AMN's Review Policy: Our reviews are written for you. Our goal is to write honest, to-the-point reviews that don't waste your time. This is why we've split our reviews into four sections: What the Game's About, What's Hot, What's Not and Final Word, so that you can easily find the information you want from our reviews.

What the Game's About
If you're not familiar with Guitar Hero at this point, you have some serious issues. First introduced to the world in humble Kentia Hall at a past E3, the Guitar Hero franchise has grown into one of the most anticipated yearly releases. In its third iteration (fourth if you count the PS2 spin-off '80s edition), Guitar Hero is trying bring a mix of new and familiar concepts to the table. Just like in year's past, you'll shred through song after song as you and our band seek notoriety and fame in the world of Rock.

What's Hot
When original Guitar Hero creator Harmonix bailed on the franchise to develop the upcoming Rock Band under the EA banner, many were worried that the GH magic would go with them. Thankfully for long-time fans and newcomers, Activision and Neversoft, of Tony Hawk fame, did a great job picking up where Hamonix had left off. The game still plays in a very similar fashion to what we got last year with Guitar Hero II, but there are a few new tweaks, like the inclusion of rock 'n' roll legends.

Fans should be very happy to see that the vast majority of tracks in the game are master tracks provided by the original artists, rather than simply covers by imitation bands. The original recordings really help you get into the mood and make you feel like the rock god you always imagined you could be.

Online play is one of the biggest additions that the series has ever seen. You can now hop online and play with gamers around the world, just as if they were standing next you. For many, this solves the problem of having to pick up a second guitar to enjoy the multiplayer aspect of the game. Some tracks in the game are only accessible via co-op play, so online is very helpful for people looking to experience these tracks as well.

Activision has promised steady and strong support for downloadable songs as well, so if the pricing is fair, the occasional download should extend the life of the game beyond what was possible with older versions of Guitar Hero.

Finally, it's not even debatable at this point, but Guitar Hero III has the best soundtrack in the series so far. With a good mix of classic and modern songs in a handful of genres, any music fan should find some of their favorite toe-tappers to play along to.

What's Not
You can't fault Neversoft for wanting to be a bit ambitious and creative, but any time you make modifications to a proven formula you're bound to create some mixed opinions. Many will find the new Guitar Battles as gimmicky and a little forced.

Also, there are some songs where the note charts are very questionable. In some cases it's noticeable that the note charts were created by programmers, and not so much by experienced musicians. Most of the time the songs work well, but it seems that there are enough of these iffy note charts within the game to bring you down a bit more than we've seen in the past. Of course, this criticism is largely on a nitpick level and may not be noticed by more casual fans of the series.

There's also a potential problem for some with how the difficulty scales. It's not game breaking, but one moment you'll find yourself cruising along easily and the next you're going to get smacked hard upside the head by a song or battle that doesn't logically fit alongside the songs in the same tier. When Slayer comes knocking, you better man up and give your fingers a good stretch before jumping in.

Final Word
When you balance out the positive and negative aspects in Guitar Hero III, you're left with scale tipping very strongly in the positive. Some of the experimental things might be good for variety, and cameos by rockers such as Slash, Bret Michaels and Tom Morello might excite fans, but it's still the core of the game that shines through. Guitar Hero III isn't just a good Guitar Hero game; it's a good rhythm game that is well worth the asking price.