Something went wrong. Try again later
    Follow

    Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock

    Game » consists of 15 releases. Released Oct 28, 2007

    The fourth installment of the series (Guitar Hero: Rock the 80's being the 3rd) that single handedly revitalized the music-game genre, Guitar Hero III retains the core gameplay of its predecessors while delivering a more challenging experience.

    Short summary describing this game.

    Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock last edited by kokomaru on 02/08/24 12:23PM View full history

    Overview

    Released in 2007 by Neversoft and Activision, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock brought the addictive gameplay of the original two games to a wide variety of platforms. Just as in previous Guitar Hero games, players control the game by using a guitar-shaped controller, and use the strum bar while holding down appropriately colored fret buttons to strike notes as they scroll to the bottom of the screen. Guitar Hero III maintains the previous modes of gameplay from the earlier games (Career Mode and Co-op career mode), and introduces Battle Model, which tweaks the Battle Power sequences of Guitar Hero II by allowing players to earn attacks through superior performance that they can use against their opponent.

    Gameplay

    Gameplay for Guitar Hero III is similar to previous titles in the series. The player hits notes as they scroll down the note highway towards the bottom of the screen in time with music to maintain their performance and earn points. To hit notes using the guitar controller, the player hits the strum bar while holding down the corresponding colored fret buttons. Notes can be sustained, during which the fret button is held until the note is complete, and they can also form two- to four-note chords. The game simulates hammer-ons and pull-offs for sections with a rapid series of notes, allowing the player to forgo strumming on specifically marked notes. Missing a note causes the performance meter to drop. When the meter drops too low, the player fails the song, represented in-game by the band being booed off the stage. A string of ten consecutive correct notes earns a multiplier to increase the player's score, which can occur up to four times. Special sections, marked by starred notes, can be used to build Star Power. When the player has enough Star Power, they can activate it and further double the scoring multiplier either by tilting the guitar controller vertically or by pressing a specific button on the controller. Long notes can also be whammied using the whammy bar, which alters the pitch of the note and earns the player more points and/or more star power if the long note is on a star path. At the end of each song the player is shown their "notes hit" percentage as well as being shown a score and a star rating out of five. The number of stars earned corresponds with the score achieved, higher scores earning more stars. Five gold stars are earned upon completing a song without missing a note and reaching the required point threshold.

    Characters

    For the first time in the Guitar Hero franchise, GHIII saw the inclusion of real-world celebrities. A huge addition was the inclusion of Slash (of Velvet Revolver/ex guitarist for Gun N' Roses) and Tom Morello (Guitarist of Rage Against The Machine). Brett Michaels also makes an appearance in the game (excluding the Wii and PS2 version). Each had their faces scanned and did their own motion capture work for the game. As well, each of the celebrity guitarists recorded their own original guitar pieces to be played during a guitar duel against them in career mode.

    Tom Morello
    Tom Morello

    In addition to the celebrity characters, fictional guitarists from the first two Guitar Hero games also make their return. Joining them is newcomer Midori, representing the J-Pop music genre. Despite these additions, some characters did not make it into the game. Goth rocker Pandora, rockabilly Eddie Knox and classic rocker Clive Winston were all absent from this entry into the franchise. They are spiritually represented in some of the in-game characters, as Judy Nails' bio states she also represents the goth/rockabilly sub-genres (her costume palette swaps also changes her hair/makeup color to resemble that of Pandora's) and Xavier Stone had been tweaked to be the game's classic rock representative as well.

    Each initial character has two costumes. Each costume has a set of palette-swaps that can be purchased from the in game store. Each palette swamp not only changes their specific costume's color, but changes certain accessories/designs as well.

    Initial Character List

    Unlockable Characters (Purchased in the in-game store)

    • Tom Morello (Guitarist of Rage Against The Machine)
    • Slash (of Velvet Revolver/ex guitarist for Gun N' Roses)
    • Lou (A.K.A. Lucifer/Satan)
    • God of Rock (PS3/Xbox 360/PC Exclusive)
    • Grim Ripper (PS3/Xbox 360/PC Exclusive, A.K.A Death)
    • Metalhead (PS2/Wii Exclusive, A Robot)
    • Elroy Budvis (PS2/Wii Exclusive, Elvis Presley (late 1970's era) Impersonator)

    Non-Playable Characters

    • Bret Michaels (Lead Singer Of Poison, PS3/Xbox 360/PC Exclusive, he appears on the Poison song "Talk Dirty To Me" and the Bret Michaels Band song "Go That Far", but can be unlocked to replace the default lead singer).

    Online Multiplayer Modes

    Guitar Hero III has four online multiplayer modes.

    Face-Off

    In Face-Off both players choose a difficulty level and each play various sections of the same song. The winner is the player at the end who has the most points. The game is balanced so that a player on a lower difficulty can still win. The player with the lower difficulty is given the easier win because they get more points for their notes as they hit them.

    Pro Face-Off

    In Pro Face-Off players play the whole song with the same notes on the same difficulty. The winner is the player who has the higher score at the end of the song wins.

    Co-op

    In Co-op one player plays the lead guitar section of the song whereas the other player plays Rhythm Guitar or Bass (depending on the song). Both players must work together to try and complete the song and both players must tilt the guitar at the same time to activate Star-Power.

    Battle

    In a Battle both players play the whole song but both may choose their own difficulty level. Instead of star power players are rewarded with 'attacks' for hitting sections of special notes. These attacks can then be used to cripple their opponents. The winner is the player that does not lose. Sudden Death will occur when both players pass the song in Battle Mode. The player's current Rock Meter stays the same and they keep any unused attacks but all further attacks are replaced with the 'death drain'. Once activated the 'death drain' will fast begin to drain the opponents note chart, eventually covering up all of the notes, thus making the opponent lose.

    Setlist

    Guitar Hero III was the last game in the main series to include covers in its main setlist. The setlist for the game is as follows:

    Tier 1

    • Foghat - "Slow Ride" (Cover)
    • Poison - "Talk Dirty To Me" (Cover), vocals re-recorded by Bret Michaels)
    • Pat Benatar - "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" (Cover)
    • Social Distortion - "Story of My Life" (Cover)
    • Kiss - "Rock and Roll All Nite" (Cover)

    Tier 2

    • Mountain - "Mississippi Queen" (Cover)
    • Alice Cooper - "School's Out" (Cover)
    • Cream - "Sunshine of Your Love" (Cover)
    • Heart - "Barracuda" (Cover)
    • Rage Against the Machine - "Bulls on Parade"

    Tier 3

    • The Killers - "When You Were Young"
    • AFI - "Miss Murder"
    • The Who - "The Seeker" (Cover)
    • Priestess - "Lay Down"
    • The Rolling Stones - "Paint it Black"

    Tier 4

    • Black Sabbath - "Paranoid" (Cover)
    • The Sex Pistols - "Anarchy in the U.K." (Re-recording)
    • Sonic Youth - "Kool Thing"
    • Weezer - "My Name is Jonas"
    • Pearl Jam - "Even Flow"

    Tier 5

    • Dead Kennedys - "Holiday in Cambodia" (Cover)
    • Scorpions - "Rock You Like a Hurricane" (Cover)
    • Aerosmith - "Same Old Song and Dance"
    • ZZ Top - "La Grange" (Cover)
    • Guns N' Roses - "Welcome to the Jungle"

    Tier 6

    • Santana - "Black Magic Woman' (Cover)
    • The Smashing Pumpkins - "Cherub Rock"
    • White Zombie - "Black Sunshine" (Cover)
    • Tenacious D - "The Metal"
    • Stevie Ray Vaughan - "Pride and Joy" (Cover)

    Tier 7

    • Slipknot - "Before I Forget"
    • Disturbed - "Stricken"
    • Queens of the Stone Age - "3's & 7's"
    • Muse - "Knights of Cydonia"
    • Living Colour - "Cult of Personality" (Re-recording)

    Tier 8

    • Slayer - "Raining Blood"
    • Eric Johnson - "Cliffs of Dover" (Cover)
    • Iron Maiden - "The Number of the Beast"
    • Metallica - "One"

    Co-op Encores

    • Beastie Boys - "Sabotage"
    • The Strokes - "Reptilia"
    • Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Suck My Kiss"
    • Blue Oyster Cult - "Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll"
    • Bloc Party - "Helicopter"
    • Matchbook Romance - "Monsters"

    Bonus Songs

    Guitar Hero 3 Poster
    Guitar Hero 3 Poster
    • Héroes del Silencio - "Avalancha"
    • Senses Fail - "Can't Be Saved"
    • Lacuna Coil - "Closer"
    • The Sleeping - "Don't Hold Back"
    • LA Slum Lords - "Down 'N Dirty"
    • The Fall of Troy - "F.C.P.R.E.M.I.X."
    • Revolverheld - "Generation Rock"
    • Bret Michaels Band - "Go That Far"
    • Die Toten Hosen - "Hier Kommt Alex"
    • Hellacopters - "I'm in the Band"
    • An Endless Sporadic - "Impulse"
    • Scouts of St. Sebastian - "In Love"
    • Gallows - "In the Belly of a Shark"
    • Naast - "Mauvais Garçon"
    • Lions - "Metal Heavy Lady"
    • Backyard Babies - "Minus Celcius"
    • Killswitch Engage - "My Curse"
    • Dope - "Nothing for Me Here"
    • Rise Against - "Prayer of the Refugee"
    • Superbus - "Radio Song"
    • Kaiser Chiefs - "Ruby"
    • The Stone Roses - "She Bangs the Drums" (Cover, this is the only bonus track that is a cover throughout the entire series)
    • In Flames - "Take This Life"
    • Prototype - "The Way it Ends"
    • Dragonforce - "Through the Fire and Flames"

    Difficulty

    The finger-tapping frenzy known as Through the Fire and Flames.
    The finger-tapping frenzy known as Through the Fire and Flames.

    When Guitar Hero III launched on October 28, 2007, many gamers were overwhelmed by the steep increase in difficulty over previous entries in the series. While the first few tiers of songs were manageable to series veterans, the later tears of songs in the game such as Slayer's "Raining Blood", Metallica's "One", and the final boss battle with Lou all proved to be some of the most challenging songs in the series to date. All of those songs, however, would pale in comparison to the Dragonforce song "Through the Fire and Flames", which many players were quick to bill as the most difficult song the series had ever seen.

    Not only were the songs difficult, the Xbox 360 achievements were noticably harder to obtain and carried less value per achievement than Guitar Hero II's. Among the criteria for earning the achievements were beating "Through the Fire and Flames" on expert, winning 500 online matches, earning 750,000 points on a single song in single player, and earning a 2,000-note streak in the game's co-op mode.

    PC Graphics Problem

    The PC version of Guitar Hero III suffers from noticeable graphic stuttering during gameplay. This problem only affects Nvidia based graphic cards. Fortunately, those with ATI graphic cards in their machines do not experience such gameplay stuttering. Even with patch 1.31 installed, the graphic stuttering with Nvidia based graphic cards still exist.

    Guitar Problems

    Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock shipped with the Gibson Les Paul controller. This guitar featured a new, smoother fret board as well as a detachable neck (which made for more easy storage). While the new fretboard has led it to be the guitar peripheral of choice for the competitive Guitar Hero players, the detachable neck has led to many reported problems. Due to connection failures many of the guitars will often lose the connection at points and will be unable to register certain frets when pressed down. This is because the neck will randomly slide out very slightly and render the frets unusable until it's pushed back in again. Some solutions have been offered, such as the note card solution in which an index card is cut to fit onto the back of the slot the guitar neck slides into. This minimizes the space the neck can move and creates a better connection, however no solution is perfect.

    System Requirements

    PC

    Minimum

    • OS: Windows XP (SP2)/Vista
    • Processor: Intel Pentium D @ 2.8 GHz / AMD Athlon 64 3500+
    • Memory: 1 Gb
    • Hard Drive: 6.1 Gb free
    • Video Memory: 128 Mb
    • Video Card: GeForce 7600 / ATI Radeon X800
    • Sound Card: DirectX Compatible
    • DirectX: 9.0c

    Recommended

    • OS: Windows XP (SP2)/Vista
    • Processor: Intel Core 2 DUO @ 2.4 GHz / AMD Athlon Dual Core 4400+
    • Memory: 2 Gb
    • Hard Drive: 6.1 Gb free
    • Video Memory: 256 Mb
    • Video Card: GeForce 8800 GT / Radeon HD 2600
    • Sound Card: DirectX Compatible
    • DirectX: 10

    Mac

    • Operating System: 10.5 or later
    • CPU Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo
    • CPU Speed: 2 GHz
    • Memory: 1 GB
    • Video Memory: 128 MB
    • Hard Disk Space: 5.1 GB + 1 GB Swap File
    • Video Card: ATI Radeon X1600 / NVidia Geforce 7300
    sizepositionchange
    sizepositionchange
    positionchange
    positionchange
    positionchange
    bordersheaderpositiontable
    positionchange

    This edit will also create new pages on Giant Bomb for:

    Beware, you are proposing to add brand new pages to the wiki along with your edits. Make sure this is what you intended. This will likely increase the time it takes for your changes to go live.

    Comment and Save

    Until you earn 1000 points all your submissions need to be vetted by other Giant Bomb users. This process takes no more than a few hours and we'll send you an email once approved.