Guitar Hero II First Impressions
Put simply, Guitar Hero II is a great game. (Read any review at random for more details in that department.) My only real complaints about it lead directly from my lack of immediate talent at it and, moreover, lack of practice time to get into gear. I might not be at the heights of manual dexterity, but I’m not a total slouch either, which makes messing up a song frustrating.
The difficulty settings are interesting. Easy is a misnomer for anyone used to playing any form of music, as you’ll hear notes being played, but it won’t prompt you to physically do anything to match them. I’ve done most of my playing at the Medium difficulty, which is mostly in time with the songs. Medium only uses four of the five fret buttons, which is OK by me for now, as my hand placement on the neck leaves a lot to be desired. It’s very easy for me to wind up out of position, and since you have to be looking at the screen the whole time in order to see what to play next, it’s difficult to get back into place once you’ve gone astray. I’d love to be playing at Hard, but realize that I’m nowhere near ready yet.
Minor complaints stem from the song collection, an issue impossible to truly address as you can’t expect to please everyone with any collection of songs. Still, I’m not looking forward to having to practice “Cherry Pie”, and my wife abhors Cheap Trick’s “Surrender”.
Speaking of the wife, Laura’s spoken of some interest to give the game a try, so perhaps this weekend she’ll take a shot at it. If it goes well, I might even be in the market to pick up another Henry-sized guitar controller. 
Jaymz April 5th, 2007 at 2:55 pm
;-)I brought the game home on Tuesday and my girlfriend wanted to play it about 30 minutes after I started. Long story short, the next day (she didn’t have to work) and had gotten further than I had in the Easy career mode.I look forward to Laura vs. Sopha guitar tourneys!
John April 5th, 2007 at 2:56 pm
Last night I told her that Sopha was playing, and that she needs to get on the ball.
Kieran April 5th, 2007 at 3:32 pm
I’ve learned to actually like “Surrender” over the years (tho I haven’t played it on GH II). I played it a little this past Christmas and was awful: I was only any good playing bass (my cousin had 2 guitars for the game) on easy. I suck.
Looks like a game I’d get into if (like you) I had more time to actually get good at it. Besides, I have a few other games I need to complete first…
John April 5th, 2007 at 3:38 pm
I don’t mind the song myself, but I simply cannot play it when Laura’s around. Just mentioning it around her gets it stuck inside her head and annoys her to no end.
I unlocked a Dethklok song last night, but haven’t had a chance to play it yet. I get to be Toki Wartooth!
Peter April 8th, 2007 at 5:21 pm
Guitar Hero 2 is a great game.
Guitar Hero 2 is a great game I am worthless at.
Guitar Hero 2 is a great game I am so pathetically worthless at that it is embarrassing when I attempt to play on anything above easy, to the point where I feel like I should put a gun barrel in my mouth.
John April 9th, 2007 at 8:51 am
Yeah, it can be pretty frustrating. I’m at a similar spot between Medium and Hard. I simply cannot wrap my head around buttons for frets, and get lost immediately when going for orange. There’s no reason why, it just happens.
I need to let my left hand move on the fretboard more. I don’t play a real guitar stuck in first position, why do I feel I have to play this small plastic one that way? Weird.
Jaymz April 10th, 2007 at 2:35 pm
I hate the damn song “Surrender”. MOST. ANNOYING. SONG. EVER.