Amazing game but i might be somewhat biased since i loved the first two and being a more serious player enjoy the larger number of difficult songs. The only reason this gets a 9 and not a 10 from me is that the achievements are just terrible. But that's only for the 360.

If you've played the earlier installments...you'll feel right at home with the 3rd entry. Boasting a strong presentation and tracklist...Guitar Hero 3 has alot going for it. Unfortunately, the inclusion of boss battles feels hastily put together and serves as a distraction more than an integral part of gameplay. Besides that, a ramped up level of difficulty does hinder progress for the less shreddin' inclined.… Expand

The thing that makes this game bad is the price of it. it is almost $100. that just is sad. why pay that when you can get almost the same game for $20 less that would be Guitar hero ll. I just dont think it is cool anymore. I mean the 1st one was good because you never seen a game like it. the 2nd was ok this is a little better and has some new stuff on it but now it is to old. just get rock band, also after you beat it there is no reason to go back and play it one more time. might be fun at a party, but that is it.… Expand

This game is amazingly addictive. This is the first in the series that i have played myself, and i was stuck to the tv for 15 songs in a row at the expense of a dead left arm/shoulder from so much jamming! Even people who have never picked up a real guitar can play this game and enjoy it because it makes u look so good! I would go as far as saying it has been the most fun game i have ever enjoyed playing in my 15 years of gaming as it competes with the best games. Final Fantasy VII was my favourite game ever, and this may have surpassed it. Highly recommend it!… Expand

First off, I'd like to say that i think the principle behind guitar hero is good. Its addictive and exiting, great fun to be had on your own or with freinds. The graphics, the characters, the way it's presented and plays is all really great and makes the player feel like a true guitar hero. However, what I object to is the fact that you have to spend 70 quid on a plastic guitar to play the game. I mean seriously, that guitar probably cost barely 5 pounds to make, and they charge you 70 bloody quid! But thats not the worst of it. What I hate most is that the game is basicaly one massive quick time event: there are no gameplay aspects, no physics, no innovations. What you are doing is pressing buttons in time with images that flash up on the screen, and that's something thats been around for years, and can most likely be found for five quid on Xbox Live Arcade. And not only do they have the cheek to release an ENTIRE GAME around this, they also make you pay 70 quid to get a crap little guitar to do it with, when they could have simply had you press A X Y and B on your controler like normal quicktime events do. However, the average nerd's dream is to be a popular rockstar, and clever old Treyarch have worked this out and realised that people will be willing to pay extortionately huge prices for their dreams to be fulfilled. Thats right, fellow videogamers, Treyarch are making money out of your dreams!… Expand

A pretty good start to the Wii versions of the game. Not impressive or fantastic, but it's worth playing most definitely. This was slightly before the very first ROCK BAND was released and Guitar Hero started copying off all their ideas like crazy, so GUITAR HERO is most original at this point.

Played the demo...the game has an amazing songlist that will please almost everyone. The "new look" of the user interface might feel slightly annoying to long-time fans of the series, but may not be noticed by new players. Hammer-on and pull-off notes are somewhat more difficult to distinguish than those in GH2 and GH1, but most people should get used to the changes. I'll give it a preliminary eight out of ten.… Expand

Me and my roommates have been huge funs of Guitar Hero 2, so to say we were excited about Guitar 3 is an understatement. However, when we popped the game in, we were up for nothing more than disappointment. The UI interface of Guitar Hero 3 feels nowhere near as polished or clean as the previous Guitar Hero's. But that's ok, because the game isn't about that...right? It's about the songs and the gameplay. While some of them are quite good, they aren't nearly as fun to play as songs from the previous series. Even songs we loved weren't very enjoyable to play. Overall, I'm quite disappointed with this release, but I suppose I shouldn't be surprised with the change in developers. I had long been a supporter over GH3 over Rock Band, but now it looks like I will be switching camps.… Expand

Online multiplayer, master tracks, boss battles and the new, superb Les Paul controller easily mark this iteration of Guitar Hero as entirely worthy of the franchise's glory and a welcome evolution of the series. New players, be warned, however. Guitar Hero III inherently addresses the hardcore virtual shredders, so the difficulty of some of the upper tier songs may upset and frustrate newer players. All the better reason to practice and pursue skill, I say, but others disagree.… Expand

