. However, even if not a single thing changes from this build, Guitar Hero Encore is still a must-have for Guitar Hero aficionados.
One of the major complaints about Guitar Hero II is that a lot of the cover bands just didn't do as good a job as those in Guitar Hero. To be honest, the bands were not bad so much as that they made it very obvious that you were listening to a cover instead of the actual song. Guitar Hero Encore appears to be on the road to doing a significantly better job with covers than its predecessor. Few of the songs I heard sounded significantly different from their normal versions, and there are even some cases of the original artist's version being present, such as Flock of Seagull's "I Ran (So Far Away)." While Guitar Hero II wasn't an audio flop by any means, it is certainly nice to see that the continued success of the Guitar Hero franchise means that the quality is ramping up.
With Guitar Hero III still a good while off, dedicated fans are already salivating for their next chance to get up on stage and rock out. Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the '80s is actually the last Guitar Hero title by the original developers, Harmonix. Activision's Neversoft, developers of the Tony Hawk Pro Skater franchise, will be taking over as of Guitar Hero III. Those nervous about Guitar Hero III will certainly want to pick up this last offering from the original developer. Even though Rocks the '80s doesn't bring much new to the overall formula, the different songs and revamped graphics should be more than enough to keep even the most dedicated fans busy for a good while.