Metareview - Guitar Hero II (PS2)

by Blake Snow { Nov 7th 2006 at 10:00AM }

Let's face it; Red Octane would have had to sabotage (please add that song on version III) the first Guitar Hero to not get this sequel right. The original was already a blast to play. Add a new playlist (Freebird!), refine the graphics, increase game modes, and voila! Insta-hit. With a current average review score of 96/100 thanks in part to two perfect scores, here's what early critics are saying:

Gamebrink (91/100) on improvements: "With a better song list, high quality audio for the most part, expanded and improved modes, and all the fun of the original, Guitar Hero 2 is one of this busy holiday season's best games."
IGN (95/100) on being a great sequel: "Guitar Hero II takes everything that made the original game great and cranks it up to 11, maybe even 12...This is the nearly-perfect sequel to one of our favorite games in basically forever, and it's an absolute must-buy."
Gamespy (100/100) on being addictive: "It's everything good about videogames in one package, forever encouraging you to play 'one more song!' until it's 3AM and the neighbors are yelling for you to turn down that racket."
GameDaily (100/100) on being perfect: "The sequel improves greatly on an already superb product with an in-depth training mode, a song list that holds up just as well as the original, and multiplayer that includes cooperative play. Everyone should rock out to Guitar Hero II -- it's one of the best games of 2006."

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

john @ Nov 7th 2006 10:08AM

no way!

Zo� K. @ Nov 7th 2006 10:09AM

Poor peasants... for today is the day that they shall be burninated the countryside over.

juicebytim @ Nov 7th 2006 10:10AM

One of the least obvious enhancements that I was happy about is the support for HDTVs. Now I can calibrate the lag I experienced with the first game on my DLP set. This was extremly frustrating when I would play in store or at a friends house and have to get used to the different lag or lack there of. I looked real cocky selecting Expert on a song at Best Buy and missing almost every note!

And also, Progressive Scan mode makes that game look amazing!

unimental @ Nov 7th 2006 10:11AM

Confirmation that the PS2 still rocks. (pun so totally intended)

Skwurl @ Nov 7th 2006 10:15AM

100/100?

Give. Me. A. Break.

BB @ Nov 7th 2006 10:16AM

Wow....I know Guitar Hero was a great game, but these scores are really high. Guess I'll be picking this one up when it comes to the 360

Liquid @ Nov 7th 2006 10:32AM

To wait or not to wait that is the quesion. I really want to go get this game tonight, but have a sinking feeling I am going to regret it when it comes out on the 360 with LIVE and downloadable content. I haven't heard anything about a release date for the 360 version. Do we even know of a release window? Is any one else on the fence with this one? Man do they keep pumping out great games for the ps2.

Jason W @ Nov 7th 2006 11:01AM

I played it at WalMart a few days ago. Maybe its just me or maybe Its because I was at walmart but i didnt like it. Oh well to each his own. I dont enjoy the giant enemy crabs either.

futanari futanari futanari @ Nov 7th 2006 10:44AM

Guitar Hero II: Another Chance to Play an Imaginary Guitar and Look Like a Complete Tool in Front of Others

juicebytim @ Nov 7th 2006 10:43AM

To all of you people on the fence about waiting for the 360 version or buying the PS2 one:

Buy the PS2 version now, then sell it a month before the 360 version comes out. Most you will lose is about $15-20. People will want this came 6 months to a year from now still, and it will still be around the same price. Especially if you sell the guitar too. Besides, this game is worth just about every penny.

Flit @ Nov 7th 2006 10:39AM

The problem is that Guitar Hero is the kind of game that inspires fanboyism, If you like this game, you love this game. So i'm sure every reviewer was jumping at the chance to review this game, because they loved the first game. These reviews just say that if you liked the first one, you'll love the second one. If you played the first and didn't care, you won't find anything new here.

Silver @ Nov 7th 2006 10:50AM

Here's hoping for a Wii version...

phan @ Nov 7th 2006 10:42AM

That's kind of silly for a one-trick pony, but whatever. How about you put up a metareview for the *real* big winner today: Gears of War (9.4 IGN, 9.6 Gamespot).

vidGuy @ Nov 7th 2006 10:47AM

I played it for about three hours last week and I can definitely say that it's a big improvement over GH, which itself was a great game. The new multiplayer modes, the ability to choose what guitar part to play, the improved stat count, and the ability to practice JUST the solo put this game leaps above the first. Amazing game. A much better buy than GoW, IMO.

juicebytim @ Nov 7th 2006 10:47AM

futanari futanari futanari:

I'm a bit confused about your analogy of looking like a tool playing Guitar Hero.