Guitar Hero 3 itself is an awesome game, despite some slowdown issues when using Star Power (I expect it will be fixed soon) and the Whammy Bar's looseness on the new Les Paul guitar controller. The career "storyline" is actually a storyline now, and the Guitar Battles are a lot of fun. The Achievements are more rewarding this time around (unlike GH2's, which were something of an easy point-grab). The song selection is a bit iffy, but is still thoroughly enjoyable. If the GH2 and GH1 songs were available for play on GH3, then that would increase its library immensely, of course (if you can play them on GH3, then I am not aware of it). As for whether or not GH3 is better or equal to the upcoming Rock Band, I would have to say that if you like arcadey stuff in the vein of Burnout and Serious Sam, then GH is the right stuff for you. If you like more serious, realistic takes like Forza, Gran Turismo, or anything similar to them in terms of presentation, then Rock Band is a better choice. Each game is good in different ways, and with the overall user rating of 6.4/10, it makes me wonder as to whether or not these voters are either morons or are Rock Band fanboys.… Expand

Good rockin' fun with online play that offers more replay than previous outings.

Neversoft made a lot of unfortunate changes to the brilliant pacing, well-crafted note charts, look and feel of previous Guitar Hero iterations. Having completed it, I'll never go back to it. Fortunately, Rock Band will arrive soon to carry on the torch.

One of the most involving 360 games yet released, perfecting even on the originals

A good solid 9 for the simple reason that it's more of the same, done right. The track list is fantastic and challenging, yet the increased tolerance for mistakes makes it nice and friendly to newer players. The new guitar is far more responsive and feels better to hold due to the extended neck and 360 owners can finally enjoy the benefits of wireless. The guitar boss battles are good and the fact that almost all the tracks are originals and not covers adds a huge amount to the immersion value of the game. Online play and achievements are just the icing on the cake. If you liked the original and the second game, you'll love this. If you haven't tried them, you could do far worse than starting here.… Expand

This, is my favorite Guitar Hero game. Excellent song selection (except for Miss Murder >.>) and the HO/PO system was given a much needed improvement. Overall, this is going to be in my Nintendo Wii for a LONG time

GH II for me was the pinnacle of fun for this series. The boss battles, muddy feel to hitting the notes (it requires less accuracy then GH II) and general feeling that I am playing a generic rip off of the Harmonix versions of the game (and in a way, I am) left me wanting more from GH III. I will beat the game then sell it. On a side note, I don't really care about achievements but for "puzzle games" I think they do add value to the game play experience. GH III has some of the worst achievements I have seen. I won't belabor this point but... "Complete the game without using the Guitar Controller, use the regular xbox360 controller"... Come on! That is just stupid!… Expand

Despite the best peripheral guitar yet, as well as many truly great tracks, like Sunshine of Your Love and Black Magic Woman, the game is hurt by a dated presentation, overabundance of in-game advertising, and several tracks that just warrant the question, "What in the world they were thinking?!?" I'm looking at you, Slipknot, White Zombie, and Disturbed.

Its basically an expansion pack that gets dull after a week of play. This series is easy to burn out on don't overplay.

First the good: the overall gameplay is essentially the same as it has always been, the note layouts are arguably more player friendly (although that doesn't mean Hard doesn't eventually get challenging) and the overall song selection is great. You can jump to practice as you wish, online modes are fun, the game links into the GH website to share stats. Then the bad: Character design is just plain awful. Even though Neversoft has largely relied on Harmonix's original designs, the "updates" are uninspiring. The lead singer, in particular, is probably one of the worst character designs I've ever seen. There is an annoying amount of in-game advertising. Axe bodyspray guitars? It's hilarious that the band is scared about "selling out" AFTER the making a music video segment of the game considering they're playing on a truck emblazoned with Pontiac Garage on the side. The guitar battles are just plain stupid. They're not fun and pushing past them has been more tedium than anything. You can hit notes perfectly, a lot of it is just going to come down to luck in terms of getting the right power-ups at the right points. Who thought of this? This isn't freaking Mario Kart. I half expected to get a blue shell item. A lot of other aspects of the game just feel phoned in. The atmosphere is lessened, odd choices are made (the slutty dancers in more than one level, why?), even the jokes on the loading screens aren't as clever (or numerous). I do not think this game is BAD, but I definitely am scared of the direction it appears to be heading in.… Expand

From two to rock the eighties to 3 the game has declined in playability, battle mode is a wreck and unenjoyable guitar hero is about rockin out together having a good time, not how fast you can have the song be over. also co-op mode in multiplayer (the best mode at parties) is only available as a patch to 360 owners all other platforms get the shaft its unfortunate yes there are fewer covers but the majority of the songs do not deserve to be in a game titled legends of rock rock band gets it right its all about rockin out co-op style.… Expand

Guitar Hero III is simply another great addition to the series. Sure there are complaints over some of the choices of songs, but overall a great soundtrack. Not to mention how Fire and Flames will be keeping people playing for months. Just get hooked up with another guitar and you're set for a great multiplayer.

