Red Octane's Guitar Hero 2 (Xbox 360)

Rock on, Guitar Hero 2 from Red Octane has finally hit the Xbox 360 and it does not disappoint. For almost two years, only Sony Playstation 2 owners could enjoy the thrill of being on stage in a rock band but now the Xbox 360 world can enjoy the same rush. The great thing about Red Octane’s Xbox 360 version is that it is not just a port of the Playstation 2 version. There is a lot of added features and content for just Xbox 360 users. There are additional songs, downloadable content, and online leaderboards.

For those not familiar with the gaming phenomena the Red Octane has created with the Guitar Hero series, here is how it works. You strap on the Gibson X-plorer guitar, which has a five color fret buttons on the neck, a strumming bar, and whammy bar. The game play is simple in concept and hard to master on the hard difficulty levels. I started on easy and loved every minute of my rise to stardom. On easy, the game only involves 3 of 5 the five color frets, making it very easy to get accustomed to being a Guitar Hero. As you play the game, you will notice that the notes appear as they do on the X-plorer guitar and as the notes pass onscreen you tap the same color buttons on the fret board and strum the guitar. You score points for each correct note and by stringing notes together you create combos and combos lead to multipliers. You also can gain star power by hitting all the correct notes of certain sections of the song and when you fill your star power meter and activate star power, you become the focus of the stage and earn double the points and don’t forget to use your whammy bar for added points.

The rock meter tracks how you are doing in a very simple way, green you are rocking, yellow you could be better, and red, well red means you suck. Too much time in the red and you fail the song.

Career mode is where you will spend hours upon hours rocking out in small high schools gyms till you hit the big time. Career mode is also where you will unlock the massive soundtrack of the game. Oh yeah and as you progress in career mode you will unlock outfits and guitars to enhance your stage persona. But, don’t fret (ha ha guitar pun), if you get stuck on a song, there is a practice mode that allows you to practice whole or part of songs at a speed you are comfortable learning at.

The last part of Red Octane’s Guitar Hero 2 that should be mentioned is the multiplayer mode. There are two types of play, one where you share a song and cooperative. In the first mode you and your partner trade of sections of a song. In cooperative mode, which is much more fun, one player takes lead guitar and the other is base or rhythm guitar.

The only negatives I have about this Red Octane’s rockin’ Guitar Hero 2 is the lack of online play and cost of the downloadable content through the Xbox Marketplace. But I attribute the high cost due to Microsoft and not Red Octane.

So you wanna be a rock superstar? And live large A big house. Five cars, then Red Octane’s Guitar Hero 2 is the game for you. Visit the RedOctane Store for all of your Guitar Hero needs. Buy direct. Buy now.


Below is the track listing in stages and download content thanks to Wikipedia

† - denotes rhythm guitar as alternate instrument for song in co-op mode (all other songs feature bass guitar)

bold denotes song performed by the original artist (all other songs are covers)

italics denotes Xbox 360 exclusive tracks

Soundtrack

1. Opening Licks

• "Surrender" – Cheap Trick
• "Possum Kingdom" – Toadies
• "Heart-Shaped Box" – Nirvana
• "Salvation" – Rancid
• "Strutter" – Kiss †
• "Shout at the Devil" – Mötley Crüe (Encore)

2. Amp-Warmers

• "Mother" – Danzig †
• "Life Wasted" – Pearl Jam
• "Cherry Pie" – Warrant
• "Woman" – Wolfmother
• "You Really Got Me" – Van Halen
• "Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight" – Spinal Tap † (Encore)

3. String-Snappers

• "Carry on Wayward Son" – Kansas
• "Search and Destroy" – Iggy Pop and the Stooges
• "Message in a Bottle" – The Police
• "Billion Dollar Babies" – Alice Cooper
• "Them Bones" – Alice in Chains
• "War Pigs" – Black Sabbath (Encore)

