Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s

"Heart of a Lion, Wings of a Bat (Because It's Midnite)"

Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s delivers better than either Guitar Hero or Guitar Hero II. Don't listen to the critics on this one; they probably never owned a single Stryper album.

GAMEPLAY/CONTROLS - 10/10
The gameplay is just as fast and furious as in Guitar Hero II. The hammer-ons and pull-offs are just as delightfully doable, and the difficulty ramps up fairly well from iteration to iteration. If you bothered buying a guitar controller, you won't be disappointed in this one. Much like Guitar Hero II, it's more difficult as far as the complexity of the note patterns, but none of the difficulty comes from the controls. This is as it should be. You rise or fall on your own merits here. And it's pretty easy to fall on them: even for accomplished pros, the game will offer significant challenges on the Expert difficulty. Check out the solo on Because It's Midnite for a prime example.

PLAYLIST - 9/10
Of course it's a matter of taste, but I loved the playlist for this game more than either Guitar Hero I or II. It contains such beloved classics as Radar Love, No One Like You (which I was dismayed to not find on either of the previous guitar heroes) and, by a stroke of pure luck, the delightful Because It's Midnite by Limozeen. One point was knocked off because the Face Melters in this game are obscure. Surely they could have found a better song than Police Truck? Of course, I'm also counting in the slight disappointment of what wasn't featured. There's not a single song by Journey, REO Speedwagon, Rush, Van Halen or many of the other bands that defined 80s music. Still and all, the selection of tracks is fantastic. In the other Guitar Heroes I would often play one or two songs in a set with glee, then slog through the rest to unlock the next set. Besides the Face Melters, I can honestly say that I enjoyed every song in every set in the game.

GRAPHICS - 8/10
The graphics are hardly changed from Guitar Hero II. The new outfits are mildly interesting the first time you see them, but there's little change from last time. The scenes look just fine, and there is never a point where bad graphical planning or execution hampers gameplay. The gauges and play field look as good as could be expected.

SOUND - 10/10
The sound works exactly as it should. It's crisp and clear, and the guitar manages to stay prominent without overpowering everything. Kudos to the sound development team; I've little else to say.

OVERALL - 9/10

Other critics have panned this game viciously, and I'm having a hard time understanding why. Obviously, some of them never cared for 80s music, which makes me wonder what prompted them to think they'd like a game called Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s. Others are disappointed that the game offers little in the way of new features besides new songs, and that there are no bonus songs. Sure, the game may not contain a bunch of obscure indie singles, and it may only be 30 songs long, but just take a look at the playlist. This is the best Guitar Hero ever. GH2 may have had twice as many songs, but I play GHE:RT80s four times more often because it has more *good* songs. All in all, this one is worth the fifty bucks you're going to pay and then some.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/30/07