Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock.Release Date: 2007
Developer: Activision Blizzard (Formerly Activision, Inc.)
Platform: Playstation 2
ESRB Rating: Teen
ASIN: B000TGB4V4
Summary:
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock is the fourth Guitar Hero title released by Activision. It’s the first video game to exceed a billion dollars in sales and the best selling title of 2007. Players use a guitar-shaped controller with five colored buttons and a whammy bar. When the notes appear on the screen, the player presses the appropriately colored button to play the song. The player can choose easy through advanced levels of play. The game offers several different types of playing options. The single player career mode allows a player to complete all the songs in a level before being allowed to advance to the next level. The co-op career mode is similar, but players work together to complete the songs. The other multi-player options include a face-off and pro-face off where the players compete while playing the same song. The multi-player battle option is similar, but with the added bonus of power-ups and other tricks that can be used to attack your opponent in order to cause them to mess up. Songs in this version include "Anarchy in the U.K" by The Sex Pistols, "Barracuda" by Heart, "Hit Me With Your Best Sho"t by Pat Benatar, "My Name is Jonas" by Weezer, "School’s Out" by Alice Cooper and 68 other songs by bands the game makers classify as legends of rock.
Critical Evaluation:
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, like all of the Guitar Hero line, is a really fun game. The original line was such a unique idea for a video game. It also has a pretty wide appeal, since many of the traditional elements of video games are missing. There is no violence, little strategy needed, and it isn’t specifically targeted to either males or females. It’s a game that can be very simple or very complicated, depending on the player’s skill level; no player is left out because of lack of skill. The best part of the game is definitely the battle mode. Multi-player on its own is pretty fun, since the two players can work together or compete, but still play on their own skill level. When battle mode is introduced, they are given the option of “attacking” the other player with power-ups that can snap a guitar string, flip the notes around backwards, and many other tricks designed to cause them to mess up. This change in competition can give less skilled players an advantage, as well as just mixing up the typical game play. It’s also enjoyable to listen to the songs, rather than the typical annoying video game music. Players can hear old favorites or be introduced to new music. The use of both classic and contemporary rock ensures that there is something for all ages of rock music lovers. This is a game that players can enjoy either alone or with a group of friends or family.
Annotation:
You can be your favorite rock star with Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock.
Developer Information:
Activision is currently one of the largest third-party publishers of video games. It was founded on October 1, 1979 by Jim Levy, Richard Muchmore, and four programmers who left Atari. It was the world’s first independent developer of video games for consoles. Levy chose to promote the programmers and developers for their contribution, which wasn’t common at the time. They also led the way in developing platform games, with their development of Pitfall! in 1982. In the late 1980s, Activision attempted to develop other types of software, but decided to go back to focusing solely on videogames in 1992.
While developing other types of software, they change their name to Mediagenic. After a multimillion dollar patent settlement, they were taken over by an investor group, reorganized, and changed their name back to Activision. In 2008, they merged with French company Vivendi and changed their name to Activision Blizzard.
Genre:
Video Game
Curriculum Ties:
Music: Rock
Booktalking Ideas:
N/A
Interest Age:
13 and older
Challenge Issues:
Alcohol references
Sexual references
Challenge Defense Ideas:
- Require the challenger to fill out a written challenge form with clear reasons stated and examples given.
- If not already familiar with the content, become familiar.
- Refer the challenger to the library's collection policy.
- Refer the challenger to reputable reviews of the books, as well as reviews by those in the book's target audience.
Reasons for Selection:
This is part of a popular video game line that appeals to all ages and sexes. It also appeals to people who don't typically play video games.
