Guitar Hero II Image
Metascore

Universal acclaim - based on 55 Critics What's this?

User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 179 Ratings

  • Summary: Rock the Rhythm, Lead, and Bass Guitar tracks in the follow-up sequel to "Guitar Hero." Form your guitar duo and shred riffs cooperatively or go head to head in all new multiplayer modes. With over 55 tracks to rock out to, you'll go from Guitar Hero to Guitar god in one press of a fret button. Choose from multiple rock characters and jam at concert venues that grow in size as your rock career progresses. You'll start your rock career playing small clubs and bars, but if you play well you'll work your way up to stadiums and arenas. Guitar Hero II takes the guitar rock experience to new volumes by allowing players to play 3 different guitar tracks: Rhythm, Bass, and Lead. Guitar Hero II introduces all new multiplayer modes like: cooperative, pro-face off, and face off, letting 2 Guitar Heroes conduct their own symphonies of destruction. Shred School: Guitar Hero II features an all new practice mode, allowing Guitar Zeroes to become Guitar Heroes with enough practice. With Guitar Hero II for Xbox 360 rock rhythm, lead, or bass guitar tracks with downloadable content and the new X-Plorer controller, designed specifically for the Xbox 360. [RedOctane] Expand
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 55 out of 55
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 55
  3. Negative: 0 out of 55
  1. Buy this game. The content is plentiful (and crucially, more is en route) and the fantasy experience is pure rock and roll excess. Your personal stairway to heaven awaits.
  2. 100
    Without a doubt the 'ultimate edition' of the ultimate music-based game. Though far from mind-blowing, the upgraded graphics are appealing, but the remastered sound, additional songs and features are the true stars of the Xbox 360 version's stage, making this game an even easier purchase than the two games before it.
  3. More or less the perfect video game - as entertaining, as challenging and as absolutely infinite as you want it to be. [Issue 24, p.52]
  4. There's plenty of diversity here, but not so much in the songs. If you like heavy rock, you're well catered for. Otherwise you won't recognise half the tracks.

See all 55 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 53 out of 55
  2. Negative: 1 out of 55
  1. JesseB.
    10
    Absolutely amazing, I never played the playstation version of the game, but the Xbox360 had me hooked like a fish. At first I was on easy thinking this games impossible. But hours and hours and more strait hours of gameplay and I'm tearing through easy, then medium and hard. This is absolutely the most addicting game I've ever played. Collapse
  2. JonnyL.
    8
    This is a good difficult game and its fun to feel like your actually playing the guitar (even tho theres barley any similarities it still feels like it for some reason). i especially like using the whammy bar. Expand
  3. AndyO'Brien
    7
    This version of Guitar Hero is good, as good as the PS2 version. Some things better, somethings, not so much. Better: Guitar - Feels more solid, fret buttons a little higher, easier to pick up, and the strap is finally long enough for my tall frame so the guitar hangs below my belt, thank you for the last one. Game - HD! My HDTV has a slight lag (all of em do), and while the calibration feature is nice to have in the PS2 versions, it'd be even nicer if you could just manually set the lag delay. Nothing changed in the 360 version, but since the game runs in nice 720p, the lag isn't nearly as bad at default settings. Songs - New tracks, nothing to write home about, and hey you can play some GH1 tracks via XBLA! The bad: Guitar - The strum bar is a little looser. The GH2 cherry red had the tightest strum bar of the 3 versions released, by far the best. XB360 one, too loose, but not hard to adapt too. Whammy Bar issues... Bummer. I think I got lucky with mine though. Game: too much bloom! Game is still crazy hard, but I guess therein lies the challenge. When I played GH1 for the first time not being a huge rhythm fan I never thought i'd be passing Hard or even Expert songs, but I can now. Just goes to show if you do it enough you can be good at anything. Songs - Misirilu on Expert, and oh joy, 3 GH1 songs for around 7 bucks? Yeah, pass. Maybe they will bring the price down. Hopefully for GH3 they will make it so you can use the data from GH2 DVDs. Bottom line, if you've never played this game, pick up a copy + an extra guitar. Hey, the guitar works with Windows! if you don't have an XBox, get the controller and play some of those silly freeware games like Frets on Fire! Expand
  4. ChrisR.
    0
    I dunno, why the hell people like this game, for my taste, this game is as metal as DDR, this game has no metal cred whatso ever. No self Respecting metal head would really want to waste their time with a game as commercial and just plain lame, if you really like Rock, just go out to a local music store and buy yourself a real guitar and butcher the music that way, instead of just embarassing yourselves with a plastic one. Expand

See all 55 User Reviews