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** The Official Guitar Hero 2 Thread **

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** The Official Guitar Hero 2 Thread **

Old 11-08-06, 10:37 AM
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** The Official Guitar Hero 2 Thread **

Continued from here. I think this game deserves it's own thread.

Got the game last night. I only got to play through about 5 songs but I'm already loving it. I plan on getting a lot better than I ever did at the first one (couldn't do many of the Hard songs very well, never really got Expert at all.)

On a side note, I bought the game online at BestBuy.com and went to pick it up in the store. I bought the "game only" version but the girl handed me the full set with the red Gibson and said "here you go!" I said thank you and left. I felt kinda bad at first, but damn that new controller is sweet.

Last edited by Draven; 11-08-06 at 10:42 AM.
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Old 11-08-06, 10:55 AM
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Originally Posted by Draven
but damn that new controller is sweet.
The new guitar is pretty damned nice. They've definately made it more "lefty-friendly" than the last revision they did.

When I bought an extra SG controller earlier this year so my wife and I could play multiplayer, I gave it a shot, thinking I'd take it and let her use the old one. Man, that tilt sensor was so sensitive when flipped into the lefty position that it would activate star power from just pressing the whammy bar. She never had any problems with it in standard righty positioning, so it must be something with the way the tilt sensor was aligned in those.

This new SG doesn't have these problems and will only accidentally activate star power if I'm playing it at a 45 degree angle or so to begin with. So, I had to change my playing style a little bit and play more level, but it's definately got a nice feel to it.
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Old 11-08-06, 11:08 AM
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She's my cherry piiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiie.....

Sorry. *runs out of topic*
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Old 11-08-06, 11:59 AM
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the new guitar has a better feel to it as well, to that.
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Old 11-08-06, 12:10 PM
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Originally Posted by RichC2 (from other thread)
I dunno, I wouldn't suggest someone try to learn to play on Hard, that'd just be frustration out the ass. I also don't recommend playing through the entirity of Easy, because it gets boring as hell after a few tracks. But still say Easy is a great way to get a feel for the guitar for a few tracks (unless you opt to do the actual training instead... but yeah..), but only maybe the first 5 songs. I had a blast playing through Medium the first time (it's too damn easy now) so I still recommend that play through as well. Gets you more bang for the buck as well.
I personally had a very hard time going from Easy to Medium to Hard because of the speed difference. My work buddies and pretty much everyone I know are die-hard GH fans and always recommend people to start out on at least Hard, even if it is a struggle. Making use of all the buttons and playing at a good pace will help you get better quicker.

As for GH2, I'm going to have to go back and play the other modes anyways, to unlock the guitars and stuff that are only available for completing the different difficulties, and 5-starring everything. I'll definately be able to do that on Easy and Medium, and probably most of Hard as well (5-starring), although I don't think I'll ever 5-star everything on Expert.
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Old 11-08-06, 12:11 PM
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Put me down as being VERY disappointed in this.

I'm a huge music snob, and the fact that they used (bad) cover bands for most of the songs in inexcusable, and something I just can't get past. The singers on GH2 sound ever worse than the imitators on GH1, which weren't too bad, but still distracting. What a gyp!
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Old 11-08-06, 12:25 PM
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I wonder why they didn't get the actual song artists. I know there are a lot more songs in the games.

But the companies earlier games Frequency and Amplitude used the actual artists. Granted only a few were bigger names.

But they had Garbage, Bowie, BT and a few others.

They also had some indie/unknowns like GH.
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Old 11-08-06, 12:42 PM
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Originally Posted by slop101
Put me down as being VERY disappointed in this.

I'm a huge music snob, and the fact that they used (bad) cover bands for most of the songs in inexcusable, and something I just can't get past. The singers on GH2 sound ever worse than the imitators on GH1, which weren't too bad, but still distracting. What a gyp!
I have to agree...I too am very disappointed with the song quality in GH2, at least the first game songs sounded like the originals, the new game is not even close! I think Red Octane is getting too big for their own good. Decent game but damn that singer is the worst!
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Old 11-08-06, 12:47 PM
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A few of the singers are distracting, but not enough to make me not love this game. Just can't stop playing Carry On Wayward Son and Sweet Child O Mine. Love what they did with the encores. Too cool. Beat the game on easy and medium last night. Got 5 stars on all but two that I have to go back and redo tonight. I'm having a blast!
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Old 11-08-06, 12:49 PM
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None of the covers have really bothered me so far, but then again I'm not familiar with all of the originals. I also get so focused while playing that I guess I don't pay close attention to the vocals.

In other news, Monkey Wrench has been stuck in my head all day.
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Old 11-08-06, 12:50 PM
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recommending to start out on hard, even if its beyond is foolishness. Its about getting aclimated to the controller, and knowing where your fretting hand is, even if you don't have time to look at it and make sure
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Old 11-08-06, 01:10 PM
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Originally Posted by Vryce
I wonder why they didn't get the actual song artists. I know there are a lot more songs in the games.

But the companies earlier games Frequency and Amplitude used the actual artists. Granted only a few were bigger names.

But they had Garbage, Bowie, BT and a few others.

They also had some indie/unknowns like GH.
Harmonix developed Frequency and Amplitude with Sony acting as the publisher. Thus, all of the major artists featured in both games are under Sony's record label, which is why they were so easy to get.

Also, as far as some of the originals go, since the game requires that the song be seperated into various parts (guitar, bass, rest of the band) originals that weren't recorded as multi-track recordings would be pretty much impossible to break down just from the recording available. This is the case with most of the older songs.

