Guitar Hero 2 Xbox 360 hands-on

Now with 15.625% more rock, with a further 16.216% increase on launch day.

Last night, we got some hands on time with the Xbox 360 version of Guitar Hero 2. It’s set to hit the streets on the 3rd of April.

It’s subtly different from the PlayStation 2 version.

The guitar seems a bit shorter; we found our fingers mysteriously transposing themselves up by a fret while playing familiar songs. If it turns out that the controllers are the same size, the difference in the guitar bodies is surely what was throwing us. Compared to the PS2 version, the Xbox flying V body is bloody huge.

The fret buttons are more pliable, which we found when we started sliding around more than we do on the PS2 version. The slight mushiness has worked its way into the strum button, which we feel lacked the definitive click of the PS2 version.

Even though they’re hardly ever used, the newly placed start and select buttons will take a lot of getting used to. They’re halfway between your right hand’s elbow and your wrist as you hold the guitar. Lefties will have to flip that mental picture.

We didn’t get any official answers about tantalising RJ-11 plug on the controller (a pedal?) or the possibility of a wireless controller. At the moment, it’s a wired USB affair, with a menu appearing to let you assign players to axes when you plug them in.

Although we didn’t get to play them all, the new tracks are great. Pearl Jam’s Life Wasted is highly syncopated (introducing notes a moment before and after you would expect to play them) and was a standout because of it. The extra tracks have each been slotted into a category to take the number of tracks per category to six. Strangely, we found that one track in each category had been moved. For example, Monkey Wrench had been pulled from String Snappers and added to Thrash and Burn.

Playing in HD isn’t necessary, but damn does it look good. Loading times haven’t been affected though; despite the 360’s hard drive, it’s still a bit of a wait before you can start playing. It’s not any longer than the PS2 version though, possibly even a bit shorter, but it was hard to tell.

Also: Even though I have completed Monkey Wrench on Expert with 99% accuracy, and can play it with my back to the screen, I will concede defeat to Good Game presenter Jungalist. This would not have happened on the PS2 version. It’s all in the controller, you know.