Guitar Hero II: Rocking hard a second time around

There are three kinds of people in the world: those who play guitar, those who won’t, and those who can’t but want to. For the musically challenged latter, Red Octane and Activision have returned, bearing gifts of hard rock for players to numb their fingers on.

It’s Guitar Hero II, and it’s the worthy successor of 2005’s bestselling Guitar Hero. The Guitar Hero series is a music video game: You hit the correct notes with the right buttons, following the accompanying music’s beat, effectively “playing” the song yourself and even further by introducing the guitar controller.

The game takes players on a pretty extensive tour of recent rock history–it’s a great musical education for younger players, at the very least. And the older plyaers who’ve dreamed of one day playing that solo from Sweet Child O’Mine onstage to a sold-out audience will have to settle for doing it in their living rooms in front of their television with a plastic, undersized guitar: not quite the same, but still a hugely entertaining way to spend a few hours.

It may not look like it, but the game is hard, even harder than its predecessor. The designers have gone out of their way to provide some of the most technically challenging rock anthems out there. Additions to the game include the frustratingly difficult three-button chords, but at loeast a Practice Mode, where you can play the songs at a slower tempo, is now available.

The graphics, while not really pushing the PS2 to its limits, are pretty, but nothing spectacular. Not that it matters, as you’ll probably be too busy trying to follow the music to look at anything else anyway. But a great song selection, a very challenging (but rewarding learning curve, and that way cool guitar controller makes this game a must-have for anyone who appreciates a wicked riff. Get ready to headbang.