I have to agree...I too am very disappointed with the song quality in GH2, at least the first game songs sounded like the originals, the new game is not even close! I think Red Octane is getting too big for their own good. Decent game but damn that singer is the worst!
RedOctane doesn't do the covers, they get WaveGroup to do it. One thing to keep in mind is that WaveGroup had ten more covers to do this time around. I've got no idea how long it takes to do an individual cover, but that may have been a factor. It's also possible that since their name was getting tossed around so much after GH came out, they're getting more work than usual, so they didn't have enough resources to spend on the GH2 covers.

These are just theories, though. Heck, I haven't even picked up GH2 yet.

One thing that I'm wondering about is if the people who don't like the covers don't like them because they sound different from the originals, or don't like them because they just plain sound bad? Even though I heard complaints about some of the covers in GH1, I never thought any of them were bad at all. Sure, not all of them sounded like the originals, but I can't think of any that were badly performed. Compare that with something like Donkey Konga, where some of the songs are just bad sounding closeness to the original or not.
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Old 11-08-06, 01:34 PM
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I don't mind covers, since you are, afterall, pretty much playing a garage band making it big - and it's been a whlie since the last time a garage band had David Bowie singing vocals.

That said, yeah, bad vocals stand out on a few tracks (the ones for Rage are particularly bad.)
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Old 11-08-06, 01:35 PM
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Originally Posted by xVladx
One thing that I'm wondering about is if the people who don't like the covers don't like them because they sound different from the originals, or don't like them because they just plain sound bad?
Little bit of both - if it was just one or the other (as in GH1), it wouldn't be too big a deal - but that they sound less and less like the original is worse, as I'm don't want to hear a band's interpretation of a song that I'm playing along to.

For example, when I sing Kareoke to, say, Beatles' She Came In Through the Bathroom Widow, I don't want them playing Joe Cocker's version which is way different and I'm not familiar with.
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Old 11-08-06, 01:36 PM
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Since I'm not usually that familiar with the originals, none of the covers have ever bothered me. So this is no big deal to me.
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Old 11-08-06, 01:43 PM
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Originally Posted by xVladx
One thing that I'm wondering about is if the people who don't like the covers don't like them because they sound different from the originals, or don't like them because they just plain sound bad?
Just from the demo.. I didn't care for SatD. But I didn't expect anyone to sound like exactly like Vince Neil. YRGM is passable. I thought GH was pretty close that I didn't have any problems with being distracted and half the time I try to sing along anyways.
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Old 11-08-06, 01:44 PM
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Originally Posted by slop101

For example, when I sing Kareoke to, say, Beatles' She Came In Through the Bathroom Widow, I don't want them playing Joe Cocker's version which is way different and I'm not familiar with.
While I'll admit a lot of the vocals aren't right on with the originals, the music itself is. They are definitely not creating different versions of the songs.
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Old 11-08-06, 01:50 PM
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the person making fun of the music is entirely focused on the vocals, which is actually the last thing you should be worrying about when its geared towards guitar and bass
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Old 11-08-06, 01:50 PM
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I picked up my copy yesterday. I like it a lot so far. Most of the covers don't bother me too much. I did notice they changed the songs from the demo some on the full game. I played Shout at the Devil and You Really Got Me on Expert and they were both a little harder than they were on the demo. I had fun playing co-op songs with my roommate. I got 100% on everything on easy in Career mode, except one. I got all the way to the last note on Jessica, and fucked it up. Oh well, I'll get it later.
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Old 11-08-06, 03:17 PM
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I agree that the "start on Hard" advice is bad for just about anyone. I was able to get through just about everything on Expert in GH, but started on Medium in GH2. Sure, I'm 5-Starring everything on my first pass through (with one exception), but I don't know about half of these songs, and I need to become familiar and get my fingers back. I have a friend who is much better than I am, he decided to start on Hard, and he's loving it but says that it sucks balls. I've tried a few on Hard in Quickplay mode (Message in a Bottle, Carry On..., Surrender, Crazy on You, Jessica), and I'm getting 3 or 4 stars on everything first time through. I can't imagine a first-time player starting on Hard under any circumstances.
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Old 11-08-06, 03:48 PM
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PLEASE tell me they improved the hammer-ons/pull-offs in this game
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Old 11-08-06, 03:55 PM
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Originally Posted by KurrptSenate
the person making fun of the music is entirely focused on the vocals, which is actually the last thing you should be worrying about when its geared towards guitar and bass
While the vocals are the background factor in the game, they can be distracting when you expect a certain sound.

For the most part, I find them okay. There are a few that really stand out because they are offkey and I found myself having to pause to continue on.

Just because people are commenting on the vocals doesn't mean they aren't appreciating the game or playing it to it potential. It is all part of the experience. Otherwise, they could have just put in a game with no vocals and just the guitar tracks.
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Old 11-08-06, 05:01 PM
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And I did preface it by pointing out that I'm a music snob...
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Old 11-08-06, 05:45 PM
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I started on Expert since that's the level I was at on GH. So far I've been getting 3-4 stars on everything but now I'm on Freeya and Bad Reputation and man I can't get half way through without my hands cramping up. I've gotten up to 71 percent on Freeya.
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Old 11-08-06, 06:00 PM
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Originally Posted by RichC2
That said, yeah, bad vocals stand out on a few tracks (the ones for Rage are particularly bad.)
Seriously, I would've been happier with that track if it was an instrumental. I think the vocals for Lamb of God's "Laid To Rest" are probably some of the worst, completely butchered. I was playing that song and doing fantastic right until the vocals started, and caused me to miss like 80% of the next 20 seconds worth of notes just because I was so thrown off by it.
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