Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is a rock band’s vanity project dressed as a game. It wants you to feel like you’re following the career of America’s Greatest Rock and Roll Band, from their first high school gig in 1970 to their Super Bowl XXXV halftime show in 2001. What it actually delivers is a solid collection of songs with a thin story wrapped around it. This is the fifth game in the series, and it’s the first one built around a single act rather than a mix of artists. That focus comes with strengths and weaknesses, and the game splits the difference between the two.
Trailer, via Activision.
The Story Behind the Guitar
The Career mode traces Aerosmith’s history across six tiers, each tied to a period in the band’s timeline. You start as Joe Perry and eventually unlock Brad Whitford and Tom Hamilton. The story skips over the band’s internal strife and stress, and guitarist Joe Perry said the game would focus on the positive aspects of Aerosmith’s history. He described it as “a huge honor and really a great experience for us,” adding that the band had put “a lot of ideas into the game so that fans can have fun interacting with our music.”
The mode moves through real-world venues, mixing them with interviews from the band members about their past. Video clips appear throughout, offering trivia about the band and its history. It’s a nice touch, but it’s not a deep narrative. It’s more of a guided tour of the band’s highlights than a story with stakes.
Playing the Songs
The core gameplay is familiar to anyone who has played Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. You hold down fret keys and strum on the strum bar in time with scrolling notes. The Rock Meter tracks your performance, and if it falls too low, the song ends early. Star Power lets you collect points by completing marked note phrases and using the whammy bar during sustained notes. Releasing it doubles the scoring multiplier and affects the Rock Meter.
Each song can be played at four difficulty levels: Easy, Medium, Hard, and Expert. Career mode breaks into six tiers of five tracks, with two Opening Act songs before the Aerosmith songs. The final song in each tier is an encore, and you earn money to spend on unlocking bonus songs, guitars, outfits, and videos in “The Vault.” It’s a solid structure, though the pacing of the tiers can feel uneven.
The Sound of Aerosmith
About 70% of the soundtrack is Aerosmith songs. The remaining tracks come from bands that have been influenced by or opened for Aerosmith. That balance means you get plenty of the band’s best-known material, but you also hear some lesser-known songs that add variety. Four songs were re-recorded for this game, and the band took part in a motion capture session for their in-game appearances.
The game sold as both a bundle with a specially designed guitar controller and a game-only package. Aspyr Media published the Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X versions, which came out on October 21, 2008. The console versions hit stores earlier: PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii on June 29, 2008 in North America, July 27 in Europe, and August 6 in Australia.
Modes Beyond Career
There’s Co-operative play, with one player on lead guitar and the other on rhythm guitar. There’s also Quick Play, where any unlocked song can be played solo. The split screen mode lets two players face off directly. None of these modes change the fundamentals, but they offer ways to replay songs without grinding through the full Career mode again.
“Having a game built around Aerosmith has been a huge honor and really a great experience for us.”
Where It Lands
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith isn’t a bad game. It’s just a narrow one. The Career mode is a decent way to see the band’s history, and the songs are mostly well-chosen. But the game doesn’t push the series forward. It repeats systems from Guitar Hero III without adding enough new content to justify a full purchase for longtime players.
The game is at its best when you’re playing songs you actually want to hear. It’s at its worst when you’re stuck on an Opening Act that feels like filler between the main events. The Career mode tries to build a story around the band, but it’s thin compared to the depth of the gameplay itself.
| Mode | Platforms |
|---|---|
| Career mode | PS3, Wii, PC, Mac, Xbox 360, PS2 |
| Quick Play | All |
| Co-operative | All |
| Split screen | All |
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is a solid entry in a series that was already strong. It doesn’t reinvent the formula, but it executes it well. If you’re a fan of the band, the game is worth picking up for the songs alone. If you’re looking for a reason to return to the series, this isn’t the one. It’s a competent, enjoyable game with a weak story and a narrow scope.
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