Until the Gods bestowed upon Man the grace of the Guitar Hero games, we were condemned to a legacy of producing faux music with air alone. (Or, alternatively, not producing any music at all with a real guitar sitting in our corner/closet/attic). Life was meaningless and dark.

But some time after the original revelation when Guitar Hero II was released for the PS2, many of us were still hesitant to pick it up. Because what if...just if...something Greater could exist? What if Guitar Hero II for the Xbox 360 was even better if we could only wait a little bit longer? Rewarding our GHII virginity with better graphics, sound, and even the Possibilities of online play....

So hit the jump to read our Frankenreview—the one review you need to read ever (for this one game this one time).

Advanced Media Network
The Xbox 360 guitar controller is based off of the Gibson X-plorer, and in addition to looking better than its PS2 counterpart it feels a lot more solid as well. The strum button doesn't feel as loose as it did on the PS2 models of the guitar and the neck buttons stand slightly higher above the frets and feel stiffer. The Xbox 360 guide button sits alongside a d-pad on the base of the guitar and gives players the ability to navigate the dashboard without switching to a standard controller... When all is said and done...[it's] easily the highest quality third-party peripheral available for the Xbox 360.

Team Xbox
[Graphics don't] really push the Xbox 360 hardware, but at the same time GHII isn't a game that needs extravagant visuals. The graphics show a marked improvement over the PS2 games—as you'd expect—definitely flexing the console's better muscles with particle effects and more detailed 3-D models, but the animations overall are still clunky and repetitive.


Videogame Talk
360 owners, prepare to have your eardrums blown, because this version offers remixed versions of the songs that have greater separation between the guitar, the vocals, and the rest of the band, as well as a greater sense of the audience (whose reactions tell you how you're doing if you're not inclined to look at the rock meter). The sound is truly immersing and makes you want to revisit your favorite songs again and again.


Game Almighty
A new feature for the 360 version is the ability to play a song from three different modes, including bass, rhythm and lead, as well as co-op play with a partner, assuming you've invested in a second guitar. All of these modes just further Hero's appeal, giving you more options and longevity. It's all great and nearly perfect.


Official Xbox Mag
The only negative we can think off is that you currently can't face-off against friends over Xbox Live, but rumour is a future patch may resolve that one niggling issue. And even though the Xbox 360 version is late coming to the party (the PS2 version was released last year), at the encore it'll be Microsoft's machine that'll be playing out the crowd.
So how many of you abstained, waiting for the 360 version? And how many PS2 GHII owners didn't but are planning on buying the game again? Mark Wilson

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