The programming language used for Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock is Javascript. The source code was released to the general public because of expansion packs that were going to be able a few month after the release of the game. However with the release of the PC version, players started modding the game by themselves and creating charts that could be used in game as long as the mp3 was available. Modding was not only limited to songs. Players created custom guitars and clothings and even custom characters.

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock does not change much in terms of gameplay in comparison to its predecessors and it retains the basic idea of scrolling notes in sync with the screen. The player, in story mode, will play the lead guitar, while in practice the player has the option to choose whether they can play rhythm or bass as well. The environment that the game is based in differs from level to level. In order to unlock each arena, the player has to go through career mode. By beating 3 songs and 1 encore on each level, the player proceeds to the next. Eventually, the player has a boss battle against Tom Morello from Rise Against the Machine, Slash from Guns n’ Roses etc. the player can also change the characters that they can play in the band with providing them with merchandise, like clothing and new guitars, by buying it from the shop.

Furthermore, the player can also purchase new songs from the shop which includes the hardest Guitar Hero song to date called “Through Fire and Flames”.

The note tracks, on-stage motions of the band, and stage lighting and effect synchronization were created by the same team of developers who were all musicians and had previous experience in note tracking either from other music video games or from MIDI tracking. (Gamespot). The note track was made by placing notes in sync with the song and for notes that were hard to track using the game’s engine; they used a sequence of notes that would sound similar to the song but not possible in real life. The stage and lighting effects were mimicked from some Youtube videos and live concert performances. A team of separate designers worked on the stage outlook. While they maintained the basic idea of a concert like setting, props and locations were inspired by real concerts and make into a 2D rendition. This is why most of the prop soutside the stage are 2D, because the stage is the main focus, therefore by making everything else less developed it would make the stage prominent.

Character models were similar to the previous games, maintaining a cartoon effect but this time were given more definition in terms of texture and materials in order to test out the new 5th generation console’s graphics engine. Each character was given their own personal appearance and no model was reused. Characters were designed in mind to have 2 outfits, one reserve and one active and each character has their signature moves and style and their very own guitar. Slash, Tom Morello and Bret Michaels were made real in the game by motion capture allowing the creators to capture their style and movement while performing.

The interface for Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock is very similar to the guitar hero games before it. The guitar is plugged into the console as an external communication device that makes it easier to play the game as opposed to playing it with a controller or keyboard. The colored buttons on the neck of the guitar are called frets. Each button represents a chord. The strummer is in the middle of the guitar and a timed combination of the two is what the player has to do. The green, red and yellow fret is considered an easy level. With the addition of the blue fret, the player advances to the medium level and similarly with the addition of the orange fret, the player advance to the hard level. The green fret is also used as a selection button, while the red fret is used to go back. If the guitar is tilted sideways with full star power, the star power is activated.

Regardless of its resemblance to a real guitar, the two are very different in terms of creating music.

Announcement of the release Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock came in mid-2006 along with spoilers of which artists and what songs were on the game. Tracks were released on a monthly basis stating which tier they would fall in. Various celebrities took part in filming commercials to promote the game through digital media; for example, Heidi Klum and the members of Metallica (whose songs were showcased in the game).

Furthermore, the arcade version was released before the console version, providing public exposure to game, allowing people who enjoyed the arcade version to purchase a home console version. The game was referenced in a South Park episode, 7 days after the release of the game where the main characters of the show pretended to be rockstars by playing Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock.

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock generally received positive to neutral reviews, however, it did not surpass its predecessor; Guitar Hero II. This is mainly because there was a lack of change in artistic direction with Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock because of a switch of publishers, who wanted to play it safe. Critics praised the Gibson guitar controller that was bundled with the game.

Gamespot criticized the game for its “heavy in-game advertising” (Gamespot) but nevertheless gave the game a 7.5/10. Gamespy stated that the PS2 version was not worth the hassle because of a lack of online play and criticized the PC version for lagging and slowing down even on high end systems.

Guitar Hero was a trend in arcades in 2009, when I joined university so that was when I was exposed to the game, however, I managed to get a PC version of the game without the guitar, so it felt more like I was play Piano Hero as opposed to Guitar Hero.

The advantages of this game are that when I started playing it, my hand eye co-ordination was very off, but over time it helps develop faster reflexes and as you progress you eventually learn how to play every song without even looking at the keyboard or the guitar to see what frets you were pressing.

The disadvantages, as stated before, are that the PC version lags a lot in comparison to the console version and I experienced that first hand. Furthermore, the PC version was marketed to be play with the keyboard as well but strumming is not fast enough on the keyboard and it is near impossible to play on expert due to this problem.

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