The difficulty is considerably higher. I started the game in Expert mode. In 4 hours that game has destroyed more ligaments and tendons than GH1 did in 4 months. The first song that pwn3d me was Freya, it just wasn’t fun to play as i found it to be very “drivvelous.” I got up to Psychobilly Freak Out and was shocked at the back and forth 2-4, 3-5 power chords. It’s gonna be a while before i get that.
Also, have any of yuns checked out some of the bonus songs? TROGDORRRRR!!! Short, but sweet And Honest Bob and the Factory-to-Dealer Incentives are back with another pleasant tune.
I played some expert tonight. I made it to the second last group, and lost. The songs are getting very hard now. The only thing saving me is that when I start flailing at some insane collection of flying notes, I seem to be hitting enough of them to keep me alive. But I haven’t done better than 3 stars on most of the last 10 I’ve passed - with the exception of Jessica, which I inexplicably 5-starred, and one or two others I got 4 stars on.
I have a problem that after a whiile, I just start losing my dexterity. My fingers get tired, my tendons get sore, and I start screwing up passages I’d ordinarily be able to nail. So now I’m taking an SDMB break.
I imagine the last 10 seconds are going to make my fingers bleed.
Absolutely love the sequel. I will concur with previous posters that the quality of the covers overall aren’t as good as GH1. There are some excellent ones (‘Stop’ in particular), but there are also some really bad ones (‘Mother’ stands out. although in their defence how many people can pull of Danzig’s voice?). I thought the song selection was outstanding, doing a great job of mixing it up with lesser known songs to go along with the hits, and overall I thought the game itself just FELT more fun to play. The chord progressions just flowed a little nicer in a way thats hard for me to articulate.
Interesting you thought the game was much easier, Sam , most of the people I have played with (including myself) felt the opposite. While it is more forgiving with the timing of the notes (especially with pulloffs which I thought was a Really Good Thing), the songs overall seemed harder. I STILL can’t beat Freebird on hard…
Stinkpalm , I am TOTALLY with you. When they first announced they were doing “You Really Got Me” as done by Van Halen, I just assumed they would have Eruption at the beginning - otherwise why not just do the Kinks version? I’m a lil bummed they didn’t, that seems like a really fun solo to play.
One tip for people having difficulty - the game is kinda like the SATs. You lose more for hitting a wrong note than for doing nothing and missing the note entirely. Rather than flail away at hard sequences, focus on certain parts and hit those notes correctly and just skip the harder notes. I’ve found that makes life a little easier.
“Stop” isn’t a cover. It’s the actual Jane’s Addiction track.
I think I find this game easier because I was at the point in GH1 where I really needed the HO/PO’s to work, and they didn’t. So I was always messing up songs like Cowboys from Hell. For those who just lack the speed to hit the notes, GHII is probably way harder. But if you have the speed, but get tripped up by essentially bugs in GHI, then you’ll find this game easier.
Does anyone here know when “Heart-Shaped Box” became a country song? And also, dear God, is that ever a bad imitation of Zach from Rage Against the Machine.
Other than that, I’ve been very pleased with the quality of songs so far. We’re about halfway through the Medium level so far.
Wow you are right Sam , I thought only Primus had the actual track in the game. No wonder it sounded so dead on!
I’ve unlocked all the bonus tracks now - having Trogdor on here was inspired. I still haven’t unlocked all the skins and such. Does anyone know the code to unlock these? My friend can’t even get his buddy at Harmonix to tell him, and I am having a guitar hero party so I’d like to have everything unlocked at least for that…
I have just beaten Freebird on expert* and was named Guitar Hero god by the game. I figured I should let you guys know so you can bask in my glory. Just make sure you don’t look directly at me without sunglasses. I wouldn’t want anyone to be blinded by the supernova-like brightness of my rockitude. Thanks.
I’m not sure whether I should say, “How YOU doin’?” or whether I should point and laugh. I think I’ll just say that I laughed my ass off, and I salute you!
Can this be played with the normal controller or do you really need to get that 'tar? If you can use the normal controller does anyone prefer it?
One day I hope to find and purchase a cheap copy of Amplitude but maybe GH can fill in till then.
You can use a regular controller, but it is much harder to use the R and L buttons. My brother who is used to the Hard setting, couldn’t play the beginning songs from GH1 on Easy or Medium. Without that using the offical GH Axe, what’s the point?
My problem with Free Bird is mainly stamina. I can hit the notes, but about 2/3 of the way through the solors at the end my fingers just get tired. Especially my ring finger, for some reason.
One of the complaints I have with Guitar Hero 2 on expert is that too many of the songs are simply a speed/endurance contest (I’m looking at you, Freya). I like my difficulty to come from lots of intricate progressions and chords. I’m not a big fan of the, “see if you can strum two hundred and fifty 1/64 notes in a row!”, or “let’s see you do this 3-note combination really fast, fifty times in a row” school of difficulty. Give me Texas Flood without the broken hammer-ons and pull-offs, and I’d be a happy camper.
And Honest Bob and the Factory-to-Dealer Incentives are back with another pleasant tune.
And also, dear God, is that ever a bad imitation of Zach from Rage Against the Machine.