Game Info
Game Name: Guitar Hero II
Developer(s): Harmonix Music Systems
Publisher(s): RedOctane/Activision
Platform(s): XBox 360
Genre(s): Music
Release Date(s): April 3, 2007
ESRB Rating: T
It’s your band…can you take them to stardom? This is your chance, make your character, assemble a team of rockers, and raise the roof as you rock out the guitar.
Guitar Hero II was the first music style game for the next generation consol (although it was a port from the PS2). It’s innovative design and challenging songs made it ripe for copying, and this game really started the franchise.
The game is pretty smooth and the songs are decent. At this point in the series however, many of the songs weren’t sung by the original singers and are covers…until the performers realized the marketability of the music game industry. The songs lean toward metal or punk (though there are exceptions). It also provided up-and-comers with a chance to showcase their music in bonus tracks which allowed some instant success.
Guitar Hero II Complete Song Setlist:
“Bad Reputation”—Thin Lizzy
“Beast and the Harlot”—Avenged Sevenfold
“Billion Dollar Babies”—Alice Cooper
“Can’t You Hear me Knockin’”—The Rolling Stones
“Carry Me Home”—The Living End
“Carry On Wayward Son”—Kansas
“Cherry Pie”—Warrant
“Crazy on You”—Heart
“Dead!”—My Chemical Romance
“Free Bird”—Lynyrd Skynyrd
“Freya”—The Sword
“Girlfriend”—Matthew Sweet
“Hanger 18”—Megadeath
“Heart-Shaped Box”—Nirvana
“Hush”—Deep Purple
“Institutionalized”—Suicidal Tendencies
“Jessica”—The Allman Brothers Band
“John the Fisherman”—Primus
“Killing in the Name”—Rage Against the Machine
“Laid to Rest”—Lamb of God
“Last Child”—Aerosmith
“Life Wasted”—Pearl Jam
“Madhouse”—Anthrax
“Message in a Bottle”—The Police
“Misirlou”—Dick Dale
“Monkey Wrench”—Foo Fighters
“Mother”—Danzig
“Possom Kingdom”—Toadies
“Psychobilly Freakout”—Reverend Horton Heat
“Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo”—Rick Derringer
“Rock This Town”—Stray Cats
“Salvation”—Rancid
“Search and Destroy”—Iggy Pop and the Stooges
“Shout at the Devil”—Mötley Crüe
“Stop”—Jane’s Addition
“Shrutter”—Kiss
“Surrender”—Cheap Trick
“Sweet Child o’ Mine”—Guns N’Roses
“Tattooed Love Boys”—The Pretenders
“Them Bones”—Alice in Chains
“Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You Tonight”—Spinal Tap
“Trippin’ on a Hole in a Paper Heart”—Stone Temple Pilots
“The Trooper”—Iron Maiden
“War Pigs”—Black Sabbath
“Who Was in My Room Last Night?”—The Butthole Surfers
“Woman”—Wolfmother
“You Really Got Me”—Van Halen
“YYZ”—Rush
In this game the songs have to be “earned” through playing, and Guitar Hero had yet to realize the benefit of having online play. The songs are quite challenging and the progressions of notes are well thought out…Something that doesn’t seem to be as thought about in current and later games.