A work of sheer genius! Neversoft took the franchise and ran with it, making it the est of the series so far by a looooooong way. The graphics are a thousand per cent better and the song list is truly divine. Thanks for a great game, Neversoft.

I enjoyed it overall, but in the end this game needs replayablitiy. I played GH2 over at my friends house on co-op and pro-faceoff almost all the time, but even since the release of GH3 we've barely played it at all; we've even switched back to the Gh2 customs...more of the same, but with the songs I choose. The boss battles are irritating, even online is irritating with only a fourth of the screen to play on. I would have liked to see hyperspeed settings online as well... Using the acoustic part of the intro in through the fire and flames just "for added difficulty" seems to be a mistake. The ho/po system has been ruined. The fun of not having to strum through part of the song has been jerked away; scattering strum notes in the middle of a giant ho/po section of a videogame because it sounds like they strummed them in real life? Pfft. At least RockBand's here now.… Expand

This is the 2007, pet rock...yeah the soundtrack good, but all you doing while playing this game is...pushing buttons on time...just buy the music not the game....if you support this bullshit, then video game producers will continue to put out bullshit.

Sure, it has a few flaws..(boss battles suck).. but it's hard because there are many people who got bored with gh2 because they beat everything.. and you have to admit: ONLINE PLAY FOR GH3 IS AWESOME! i go to a good college with sucky interent, and gh3 is the one game i can lean on when my internet starts to suck.

Something happened between Guitar hero II and III that suddenly made this series take a downturn. Songs on this game are good not great. It seems like the people who chose went for popularity over playability.

Anyone with a single rock bone in their body HAS to buy this game. The concept is simple but the game be as challenging as you want to make it. Try playing Dragonforce on Expert and you'll see what I mean. The single player career is well conceived and never boring and ONLINE this game is probably the BEST game on 360!!! You will of course come across lots of players better than you and lose frequently but it's still so much fun. The only letdown is the downloadable song packs are WAY overpriced. £4.25 each in UK is a rip off and the makers should be ashamed of themselves. That said there are plenty of great songs in the game and it will be ages before you learn them all, I still find medium a challenge on most songs and hard and expert can be mind boggling. You MUST BUY THIS GAME. Ps get the guitar controller cos it's much better than playing with a joypad.… Expand

An overall good game, some very very good songs, and some songs that just don't deserve the spot (slipknot, AFI, disturbed), a storyline, playing online and the fun of playing good songs... boss battles, despite they are fun in their own way it gets stupid when you easily beat down hard mode and lou kicks your ass over and over because you can't get the right power-up! then it becomes boring you move to expert and the same thing happens...then I seem to have problems with strumming up (which I didn't with GH2), inserting a note in the middle of HO/POs that's just dumb. I'll stick with GH2, but don't get me wrong GH3 is a very good game, if you want to hear good songs and spend 100 bucks, but is far from being excellent.… Expand

I'm afraid that this game may have been a victim of its own hype. GH3 is by far the best of the Guitar Hero series, with graphics that would put most games to shame. But, if you're like me, and you spent three sleepless months waiting for this game to come out, you can't help but be a little disapointed. Then again, if you were me, you'd be expecting Stairway to Heaven, Hotel California, and a few more classic rock songs, along with free money lovingly placed inside the case, but, hey, we can't win 'wm all. :) Anyway, back to reality. If you've never played the Guitar Hero series before (where have you been?) then this game will blow you out of the water. The duel mode is really fun, and you'll spend lots of time on that, rather than Pro Face-Off. But if you're an avid GH fan, than you'll be more than a little disapointed. But, that's the folly of die-hard franchise fans. We can't just see a game for what it is.… Expand

I really liked the game and yes i agree some parts of the game get aggravating because of one complicated riff here or there but Randy S you said "but all you doing while playing this game is...pushing buttons on time" isnt that what every video game ever created have you do u dumbass

This game was overlooked because of Rock Band. I thought this was a better game overall than Guitar Hero II, it had a larger soundtrack that had more recent songs for younger adults and teenagers. I think the best thing about this game is how infamous Through the Fire and Flames is. It has to be the hardest song to play out of all the Guitar Hero's. I think this game desreves more and was very overlooked.… Expand

'Through the Fire & the Flames' is the most evil song in the history of guitar hero. Even on medium that thing destroys! Fun to play though.. if you can master that track, then everything else is easy.

