My biggest issues with this game are mostly mentioned above, the lack of hammerons and pull offs with only the highest note played (this gets annoying with trills) and the fact that the white notes don’t need to be played in an uninterrupted combo takes away a good portion of the difficulty.

My biggest gripe, however, was the overall amount of (let’s call it health) that you can get. For many expert songs, you can play decently in the beginning to light up all your marquee lights, and then put the controller down for the last minute of the song without failing. It really takes the excitement out of the game, with such a huge safety net and nearly no chance of failure. I would give each miss a 1/20th or 1/15th deduction, and each hit note ~ 1/60th. Another thing that needs to be improved on is the menus, as mentioned.

This issue is just above the over-use of rhythm guitar during potentially mind-blowing solos. Just look at “Who Will You Follow?” I love this song, few people come out this bluntly and straightforward as Whitecross, and it’s pretty darn catchy, too. But honestly, while the lead guitarist is shredding away in the background, I feel extremely annoyed to be playing the rhythm guitar! So far, I havn’t seen this issue in the expansion packs.

I would also like to see a visual confirmation when I hit the strumless notes, and the option to turn off that disgusting note which plays when I strum a wrong note. Also, the fact that a combo doesn’t end when you strum an extra note takes so much difficulty away from hard strum patterns, and thus takes away the reward for finally getting it perfected.

Last thing (I think), related to the menus. I spent a few days without my game saving, I even tried reinstalling it. I eventually figured out that I needed to make a profile to save my scores and such, although I was not prompted to do so when I started the game. Whoops.

I’m perfectly fine without having venues and characters and such, as they end up adding nothing to the gameplay, besides an hour or two for those easily amused during the character creation screens.

This is (i think) all of the issues I can find with this game. For those of you who haven’t played it, most of these issues will be not noticable to anyone but experienced Guitar Hero players, and for you Guitar Hero players, they aren’t as prevalent as you might think. This game is definitely worth buying.

4/5

The only major flaw I find in the game is the lack of HO/PO support and the feature Guitar Hero/Rock Band has of ignoring the holding down of lower frets if it is only one note. I use that a lot.

Over all, it’s decent, but needs an update as of now, considering both competitors now feature full band support and a refined gaming experience. Perhaps they will make a Praise Band.

The highest I was able to get the multiplier up to was 9x so I assumed that was as high as it went and there was no indication of how high it could get in the material I had during the review.

Overall, I really like the game and think it’s well worth checking out, especially if you can hook your computer up to your TV. I also spent a lot of time sitting on my couch with the laptop on a small table in front of me if I didn’t want to stand up.

-The expansion pack is actually 25 songs, not 20.
-I have had this game for a year, and not once have I had to change the batteries, or forgotten to turn the guitar off.
-The score multiplier goes higher than 9x. I’ve gotten it to go up to 40x before.