The Discussion Thread | The 12th Annual Greatest Games Event

[Runa216]

S.Peelman said:

Runa216 said:

I feel so bad about this because I don't like being negative, but for the life of me I don't know why so many people love Guitar Hero III so much. I thought the boss battle gimmick was garbage, the charting was all over the place, the visual effects were outlandish in a way that vastly messed with the rhythm and timing of the notes (so much so that they had to widen the allowance on timing just to counterbalance it), and everything was overcharted as hell. 

It's an exercise in style over substance. a great track list from a popularity aspect but nowhere near as fun to play. I got introduced to way more songs and bands from Guitar HEro 1/2 and the Rock Band series than this. And yes, there's a distinct correlation between developers HArmonix (the team that made GH1, GH2, 80's, and the rock band franchise) and my personal tastes. 

Buh, this is one of those games that I know most people only like because it was the one that had the widest appeal, but there's a dedicated group of music lovers that feel it was definitely a step down. Rock Band did it better. 

Ah, I sparked discussion! But don’t feel bad.

You are probably right, but first off it is true that Guitar Hero III is my pick to represent this series, and the genre basically, in large part because it was the first one I played. Had I played another first I might have felt differently. Still, I did feel I had a little less fun with each subsequent game though, and Guitar Hero III has a lot of songs I liked best to play. Though maybe Metallica does, as their songs are so suited to these kinds of games but that one was obviously a bit repetitive. Continue under mZuzek;

mZuzek said:

Because it's fun.

And one way it was made more fun for a lot of people is exactly in widening the timing for hitting notes. No one's gonna disagree with you that it was ridiculously wide in GH3, you could hit notes like half a second early or late. I suppose many things were overcharted, but because hitting notes was so easy, it made you feel better than you probably were. And everyone probably felt that way, really. That's just fun.

Also, the songs were awesome. Whether previous games had more or less awesome songs is personal taste, GH3 still had a killer soundtrack.

I agree with you that Rock Band did it better, but maybe Rock Band's existence is the exact reason why I never looked down on GH3. The Guitar Hero series definitely got wackier from that point on, prioritizing dumb fun over precision, and it was easy to embrace that because if you ever wanted that precise gameplay again, Rock Band was right there.

Indeed it was fun, which for me is always the biggest point. I noticed the overcharting and the wide timing of this one as I went on to the newer games. However, the overcharting actually made Guitar Hero III more difficult in my eyes. Difficult in a good way, because it made you feel more awesome and indeed that was fun. This was especially noticeable on songs that were in more games. To return to Metallica as an example, III’s One > Metallica’s One by far. I thought the games got easier and easier as the songs became poppier. In will admit though that I never really gave 6 much of a chance because I didn’t really like 5 much. In hindsight I should’ve liked 6’s setlist much better.

Yeah I know I'm in the minority here. You know how like, 95% of the gaming community doesn't care that Smash Bros Brawl had slightly floatier mechanics but the hardcore absolutely hated it? Or how most people can't even use wave dashing or the more outlandish skills? That's how I am with Music Rhythm games. To the average bloke that played the games and didn't think much about it, the fun levels of the track list and the goofy graphics were all that mattered. It was a casual game, it was a fun game...but to me, it was infuriating. 

To me, all the little things about the game pissed me off. It made it feel less authentic when Rock Band went in a more authentic direction. Of course, the fact that HArmonix (the company that created both franchises) is made up almost entirely of musicians helped. So when I played Guitar Hero III before I even realized it was made by a different team, I thought my interest in the genre had peaked and I had moved on. It felt wrong to me. There were notes where they didn't belong, notes missing where there should have been notes, distortion charted as trills, chords in places where it clearly was a single note, and all sorts of toony, arcadey malarky that made it harder to time my hits and the like. Stuff like flames erupting from every note, the fret board shaking, all the outlandish sound effects, and everything else they added to make it more appealing to a general audience really ruined the game for me. 

Oh, and the sound track on paper was the best in the series, but Harmonix was much better than RedOctane for including songs that were FUN and more interesting/varied. Guitar Hero III was more mainstream and had more hits people were likely to recognize, but Rock Band had more obscure stuff that was more likely to be fun or unique to play. That mattered. Plus, Rock Band toned down a lot of the arcadey stuff. Flames didn't erupt and the fret board didn't shake all over the place and there weren't gimmicky boss battles. The notes shattered and fell, maintainign the momentum instead of making something rise after falling. IT's a super subtle detail but it absolutely has an impact on gameplay and the design aspects. Same with the overcharting and undercharting. Rock Band tightened the allowance on note hitting, focused on multiple instruments, added a bunch of gameplay features and generally made the game more versatile and more authentic. 

Guitar Hero as a whole, once RedOctane took over from Harmonix, was arcadey and flashy but lacked depth and substance. Guitar Hero 3 was kind of the epitome of it all, with the worst overcharting, the widest note allowances, the most mainstream tracklist, the highest difficulty, etc. It almost ruined my love for rhythm games, yet here I am today with over 2200 songs in Rock Band because that game FEELS better to play and doesn't have any of the gaudy mess that Guitar Hero pushed so hard. 

I get why this game is popular, I get that 99% of the audience doesn't care about these very subtle design aspects or even prefers the sillier presentation and more mainstream tracklist, but it made me HATE the game and nearly bail out on the genre as a whole. in my actual top 50 or 100 or whatever, if I was to make a complete list of every game that gets a 9.0/10 or higher....all four Rock Band games as well as Beatles rock Band, Lego Rock Band, and the first two Guitar Hero games (the ones made by Harmonix) would be on there. None made by Redoctane would even breach 7/10 for me. There's a world of difference in heart and soul and authenticity between them and GH3 represents all the features I hate or dislike about the franchise. 

I feel like such a hipster with all this but like, It always bugged me. I've discovered SO much more music through Rock Band...like, I didn't even know Greta Van Fleet was even a thing before playing their song "When the Curtain Calls" in Rock Band. Now they're one of my go-to bands for walks and working out and I can't imagine life without them. I'd never had heard of "Blue Sky" by the allman Brothers band. I never would ahve considered indie stuff like Anamanaguchi or Bang Camaro or Anarchy Club or any of the other bands headlined by the members of the band. The point is, Rock Band has been a transformative experience for me. Guitar hero was primed to be that and it all got thrown away with Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock.