Guitar Hero: Metallica

Just as Guitar Hero: Aerosmith was something of a glorified expansion of Guitar Hero III, Guitar Hero: Metallica serves as an extension of Activision's band-focused hit Guitar Hero: World Tour, offering gamers a feel for life in and around one of heavy metal's most popular and influential bands. The game features a total of 49 songs, including 28 original :Metallica tracks, such as &"Seek and Destroy," &"Fade to Black," &"Master of Puppets," and &"One," and 21 band-selected songs from such acts as :Bob Seger, :Judas Priest, :Queen, and :Thin Lizzy. In general, the game's difficulty level was designed to be on par with that of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, however, the hard-hitting nature of some of :Metallica's tracks led to the creation of an extremely difficult "Expert+" mode that can incorporate a second drum pedal. Though band members :James Hetfield, :Lars Ulrich, :Kirk Hammett, and :Robert Trujillo participated in motion-capture sessions to help create lifelike in-game avatars, the story actually finds players in the shoes of a band serving as :Metallica's opening act. This narrative mechanic sends gamers to such real-world music venues as the Stone nightclub in San Francisco, the Forum in Los Angeles, the Hammersmith Odeon in London, and the Tushino Airfield in Russia. As always, players must earn high scores and unlock new songs by rhythmically matching onscreen prompts that correspond with musical notes. The music creation aspect of World Tour returns in Guitar Hero: Metallica, with new musical tones based on :Hetfield's guitar and a new "Drum Over" mode that lets gamers play improvised drum tracks over any song, while the multiplayer "Battle Mode" comes equipped with new :Metallica-themed power-ups such as &"Fade to Black," &"Ride the Lightning," and &"Trapped Under Ice."

CONTROLS

D-Pad or Left Analog Stick = navigates menus
R1 or L1 Button = rotate character view
Triangle or Square Button = activates vocal star power
Circle Button = cancel, activates vocal star power
X Button = confirm, activates vocal star power
Start Button = confirm, pause
Select Button = cancel

GUITAR CONTROLLER

Start Button = confirm, pause
Select or Star Power Button or Tilt Guitar Up = activates star power or battle attacks
D-Pad = navigates the menus
Green Fret Button = activates the green note, confirm
Red Fret Button = activates the red note, cancel
Yellow Fret Button = activates the yellow note
Blue Fret Button = activates the blue note
Orange Fret Button = activates the orange note
Strum Bar = activate fret buttons, navigates in menus
Whammy Bar = add style to long notes
Slider Bar (Tap or Move) = add style to music

DRUM KIT CONTROLLER

Start Button = confirm, pause
Select Button = cancel
D-Pad = navigate the menus
Green Drum Pad = activates the green not, confirm
Red Drum Pad = activates the red note, cancel
Blue Drum Pad = activates the blue note
Yellow Cymbal Pad = activates the yellow note
Orange Cymbal Pad = activates the orange note
Kick Pedal = activates the bass drum note
Yellow Cymbal Pad + Orange Cymbal Pad = activate star power

MICROPHONE

Tap Top of Microphone = activate star power