Guitar Hero fan? Aerosmith fan, too? Well, Activision has a game for you. For the rest of us, it might not be as appealing given the price, content, and lack of downloadable content support. Guitar Hero Aerosmith is quite possibly an Aerosmith’s fan game come true (aside from Revolution X of course). However with very little new compared to Guitar Hero III, it could be a tough sell.

Semi-Sweet Emotion

Guitar Hero Aerosmith feature forty-one total songs on the disc, about ten of which are accessible from the get-go. This is around thirty songs less than Guitar Hero III, but the price tag is the same, so yeah, ouch. That said, twenty-nine of the songs in Aerosmith are real Aerosmith tracks, some of them were actually recorded just for this release, bringing a strong sense of authenticity to the game. These twenty-nine songs are available in the career mode, leaving another twelve to unlock in the Vault. These additional twelve songs are miscellaneous tracks from Joe Perry, the lead guitarist of Aerosmith. I hadn’t heard any of his music before hearing them in game, and if you like Aerosmith you may like Joe Perry’s music, but, in showing my lack of musical reviewing ability, let me just say that it isn’t as good as Aerosmith’s tunes – which I’m not really a big fan of anyway, but they have some good work.

Speaking of work, the tracks on GH: Aerosmith are rather encompassing of Aerosmith’s long-running career. Tracks from fourteen different albums are included. You can find a great list of all of the songs included, and at what part of the game you can play them, on the Net at Wikipedia, but some of the highlights I’m familiar with would include: “Dream On,” “Sweet Emotion,” “Walk This Way (with Run DMC),” and I personally thought Joan Jett’s “I Hate Myself For Loving You,” was catchy. Not being an Aerosmith fan, about the only song I was surprised at not seeing included was “Janie’s Got A Gun.” For as much as I hear that song on classic rock stations, I would have thought it was more popular than it is, but it’s not included here.

Getting through the career mode has been easier than any other Guitar Hero game I have played thus far. In reading about this game online, I confirmed my suspicions: this is significantly easier than Guitar Hero III.  It seems that the difficulty in Aerosmith is essentially one level lower; so if you’re playing on Medium, it’s like playing on Hard on Guitar Hero III. Not to mention the songs aren’t quite as complicated or as fast paced as many of the songs in GH III.

Price of Admission To This Show

One universal complaint I have discovered online about this release, and one that is very agreeable is the price versus content issue. GH Aerosmith will cost you the full sixty dollars at retail, or more if you get the version with the decked out Aerosmith wireless guitar. The severe drop in the number of tracks, from 70ish to 41, is harsh. Also, the guarantee that no downloadable content will be available is another drawback. Furthermore, if you look at what’s included on the disc, keeping in mind these are the only tracks you will ever have for this purchase, you really have to be a huge Aerosmith fan to want to make the purchase. There are no new modes or really anything new from GH III, except for some new animations featuring Steven Tyler and the band in the background, and some new venues. The venues that you play at, six in all I believe, are neat though – each location is significant to the band’s history, from their high school to a Superbowl halftime show, and each new location is padded with a video of Steven Tyler talking about its significance in their career. Ultimately, the choice will be up to you to decide if this is worth the purchase or not.