Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock is a rhythm game in which players can wield wireless guitar controllers to battle each other in multiplayer mode or move their way up the rock star ladder and musically combat 3 major bosses (Slash, Tom Morello, and the Devil). Single-player mode, or career mode, has 8 tiers with a total of 42 songs to play. In multiplayer mode, two players compete against each other and attempt to correctly hit more notes to win the game. During the gameplay, the more notes correctly hit, the more points earned as well as upping Star Power which increases the performance meter more quickly. I first played this game in my undergrad against my husband's jock roommates on easy mode and completely annihilated them.
Critical Evaluation
As far as reviews go, Metacritic rated this game less favorable than the other iterations, but fans and critics showed praiseworthy scores. With easy, medium, and expert modes, people of all abilities can play this game and have a fun time. The guitar wireless controllers have five different colored buttons to correspond to the notes being played on the screen along with a strum bar to hold down. The music selection for the game is focused on classic rock and has wide selection of song choices (42 to be exact). One of the things I find most appealing about the game is it offers the opportunity for guitarists and non-guitarists to play together in a fun, competitive environment. As someone who only played on Easy mode, there is still a challenge for timing the buttons correctly to match the notes on screen. Players can pick which guitarist they would like to play and the environments change over time from dingy nightclubs to rock star arenas as progression continues in the game.
Players Annotation
You wanna rock?! Players with zero guitar experience can jam out to their favorite classic rock songs and battle some of the greats including Tom Morello and Slash.
About Neversoft
Neversoft was an American video game developer that was founded by Joel Jewett, Mick West, and Chris Ward in 1994. Activision acquired the company in 1999. In 2007 Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock was released to critical acclaim, influencing further games in the franchise. In addition to Guitar Hero III onward, Neversoft developed Tony Hawk's Pro Skater games as well as Gun. Neversoft merged with the the Call of Duty creators Infinity Ward in 2014. Three months later, Neversoft was officially made defunct and the remaining employees burned a sculpture of the skewered eyeball from the logo to end the 20 years of being in business. The current successor of Neversoft is still Infinity Ward. (Adapted from Neversoft's Wikipedia page).
Genre
Music video game, rhythm
Gametalking Ideas
Show the trailer for the game. Afterwards, show footage of myself playing against my husband Barracuda by Heart and summarize the game.
I was looking for a game that could be played both individually as well as multiplayer mode and was rhythm based. This game can be replayed multiple times using different difficulty modes.
Ticket to Ride is a cross country train strategy adventure game where the goal is for players to connect their specifically colored trains to their destination tickets before all train pieces are used up. Players collect colored train cards to claim city routes throughout North America. More points are rewarded to players who create longer connecting train routes. By completing destination tickets, additional points are rewarded along with the player who creates the longest running continuous train route. Four train cards are passed out to each player as their starting deck along with choosing their colored token. Three destination cards are passed out to each player; the player will then choose a minimum of the two cards or keep all three. On a player's turn, they must do one of the following actions: 1. Draw two train car cards, 2. Claim a route, 3. Draw destination tickets. When one player's colored plastic trains narrows down to only 0, 1, or 2 trains left at the end of their turn, each player gets one final turn to attempt completion of routes. The player with the most points by the end of the game is the winner.
Critical Evaluation
Once players understand the rules, gameplay is relatively easy. Alan R. Moon is noted as saying, "The rules are simple enough to write on a train ticket - each turn you either draw more cards, claim a route or get more destination tickets" (Moon, 2004). The Days of Wonder CEO has written "Ticket to Ride has universal appeal...Moon's simple yet elegant design delivers a great gaming experience, whether you're a first time player or a dedicated gamer. It's the perfect gateway into the new world of boardgaming" (Hautemont, 2006). When playing with two players, I found gameplay not to be as enjoyable and challenging as when played in a larger group (more challenging because more plastic trains on the board and more difficult to complete train routes). The board itself is very visually appealing to look at (has a large map of the US and lower half of Canada) and along the outer edges, numbering goes to 100 for the player's wooden scoring markers to move around on when adding up points. In 2004, Ticket to Ride won German Game of the Year and various other awards including but not limited to the Origins Award for Best Board Game and the Meeples' Choice Award for Meeples' Choice (14 awards in all). Other iterations of the game include Ticket to Ride: Europe, Ticket to Ride: Marklin, Ticket to Ride: Switzerland, Ticket to Ride: Nordic Countries, Ticket to Ride: Germany, Ticket to Ride: Rails and Sails, Ticket to Ride: Northern Lights, and Ticket to Ride: Legends of the West. Various anniversary collections have been released as well (10th and 15th-anniversary additions).
Player's Annotation
Claim routes and build the longest continuous railways in this cross-country train adventure through North America on this gorgeous board for Ticket to Ride.
About the Designer
Alan R. Moon was born November 18, 1951 in Southampton, England. He is an author of board games and is considered to be one of the foremost designers of German-style board games. The first game that earned him attention was Airlines by the German company Abacus in 1990. Currently, he publishes games through companies such as Ravensburger and Days of Wonder. Since 2000, Moon has been a full-time freelance game designer and has earned German Game of the Year twice (first for Elfenland in 1998 and Ticket to Ride in 2004). Ticket to Ride has won almost two dozen other awards worldwide. (Adapted from Alan R. Moon's Wikipedia page).
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