Guitar Hero III
Nintendo Wii
Vicarious Visions/ Red Octane/ Activision



Ever had one of those moments where you've had something pointed out to you that you just can't ignore? Like, say, the creepy random guy grinning in one of your holiday photos, or the arrow in the FedEx logo - once you know about it, you can't forget. Here's another one for that list, then: 'Guitar Hero III' for Wii is presented in glorious simulated stereo. That's right, instead of using actual stereo tracks for anything other than the Vicarious Visions developer intro, 'Guitar Hero III' blasts out in mono only, despite the package promising Dolby Pro Logic II.

Is it game-breaking? No, not in the least, but it is a gross oversight that, combined with the game's other faults, makes 'Guitar Hero III' something of a disappointment. Most noticeably, the addition of boss battles - against the likes of Slash and Tom Morello - is a gross-misstep that shows something of a lack of understanding from the game's new developers. The battles see players using power ups to attack their enemies until they fail; a mechanic that feels totally removed from the otherwise intensely skill based game. It doesn't help that the game's difficulty feels badly tuned - no pun intended. Medium is more or less hard without the extra fret button, and the boss battles will prove stumbling blocks on easy at times.

And the less said about the introduction of gyrating dancing girls to the stage the better. In a game that previously transcended the gender boundaries and sexism so prevalent in video games, it's massively disappointing.

On the plus side, the song list, while not exactly brilliant at all times (did we really need the epic horribleness of AFI's Miss Murder, or the nauseatingly bad rerecording of Anarchy In The UK from an aged Sex Pistols?) is generally passable. And the integration of the Wii remote into the guitar is nicely done: the tilt to activate Star Power is faultlessly simple, and the twang from the remote's speaker as you miss notes makes you wonder why there hasn't always been a speaker in the guitar.

But is it enough to make up for a game which is - let's be blunt here - actually broken on a technical level? Sure, for most people it won't make any difference at all, but think for a second about the message your purchase sends to the publishers: we're happy to receive products that don't perform in the way they're meant to.

Alistair Wallis