Guitar Hero: Aerosmith

When developer Neversoft first announced it was working on this, gamers, hacks and pundits everywhere scoffed at the idea that a Guitar Hero game based around the career of one band could possibly work. Call it a social experiment, as it will be interesting to see if the band's popularity rises as a result of the game. For the most part, this game is already a success.

The main career mode follows the history of the band, through their most iconic shows, starting with their first gym hall set at Nipmuc High in Boston. While the venues here are based on real locations, they still retain the abstract style the series captures so well. To mix things up a bit, the first two songs of every venue are played by a support act, which is none other than the band from Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock.

This is a neat idea, allowing a wider variety of music, and is perfect for the less die-hard Aerosmith fan. Acts such as Cheap Trick, Run DMC and Joan Jett and the Wildhearts keep things fresh. In addition, a lot of the Aerosmith songs on offer here are lesser-known, yet incredibly catchy and fun to play. This may be a risky move, however, as fewer people playing this game will know most of the tracks, but after a few plays it's likely you will be nodding your head in time. They really know how to write an infectious tune.

Thanks to interview footage before each stage, you learn a bit more about the group and their path to fame, which may raise your interest in the band. Who knows?

So it's factual, catchy, colourful and educational (sort of), but gameplay-wise there is nothing new here. It is essentially the same Guitar Hero experience, complete with an irrelevant guitar battle encounter. Perhaps Neversoft thought it best to hold off until the highly-anticipated Guitar Hero: World Tour hits the shelves in October, before they started going mad and adding new stuff.

Whatever the reason, this is a nice stop-gap in the series with some interesting and, for the most part, well thought-out song choices including "Walk This Way", "Dream On", "Train Kept Rollin'" and "Pink". Throw in the usual bonus guitars, characters and songs at the game store and there is a degree of replay value here, but not as much as other music-simulation games.

You don't necessarily have to be a fan of Aerosmith to appreciate this game, but it helps.  If you aren't a fan, you may well be after you finish career mode. It will be interesting to see where Neversoft go with their next band-orientated title, Guitar Hero: Metallica. Presumably, the song download option will be strangely absent.