PiratePete @ Nov 7th 2006 3:12PM

Hmmm, Don't you think that these reviewers may just have a bit of a bias in rating this game so high. I mean come on, "two" 100/100 scores. It seems here that good old human favoritism is playing a big part in rating this game.(Come to think of it, when has it ever not played a factor in the review of a game...)
I guess these reviews really enjoy this type of game that's fine an dandy, but I doubt someone else that didn't like rock music so much or never wanted to me a rock star would of rated it so high.
I just think that reputable reviewers should be a little more objective and fair when reviewing games.

vidGuy @ Nov 7th 2006 11:08AM

@Jason W,

Walmart probably had the demo up (it had 8 songs I think, and wouldn't allow you to play career mode). The full version of GH2 is MUCH different than that demo POS.

White Rose Duelist @ Nov 7th 2006 11:26AM

I'm psyched about this as well, but no game should get a 100% as long as a single person doesn't enjoy it.

Grant @ Nov 7th 2006 11:24AM

So is it worth the wait to pick up the 360 version or just go for this?

PS-Assuming no GH1 and no controllers.

FSK405K @ Nov 7th 2006 11:26AM

Loved the demo, just got home with the game, will seclude myself the rest of the afternoon unlocking songs. This evening, a bunch of friends are coming over to rock together. Anyone reading this in the DC area, please head to meetin.org and you can join.

Rich @ Nov 7th 2006 11:33AM

This may be a stupid question, but can Guitar Hero be played if you're a lefty?

Mike @ Nov 7th 2006 11:41AM

I work at an EB Games in Michigan, and out of the 12 copies of just the game, not the game and guitar, 8 of them would not even load in a ps2.

Darren @ Nov 7th 2006 11:45AM

Rich -
Absolutely! GHII has a "Lefty Flip" mode for left-handed players.

White Cloud @ Nov 7th 2006 11:46AM

Yeah the game can be played by lefties, and I'm pretty sure that the PS2 version comes exclusively with a wireless guitar, which is even more awesome.

Rich @ Nov 7th 2006 11:59AM

Excellent! I'm there! (thanks Darren and White Cloud)

azesino @ Nov 7th 2006 12:02PM

Gears of War is out and reviewd and Joystiq havent even post anything about it, you guys are so slow.

Gamespot - 9.6
IGN - 9.4
1UP - 10

Aric McKeown @ Nov 7th 2006 12:11PM

"No game should get a 100% as long as a single person doesn't enjoy it."

That doesn't make the least bit of logical sense. By your reasoning, a movie shouldn't ever get five stars if one person didn't like it.

We probably shouldn't vote politicians into office unless they get 100% of the vote either.

NitrogenB @ Nov 7th 2006 12:12PM

does anyone know for sure if the ps2 version comes w/a wireless guitar?

White Rose Duelist @ Nov 7th 2006 2:28PM

Aric McKeown - with all the talk of the school grading system for games, we should be using the standards schools use to grade. 100% means that absolutely nothing is wrong with a game. The fact that futanari futanari futanari would feel like an idiot playing it means that something is wrong with it, and thus it does not deserve a perfect score. I got 99%s on exams for misplacing commas or spelling words incorrectly.

On the five star system, there are at most 11 levels of granularity, assuming you can give a 0 and any halves. Most sites I've seen only go from 1/2 to 4 stars, or 8 points of comparison. Not much room to express opinions. These video game reviewers have 101 possible scores, and saying something is a 99/100 is still something mighty impressive.

The political analogy is specious at best. It's hard enough to get six people to agree on pizza toppings; how do you expect 100 million to agree who should ruin* their country?

The perfect game doesn't exist, and probably never will. And until it does, no game should get a 100% score.

* Yes, I meant to put R-U-I-N.

crono141 @ Nov 7th 2006 2:24PM

Not "comes with" but a wireless one exists.

Thats my understanding of it.

CG @ Nov 7th 2006 1:23PM

I'm a lefty. Yes, GH has a "lefty flip" but unfortunately it makes it hard to use the whammy bar, since it's now on top. I usually just push it out of the way and don't bother trying to use it.

They should just make lefty guitars.

The3rdNuisance @ Nov 7th 2006 1:44PM

I'll be laughing like hell when Guitar Hero III comes out and is better than 2. What score would a game better than perfection be?

A perfect score is ridiculous, because there is ALWAYS room for improvement.

Aric McKeown @ Nov 7th 2006 1:58PM

So this is an Achilles and the Tortoise dilemma? That seems a little too philosophical for game reviews.

Alice @ Nov 7th 2006 2:07PM

Some jerk at Gamestop was about to not sell it to me. He made a call and realized nothing would stand between me and my plastic guitar.

Even though I'm as big a fangirl as they come, 100/100 is silly. This game rocks very very hard, but that hard?!

Patrick @ Nov 7th 2006 2:18PM

Really tempted to buy a used PS2 just for this game, but I will probably get an XB360 at some point in the future so I guess I'll just hold out for that version of Guitar Hero 2.

