Guitar Hero: Metallica

With Guitar Hero: Metallica, it looks like Neversoft was able to balance the interests of fans of the band and fans of the franchise.

The Metallica integration goes deeper than the music itself – the band members all appear in the game, although career mode finds you playing not as anyone IN Metallica, but as the band opening for them while on tour.

If there were to be an official wish list for a Metallica music game, Guitar Hero: Metallica would have crossed most of those wishes off of the list.

This game is an absolute must have for every rock and Guitar Hero fan.

The perfect package for Metallica fans, though putting together a full set of instruments could be costly. [July 2009, p.90]

It certainly doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it's been a while since I've had this much fun with a music game. The Wii version suffers from poor compression on the bonus content, but the core game shouldn't be missed.

While I knew I’d love playing the songs off the first four albums, the rest of the soundtrack definitely matches the intensity of the vintage stuff. [May 2009, p.83]

Essential for Metallica fans and GH experts, but everyone else should stick to World Tour. [June 2009, p.82]

The biggest question on everyone’s mind at this point should be: “Is Guitar Hero: Metallica worth the $50.00+ price tag?” Simply put, if you are even a casual Metallica fan, and/or have enjoyed playing through previous instalments of the Guitar Hero franchise, then this game is right up your alley.

Another great "upgrade," Guitar Hero: Metallica is a must-own for fans of the band.

Get into Hetfield's skin with the best Guitar Hero spin-off to date.

An excellent addition to the Activision's best-selling franchise. The fusion of game concept and band results in a match made in heaven and even if you're not a massive fan of Metallica's work, this update does a good job of catering to the needs of fans of the series.

If Activision had found a way to allow importation in to Guitar Hero World Tour a la Rock Band AC/DC, or at minimum allowed Death Magnetic DLC to work on the Wii version, it would have been exceptional.

If you've got nothing going on with Metallica then it seems a little illogical to buy this game. But you'll probably buy it anyway if you're a Guitar Hero or Rockband fan. The game deserves that much attention. Especially Guitar Hero veterans will love the rocky numbers that are enclosed in this package. On the other hand, the little flaws and the inferior career-mode (in comparison to Rock Band) can be too much of a problem for the casual rocker.

This score is for the Metallica fans who will be buying this game regardless of what I have to say, and hopefully the next Guitar Hero installment will continue to improve the technical side of things why offering some music more appealing to the masses and not just a niche group of hard rockers.

Guitar Hero: Metallica is certainly not a revolution, but this new and funny new entry in the musical series will satisfy every fan of the band.

Guitar Hero: Metallica is exactly what you expect it to be: a solid, offhand reworking of Guitar Hero World Tour with a bunch of Metallica songs.

It's a great package for fans of the band and die-hard fans of the Guitar Hero series starved for new music.