Time for more Guitar Hero fun (Guitar Hero Modern Hits (DS))

Member Name: eilidhcatriona

Product:	Guitar Hero Modern Hits (DS)
Date:	30/06/09 (77 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Same easy to play fun as previous games, new fan challenges

Disadvantages: Less variety to the music than in previous games as all songs are from last 5 years

Guitar Hero Modern Hits is the third instalment in the "On Tour" series of Guitar Hero for the Nintendo DS. It was released on 26th June 2009, and before you say I can't have played it enough to review it...I've spent the weekend playing it so feel adequately qualified!!

On the whole, Guitar Hero Modern Hits is very similar to the first two outings in the series. You choose your character and guitar, meet your manager and start playing gigs to earn cash. However, then it gets more interesting. Whereas in previous instalments you played through a gig, passed all the songs and then moved onto the next one, in Modern Hits you have to earn fans. So depending how well you play, you will earn X number of fans. In each gig you have a set number of fans to earn, and you see a meter on the main gig screen showing how you are doing.

Even more interesting, you don't just earn fans by playing the songs well. Once you play a song, you then receive "Fan Requests". There are 3 of these per song, one each for Lead Guitar, Bass Guitar and Guitar Duel, and you have to play the song again, but meet the request the fan has made - for example, play in guitar duel and complete two battle sequences. Completing these requests also earns you fans, and once you have the requisite number of fans, you move onto the next gig.

The gameplay itself is more or less identical to previous Guitar Hero DS games. I found this extremely easy to pick up having played the previous games, but it makes no difference whether you come to this one first or have played the earlier ones before - it's not like there's an ongoing story between the three. For those who are new, the gameplay is easy to pick up. You use the "guitar grip" which slots into to side of the DS to press coloured buttons in time with the coloured notes you see on screen, and at the same time you strum on the touch screen with the plectrum shaped stylus. I haven't played the tutorials in this game as I didn't feel the need, but I would imagine them to be the same as tutorials in the previous games, which are very useful and really help you get to grips with the game.

There are levels of play from Easy to Expert, as previously, and you also have the option of going into the game in Practice mode rather than Career mode, which allows you to practice songs and work on those tricky bits which you are struggling with. This isn't actually a feature I have used much on any of the games, as I think I may as well "practice" in career mode if I'm stuck - then if I nail it, I'm through!!!

In addition to earning fans, you do also earn cash as before, and you can use this to buy new outfits and guitars from the store to customize your character. There are new characters in this game, and new outfits and guitars to choose from, which adds a little something more to the game.

My favourite play mode is in standard Lead Guitar, I love nailing those tricky bits and improving my own scores. However, Guitar Duel is a lot of fun - playing a song against an opponent, you have to complete battle sequences to earn power ups, items you can use to throw at your opponent to slow them down, or to help you out. You do still have to win by getting the highest score though, so don't get distracted like I did by just focussing on the power ups, remember to keep playing the song!

The music in this game is probably my least favourite out of the three games so far, but that doesn't mean I don't like it - I just like the variety of the previous two games which have songs from the sixties right through to the present. As you can tell from the name of this game, it's all modern music, specifically from the last five years, including music from Foo Fighters, The Kooks, The Fratellis and Avril Lavigne - there's a full track list on Amazon so I won't repeat it here.

All in all, I think this is a fine addition to the Guitar Hero series on DS. It's as easy to play and as good fun as the first two instalments, and although my least favourite in terms of music, the music is still great and by no means bad. I like the new system of earning fans and playing fan requests, I think this makes it more interesting and a little bit more of a challenge - it livens it up instead of just playing straight through all the songs.

I bought mine from Game on the high street for £29.99, but you can get it online for £24.99 - these prices are game-only, if you need the guitar grip (i.e. if this is your first Guitar Hero DS game) the game with grip is available from Amazon for £34.99.

Summary: A great addition to the Guitar Hero series