I was born in 1980 and by the time I hit the 8th grade I was wearing flannel shirts and rocking out to Metallica. There aren’t too many bands in today’s music that have lasted as long as these legends. No one can resist the urge to sing when ever Mr. James Hetfield begins to bust out with some “Take my hand…off to Never Never land.”

Considering how popular Metallica is, it only makes sense that the band would team up with Neversoft and produce Guitar Hero: Metallica, which is set to be released by the end of March. Guitar Hero gives you the opportunity to unleash your inner rock and it’s a game that is enjoyed by all ages and now fans of the series will be able to experience what it is to be a true rock legend.

When it came down to development Metallica was very involved. The hardest part for the group was choosing which songs would be in the game and with a slew of amazing albums it was a very hard decision. When asked by Game Informer magazine how the soundtrack was compiled Lars Ulrich had this to say:

“We want to represent all the different things we’ve done. I knew that we had to pick songs from throughout our career, not just focus on the records in the 80’s. It had to be evenly balanced between the hits and the songs that are more geared toward the Guitar Hero challenge.”

After a sit down with Hetfield and Ulrich they came up with 45 songs which will comprise 60% of the game. The rest of the tracks will include artists like Alice in Chains, Foo Fighters, Judas Priest and Queen.

The game’s story is based on an actual band that followed Metallica around on tour trying to get an opening spot. To the band’s success they were rewarded with an opening at one of Metallica’s shows. You’ll really get a feel for the bands career as you play along at real life venues where they performed.

Along with your basic Guitar Hero World Tour elements, Neversoft has added in some special extras: a new drum difficulty setting called Expert Plus which will require a splitter and two drum pedals, music studio, open bass notes, new DVD content, photos and rare footage of the band, new tones which were sampled directly from Hetfiled and Slayer Bassist Tom Araya, Metallifacts which is similar to the VH1 show Pop-Up Video and a drum fill mode that will allow you to turn off the drum track and play freely.

Fans of Metallica will love how the game’s settings depict a real life Metallic concert and you can be sure there will be a ton of pyrotechnics. By focusing on the look and feel of their concerts this installment of Guitar Hero will be different then most of its predecessors. Instead of the usual exaggerated characters and oversized stage props, the characters and venues will be more realistic and have a harder look.  The game is scheduled to be released by the end of March and if you’ve never had the opportunity to listen to Metallica now’s a good time to start.

Eliza Video games review, gaming, preview, review gutair hero, metallica, music, songs, tracks