Fans of the series needn't read further; Guitar Hero III offers more of the same addictive game play as did Guitar Hero I and II before it and that alone should make it a worthwhile purchase.
Most importantly, Guitar Hero III boasts the best track list of the series so far, with artists including Aerosmith, The Killers, Cream, Santana, Guns n' Roses, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Metallica, Pearl Jam, The Rolling Stones, Queens of the Stone Age and Red Hot Chili Peppers making up just one quarter of the star-studded line up. The promise of downloadable tracks also has a lot of potential, with song packs from Foo Fighters and Velvet Revolver already available on Xbox Live's Marketplace for about NZ$10 each.
The game itself has been further refined, but not to the point of drastically changing anything. Small interface changes have been made and the hammer-ons and pull-offs feel slightly better (this could be my imagination as it's nothing dramatic).
The difficulty level has been bumped up but with it comes an immense level of replayability for most players as it will take a lot of practice to finish the game on the expert difficulty (even for players who managed to make it through the previous games). The game is capped off with the incredibly difficult “Through the Fire and the Flames” by Dragonforce. This is a bonus track and you're not required to finish it to progress – which is just as well because it really is at a difficulty level you'll have to see to truly comprehend.
Also welcome is the addition of online play over Xbox Live which lets you compete in ranked and unranked games in a variety of different game modes. Lag seems to be pretty much non-existent which is both surprising and exciting and the game is a genuine blast to play online. :D
Guitar fans will love the new controller, too, which is an ebony-coloured wireless Gibson Les Paul – it's very, very cool and if you're a guitar buff it's enough reason to opt for this version of the game over the stand-alone version even if you already do own Guitar Hero II.