Fun game, boss battles are pointless don't do anything for series. WTF! why do they make you play non-guitar parts like intro in TTFAF (IT'S THE HARDEST PART OF THE SONG!!) or even in when you where young you play a keyboard part. It's not hard but stupid, and the achievements only reward the most advanced players who have no lives.

Neversoft ruined this series. Rock Band is the way of the future. Let Activision have their money, but if they keep milking this series with 4 games per year, the series will die.

For non-guitarists, it will generate a feeling of entertainment and challenging gameplay that will prove to be slightly addictive. For people who play real guitar, it will generate a feeling of frustration and annoyance but you'll still be caught playing it long after you swore you'd never play it again.

i have to say that GH3 has the best soundtrack(with a few crap songs) but can be brutally difficult on expert ie thru the fire and flames is almost impossible its the same GH u kno and love and easily becomes an addiction co-op is cool since u have to play co-op for certain songs but online can just be crap at times minor complaints aside just buy it even if u alrdy have rock band u need the extra guitar anyway.… Expand

After owning this now for 4 months, I have to say I am still hooked. I still suck, and unable to finish the game on expert, but I can't recall teh last game that has given me so much play time, fun and frustration!! I only own GH2 not GH1, but this tops Gh2 easily!

Pros: good setlist; decent bonus tracks; improved graphics all around; midori "glitch"; clearer notes (better graphics on the fret board) more guitars, outfits, characters; better sets/backdrops. cons: setlist could/should have been better; totally moronic acheivement list; note charts for expert are too difficult and unrealistic for my taste; battle mode is crap; controller is too cheap, light, and flimsy--i'd fork another 10 bucks for something with weight and better quality plastic notes: they should consider 5 levels instead of 4. throw out battle mode. still no LED ZEP! wtf ?!?! consider a band manager option and a jukebox option all in all, it's pretty good. it's been about 10 months now since release, and i still enjoy it. overall a little bit better than GH2. compared to rock band, it's a better buy, since the hardware, although it has a cheap feel, is rather sturdy, unlike rock band which look and generally feel great, but have terrible quality control and costs too much. i'm not a huge fan of rock band's setlist either, for the money that is.… Expand

Tons of fun, and some free downloads! I was absolutely addicted for a full year. The Les Paul was a great guitar peripheral, as I prefer to use over any other (besides the sometimes unresponsive buttons, which a little hot glue fixed with no problem.) Some songs seemed too impossible, requiring skill only in keeping your guitar still long enough to hold onto star power, because the game seemed overly sensitive to star power use.… Expand

This is without a doubt the (second) best Guitar Hero release. The first being World Tour. Anyway the soundtrack is flat out perfection with hits from Foghat, Tenacious D, the Chili Peppers, Slipknot, Metallica, the Rolling Stones, the list is a perfect blend of the old and the new. The visuals are pretty nice, and the inclusion of Slash blew my mind. Because, well, Slash is awesome. There are flaws in the game, like the 500MS song packs, and the brick wall difficulty. Playing on Expert is fun and simple yet challenging, if that makes any sense, but then when you hit the ridiculous solo sections of Cult of Personality, good luck unlocking the next tier of songs. And some songs on Medium feel like Hard, without the orange button, like One, and the Fire and Flames. The Les Paul controller just screams badass; the legendary shape, combined with the detachable neck, but the pins that connect the neck to the guitar body are faulty and sometimes don't register hits. Overall, it is an amazing game and is definitely worth the money. And let's hear it for DragonForce selling out!… Expand

The feeling guitar hero gives after the first month or two is... disappointing! The amount of effort put into making this bunch of games is quite amazing and inspiring to musicians and electricians alike... but unfortunately.... the slang for this game would usually be, "It's ok, i guess" NO! it's dismal after 2 months so it's 4!

I've played this game from 2008 onwards, and have never looked back. The game is addictive to people like me who haven't played a real guitar and the song list for me is the best of the whole series. 10/10.

I do not know what to say, Its good but not quite what I hoped. Basically Guitar Hero doesn't live the hype as Rock Band . The game is great for people that are new to the music genre but wont you play something more creative . GH and GH2 were awesome good music, fun co-op , but this installment isn't the right one.

Best Guitar Hero game ever period. This game has an unbelievable setlist that can satisfy anyone regardless of the type of music they listen to. When this game came out, I played for hours on end and not wanting to put the guitar controller down once. I beat the entire game on Easy and Medium in under a week. Amazing game.

Story: 4 Characters: 7 Graphics: 7 Setting: 4 Multiplayer: 8 Soundtrack: 10 Audio: 10 Gameplay: 8 Re-Playability Value: 9 Fun Factor: 8 Score: 7.5/10 = B