GUITAR HERO II

Guitar Hero II is the sequal to the popular PS2 game Guitar Hero. Released on November 7, 2006, Guitar Hero II includes 64 songs (40 of them being licensed, 24 being independent or bonus tracks). New features introduced into this version is a practice mode and a cooperative multiplayer mode allowing players to play lead, rhythem or bass guitar together.

It was confirmed by GameSpot that Guitar Hero II will be released to all significant consoles in 2007. The Xbox 360 version has been confirmed for March 2007 while the Playstation 3 and Wii version have not yet been announced.

SOUNDTRACK

Guitar Hero II features 64 playable songs. The majority of the songs are cover versions, with the exception of Stop!, John the Fisherman, and all 24 unlockable bonus songs. The remainder of the soundtrack is credited on screen with the phrase "as made famous by" (e.g. "Woman, as made famous by Wolfmother").

MAIN SETLIST

* denotes rhythm guitar as alternate instrument for song in co-op mode (all other songs feature bass)
1. Opening Licks

"Shout at the Devil" - Mötley Crüe
"Mother" - Danzig *
"Surrender" - Cheap Trick
"Woman" - Wolfmother
"Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight" - Spinal Tap *(Encore)

2. Amp-Warmers

"Strutter" - KISS *
"Heart-Shaped Box" - Nirvana
"Message in a Bottle" - The Police
"You Really Got Me" - Van Halen
"Carry On Wayward Son" - Kansas (Encore)

3. String-Snappers

"Monkey Wrench" - Foo Fighters
"Them Bones" - Alice in Chains
"Search and Destroy" - Iggy Pop and The Stooges
"Tattooed Love Boys" - The Pretenders
"War Pigs" - Black Sabbath (Encore)

4. Thrash and Burn

"Cherry Pie" - Warrant
"Who Was in My Room Last Night?" - Butthole Surfers *
"Girlfriend" - Matthew Sweet *
"Can't You Hear Me Knocking" - The Rolling Stones *
"Sweet Child O' Mine" - Guns N' Roses (Encore)

5. Return of the Shred

"Killing in the Name" - Rage Against the Machine
"John the Fisherman" - Primus
"Freya" - The Sword
"Bad Reputation" - Thin Lizzy
"Last Child" - Aerosmith *(Encore)

6. Relentless Riffs

"Crazy on You" - Heart
"Trippin' On a Hole in a Paper Heart" - Stone Temple Pilots
"Rock This Town" - Stray Cats
"Jessica" - The Allman Brothers Band *
"Stop!" - Jane's Addiction (Encore)

7. Furious Fretwork

"Madhouse" - Anthrax
"Carry Me Home" - The Living End
"Laid to Rest" - Lamb of God *
"Psychobilly Freakout" - The Reverend Horton Heat
"YYZ" - Rush (Encore)

8. Face-Melters

"Beast and the Harlot" - Avenged Sevenfold
"Institutionalized" - Suicidal Tendencies *
"Misirlou" - Dick Dale
"Hangar 18" - Megadeth
"Free Bird" - Lynyrd Skynyrd * (Encore)

Bonus tracks

"Arterial Black" - Drist *
"Collide" - Anarchy Club
"Elephant Bones" - That Handsome Devil
"Fall of Pangea" - Valient Thorr
"FTK" - Vagiant
"Gemini" - Brian Kahanek *
"Jordan" - Buckethead
"Laughtrack" - The Acro-brats *
"Less Talk More Rokk" - Freezepop *
"The Light that Blinds" - Shadows Fall
"Mr. Fix-it" - The Amazing Royal Crowns
"The New Black" - Every Time I Die
"One for the Road" - Breaking Wheel
"Parasite" - The Neighborhoods
"Push Push (Lady Lightning)" - Bang Camaro
"Radium Eyes" - Count Zero
"Raw Dog" - The Last Vegas (Winner of the "Be a Guitar Hero" Contest)
"Red Lottery" - Megasus
"Six" - All That Remains
"Soy Bomb" - Honest Bob and the Factory-to-Dealer Incentives *
"Thunderhorse" - Dethklok
"Trogdor" - Strong Bad *
"X-Stream" - Voivod
"Yes We Can" - Made in Mexico

Xbox 360 exclusive tracks

A press release published on January 9, 2007 confirmed that there will be 10 additional songs included in the Xbox 360 version of Guitar Hero II. The songs that have been confirmed at this time include:

"Hush" - Deep Purple
"Dead!" - My Chemical Romance
"Billion Dollar Babies" - Alice Cooper
"Salvation" - Rancid
"Possum Kingdom" - Toadies
"Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo" - Rick Derringer
"Life Wasted" - Pearl Jam
"The Trooper" - Iron Maiden
"Drink Up" - Ounce of Self
"Kicked to the Curb" - Noble Rot
While the other songs are covers, both Dead! and Possum Kingdom are listed as master tracks. The release also confirmed that additional songs will be available for download as soon as the Xbox 360 version of the title is launched.

It has also suggested by Dusty Welch of RedOctane that the original set list from Guitar Hero will be available for download from the Xbox Live Marketplace. In a GameSpy interview, RedOctane said that versus online gameplay was a probable future addition, and that downloadable songs would be priced the same as other similar services.

CHARACTERS

There are 8 characters available from the begining of the game. All 8 characters have extra outfits available from the unlock shop. Additional characters can be unlocked.

Characters include:

Axel Steel
Clive Winston
Judy Nails
Johnny Napalm
Pandora
Xavier Stone
Eddie Knox
Casey Lynch
Lars Ümlaüt

FEATURED INSTRUMENTS

Guitar Hero II features many well known guitars such as Gibson, Epiphone, and Kramer. Here are some of the instruments

Guitars -
Gibson Les Paul
Gibson SG
Gibson Explorer
Gibson EDS-1275 (double necked)
Gibson Corvus
Battle Axe (similar looking bas was played by Gene Simmons)

Basses -
Music Man Sting Ray
Gibson Thunderbird
Höfner bass

Finishes -
Zakk Wylde's bullseye Les Paul

The band uses -
Orange Amps
DW drum kits
Roland Keyboards
Mesa/Boogie Amplifiers
Boss effects
Line6 Guitar Amplifiers

AWARDS

2006 Spike TV Video Game Awards

   Best Soundtrack

IE3 2006

   Game Critics Award for Best Puzzle/Trivia/Parlor Game
   Outstanding Achievement in Game Design
   Outstanding Achievement in Game Play Engineering (tie)
   Outstanding Achievement in Soundtrack

IGN's Best of 2006

   Best Music Game
   Best PlayStation 2 Music Game
   Best Licensed Soundtrack
   Best Licensed Soundtrack for PlayStation 2
   Best Offline Multiplayer Game
   Best PlayStation 2 Offline Multiplayer Game

Next-Gen

   4th Best Game of 2006