Guitar Hero II

Guitar Hero II is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems and published by RedOctane. It is the second installment in the Guitar Hero series and is the sequel to Guitar Hero. It was first released for the PlayStation 2 in November 2006 and then for the Xbox 360 in April 2007, with additional content not originally in the PlayStation 2 version. Like the original Guitar Hero, the player uses a guitar-shaped peripheral to simulate the playing of rock music as notes scroll towards the player. Most of the gameplay from the original game remains intact, with new modes and note... (More) Guitar Hero II is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems and published by RedOctane. It is the second installment in the Guitar Hero series and is the sequel to Guitar Hero. It was first released for the PlayStation 2 in November 2006 and then for the Xbox 360 in April 2007, with additional content not originally in the PlayStation 2 version.

Like the original Guitar Hero, the player uses a guitar-shaped peripheral to simulate the playing of rock music as notes scroll towards the player. Most of the gameplay from the original game remains intact, with new modes and note combinations being the major additions. The game features more than 40 popular licensed songs, many of them cover versions recorded for the game, spanning five decades (from the 1960s to the 2000s). The PlayStation 2 version of Guitar Hero II can be purchased individually or in a bundle that packages the game with a cherry red Gibson SG guitar controller. The Xbox 360 version of the game is offered in a bundle that packages the game with a white Gibson X-Plorer guitar controller. Both of these controllers are wired, but RedOctane also sells a wireless controller for the PlayStation 2.

Since its release, Guitar Hero II has been met with both critical and commercial success, helping the Guitar Hero series become a cultural phenomenon. As of December 1, 2007, the game has sold 3.1 million copies. It has spawned the "expansion" title Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s for the PlayStation 2. A full-fledged sequel, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, has been released by Neversoft, the makers of the popular Tony Hawk series. Harmonix, the previous developers of the Guitar Hero series, went on to produce Rock Band, a similar rhythm game that features guitar, drum and microphone gameplay.

Gameplay is based on the successful formula created for the first Guitar Hero game; the player may use the guitar peripheral to play scrolling notes by holding the corresponding fret button on the guitar neck and simultaneously pressing the strum bar. Alternatively, one can play with the DualShock 2 or Xbox 360 controller by using four shoulder buttons and a face button, mapped to specific fret keys.

Several changes have been made to the gameplay mechanics for Guitar Hero II: hammer-on and pull-off functionality has been improved, and three note chords have been introduced, scored as triple points if played correctly. There are additional statistics available for a song upon completion, and the scores achieved in either Quick Play or Career mode are saved to the same in-game high-score list. The handedness of the guitar can now be toggled from the Pause menu when playing a song (previously, this was only available from the game's main menu). For the Xbox 360 version, scores can also be compared with other players through Xbox Live via the Leaderboard feature, and there are 50 Achievements that can be earned in the game. (Less) Developer: Harmonix Music Systems - Released: 2006, Nov 7 - Genre: Music - Platform: PlayStation 2,Xbox 360