"I'm surprised. What a disappointment!"

Guitar Hero was a game that surprised everyone with its addicting gameplay and great soundtrack. Then, Guitar Hero II came out with more addicting gameplay, advanced co-op mode, and another killer soundtrack. Now to ride the wave of music games coming up is the first "expansion" of Guitar Hero tuned to the sounds of the '80s. The '80s are well known for their rock, and some great potential can be had here. BUT, considering what the other two brought to the table, this doesn't stand up to the ever raising level of greatness in music games.

GRAPHICS: 6/10
You need to know that the low score here is not because of technical graphics but of principle (I'll explain in a little). The graphics in this kind of a game don't need to be that powerful. You just need some good looking arenas, characters, and menu interfaces. GH '80s has all of these things. Now for the BIG problem. The arenas, characters and menus look familiar don't you think? That's because, THEY'RE DANG NEAR THE SAME! How lazy are you when you use the same arenas and characters from the last game and just add tweaks? Honestly, they could have gone so much farther with the '80s ideas as far as graphics go, but this is just ridiculous. The principle of this is that games should always be trying to push the envelope of either great graphical technology or innovative new graphics. When a game borrows and takes from another game, that's just bad.

SOUND: 7/10
From a bad area to a so-so area. The sound in this game is fantastic and it does what it sets out to do. All of the songs in this game have a great cover artist behind it (not like Nirvana in the last one). A few of the songs, like "I Ran" and "The Warrior" are actual master tracks. That means the original artists' recording was put into the game. All of the songs translate well into the GH notecharts also. That being said, here's my rant about the setlist. This game is about the '80s. Many of the songs on this setlist are well known from the '80s, like "I Ran", "No One Like You", "Holy Diver" and "Turning Japanese". There are a few songs however, that made me ask WTF? The Go-Gos? No one thinks mad guitar when you mention the Go-Gos! Also, why is Anthrax here? And finally, Asia's "Heat of the Moment" is better on paper than in practice. There are a couple of songs that were DEFINITELY missing that were synonymous with the '80s, like "Welcome to the Jungle", "Crazy Train", and "Rock you Like a Hurricane" (although the Scorpions were featured). That being said, the list is still fun, even if some of the tracks are screwy.

GAMEPLAY: 9/10
As much of the gameplay engine has been recycled from Guitar Hero II, from the modes to how you play the game, it's still very fun and addictive and I can't give it a bad score. The one bad thing I will say is that this time, the game DOESN'T come with a guitar controller, meaning you have to buy either one of the first two games or buy a different controller. Not like it's a bad thing, as the first two games are also must-buys. For those unfamiliar with how Guitar Hero works, here's a quick up-to-speed. When playing, you use a Guitar-shaped controller that has 5 different colored buttons. When they pass by a line on the screen, you strum the pick while holding down the button with your finger. Now, this sounds easier than it is, especially on expert. There's also a whammy bar that alters the sound of a note when strummed and gives more star power when necessary. Star power is a modifier that helps you gain more bonus to a streak of notes and it helps you stay in the game when you're doing badly. That's pretty much Guitar Hero in a nutshell. It's very addicting once you start, and even if it's just like GH II, you will still have a fun time.

OVERALL:
As much fun as GH still is, the '80s edition sort of falls flat with a bad list of '80s songs and the SAME arenas and characters as II. It's not worth the $50 to buy it, and especially since it doesn't come with a guitar controller this time. If you feel compelled, go ahead and buy it. But if you're willing to wait for Guitar Hero III and Rock Band (especially Rock Band), don't worry about this one.
FINAL SCORE: 7/10

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 07/25/07