32_Footsteps @ Nov 7th 2006 2:34PM

"We probably shouldn't vote politicians into office unless they get 100% of the vote either."

Holy leaps of logic, Batman!

I might not totally agree with WRD's logic, but how can you possibly extract that statement from his?

Now, if he said "No game has ever deserved a 100%, and no game is ever worth having unless it scores a 100%," then I can see where you'd make that logical connection. But with what he actually said, your follow-up was specious at best.

Personally, I think a game would be worth 100% if you couldn't possibly see a way to do better than that. I've never seen that happen, not even with my favorite game of all time. But should I ever see it happen, I'll slap a perfect score on it.

Aric McKeown @ Nov 7th 2006 2:39PM

School standards are not applicable to a game rating. For school grading there is a right and wrong answer. Does 4 plus 4 equal 8? Yes. Does limited multiplayer options equal diminished fun? Not definitively.

That being said, I do doubt that these games should be getting perfect scores of 100. I do not think that a score of 100 should be radically unobtainable though.

Wreckhart @ Nov 7th 2006 2:51PM

wireless answers:

Red Octane will release a wireless controller for the ps2 not xbox (no third party wireless controllers)

The Ant Commandos company that made the first wireless guitar and got sued is releasing another with 10 buttons 5 at the top of the neck and 5 near the frets for "solos" (probably there way of getting away from being sued)

I cant wait to rock this game to the core, the demo songs were getting old quick.

Wreckhart @ Nov 7th 2006 2:54PM

not near frets (im an ass) near the pickups i meant at the base of the neck.

geekjutsu @ Nov 7th 2006 3:04PM

I think reviewers gave the game high scores because they find nothing wrong with it. The game is fun and even better than expected. They should not be forced to find something wrong JUST so the score is not perfect.

craig @ Nov 7th 2006 4:06PM

Funny how no mention of the increased difficulty. I applaud Red Octane in hiking the difficulty along with the addition of a training mode. I beat the first one on expert without much of a challenge until I hit the last two songs. I didn't even notice the support for progressive scan but there are other cool things like a zoom in view during solos and more flashy effects. The song list is pretty rock solid also.

FSK405K @ Nov 7th 2006 4:43PM

so far i think it's easier, at least hard on 1 v hard on 2. I havent tried expert yet because i'm unlocking songs first. It's easier because the pullofs and hammerons are more forgiving.

Nick James @ Nov 7th 2006 4:58PM

The difficulty is HORRIBLY unbalanced. It's not readily apparent on Hard (althoug it IS present if you're not good at five-starring the songs). Psychobilly Freakout is one of the hardest songs in the game, however, on expert. It's harder than YYZ, harder than Beast And The Harlot, harder than fucking Hangar 18. It's technically harder than Free Bird, as long as your fingers don't get tired, and if you memorize the patterns in Misirlou, it's harder than that.

John The Fisherman is like.. one of the easiest songs in the game, but some crap like Woman is obnoxiously more difficult than it.

Some songs are way too damn long too, mostly the bonus songs. There's one that carries on for like 7 minutes of nothing. It's not like you're doing anything exciting by playing a bitchin' solo (Free Bird).. it's just this generic slow riff.

Whatever. I think the song list blows too. Tattooed Love Boys is one of my most hated songs of all time now.

I am grumpy and want my Gears of War.

Joe @ Nov 7th 2006 7:57PM

I love how when I entered my EB this afternoon, and said I was picking up a pre-order, the clerks said Call of Duty 3 and Gears of War wouldn't be in till tomorrow. I said "No, I'm here for Guitar Hero II" and they said "Oh, we got it."

Fucking rules. I've burniniated cottages, sent messages in bottles, thrown monkey wrenches into the mix and surrendered my ass off. My fingers hurt... so I'm not playing till tomorrow.

Can't You Hear Me Knocking... yes I can, and I will see you soon.

FSK405K @ Nov 7th 2006 8:41PM

Alright, you got me....I just hit the sixth group on Hard, the one that starts with Heart's Crazy on You, and can say that yes, GH2 is harder overall than GH1. There are only 2-3 songs on GH1 that are extremely difficult on Hard, while in GH2 I'm starting to be stumped before unlocking the final groups.

ben @ Nov 28th 2006 7:05PM

the song list sucks. out of 55 songs i think iv heard of 8 songs. put in songs that everyone knows. if you put in big hits that everyone loves, more people would buy it. also put some beatle songs in there. everyone loves the bealtes. almost all their songs are hits. if you made guitar hero beatles edition with every single beatle song on there you would make so much money. use your brains.

Fanboy16 @ Dec 11th 2006 10:52PM

Do you have any idea how much the rights to a Beatles' song? Them and the Stones are two of the most expensive song rights. They would lose more than they would make.