4. Thrash and Burn

• "Monkey Wrench" – Foo Fighters
• "Hush" – Deep Purple
• "Girlfriend" – Matthew Sweet †
• "Who Was in My Room Last Night?" – The Butthole Surfers †
• "Can't You Hear Me Knockin'" – The Rolling Stones †
• "Sweet Child o' Mine" – Guns N' Roses (Encore)

5. Return of the Shred

• "Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo" – Rick Derringer
• "Tattooed Love Boys" – The Pretenders
• "John the Fisherman" – Primus
• "Jessica" – The Allman Brothers Band †
• "Bad Reputation" – Thin Lizzy
• "Last Child" – Aerosmith † (Encore)

6. Relentless Riffs

• "Crazy on You" – Heart
• "Trippin' on a Hole in a Paper Heart" – Stone Temple Pilots
• "Dead!" – My Chemical Romance †
• "Killing in the Name" – Rage Against the Machine
• "Freya" – The Sword
• "Stop" – Jane's Addiction (Encore)

7. Furious Fretwork

• "Madhouse" – Anthrax
• "The Trooper" – Iron Maiden
• "Rock This Town" – Stray Cats
• "Laid to Rest" – Lamb of God †
• "Psychobilly Freakout" – Reverend Horton Heat
• "YYZ" – Rush (Encore)

8. Face-Melters

• "Beast and the Harlot" – Avenged Sevenfold
• "Carry Me Home" – The Living End
• "Institutionalized" – Suicidal Tendencies †
• "Misirlou" – Dick Dale
• "Hangar 18" – Megadeth
• "Free Bird" – Lynyrd Skynyrd † (Encore)

Downloadable Content

Guitar Hero Track Pack 1 (30.87 MB, 500 MSP) – Released April 11, 2007

o "Bark at the Moon" – Ozzy Osbourne
o "Hey You" – The Exies
o "Ace of Spades" – Motörhead

Guitar Hero Track Pack 2 (30.64 MB, 500 MSP) – Released April 11, 2007

o "Killer Queen" – Queen
o "Take It Off" – The Donnas
o "Frankenstein" – The Edgar Winter Group

Guitar Hero Track Pack 3 (32.71 MB, 500 MSP) – Released April 11, 2007

o "Higher Ground" – Red Hot Chili Peppers[4]
o "Infected" – Bad Religion
o "Stellar" – Incubus

Guitar Hero Track Pack 4 (44.15 MB, 500 MSP) – Released July 11, 2007

o "I Wanna Be Sedated" – The Ramones
o "Smoke on the Water" – Deep Purple
o "You've Got Another Thing Comin'" – Judas Priest

My Chemical Romance Pack (33.53 MB, 500 MSP) – Released August 14, 2007

o "Famous Last Words" – My Chemical Romance
o "Teenagers" – My Chemical Romance
o "This Is How I Disappear" – My Chemical Romance

Bonus Songs

All bonus songs are performed by the original artist

• "Raw Dog" – The Last Vegas (Winner of the "Be a Guitar Hero" Contest)
• "Arterial Black" – Drist †
• "Collide" – Anarchy Club
• "Drink Up" – Ounce of Self
• "Elephant Bones" – That Handsome Devil
• "Fall of Pangea" – Valient Thorr
• "FTK" – Vagiant
• "Gemini" – Brian Kahanek †
• "Laughtrack" – The Acro-brats †
• "Less Talk More Rokk" – Freezepop †
• "Jordan" – Buckethead
• "Kicked to the Curb" – Noble Rot
• "Mr. Fix It" – The Amazing Crowns
• "The New Black" – Every Time I Die
• "One for the Road" – The Breaking Wheel
• "Parasite" – The Neighborhoods
• "Push Push (Lady Lightning)" – Bang Camaro
• "Radium Eyes" – Count Zero
• "Red Lottery" – Megasus
• "Six" – All That Remains
• "Soy Bomb" – Honest Bob and the Factory-to-Dealer Incentives †
• "The Light That Blinds" – Shadows Fall
• "Thunderhorse" – Dethklok
• "Trogdor" – Strong Bad †
• "X-Stream" – Voivod
• "Yes We Can" – Made in Mexico