Guitar Hero: Metallica

Gaming Age

For fans of the Guitar Hero franchise, Guitar Hero: Metallica might be the best entry we've seen yet. I was somewhat lukewarm on my reception to the other band-themed title that Neversoft put out with GH: Aerosmith, but Metallica absolutely blows that game out of the water, not only with the track listing, but the overall time and attention put into the actual presentation, and how the band seems to be infused into every aspect of the game.

PGNx Media

With Guitar Hero: Metallica, it looks like Neversoft was able to balance the interests of fans of the band and fans of the franchise.

Worth Playing

The bottom line is if you're a Metallica fan, there's no reason for you not to be playing Guitar Hero: Metallica right now.

GamingExcellence

While the GHTunes music creator is still entirely uninteresting the rest of the package is of such high quality that it’s easy to recommend.

Xbox World Australia

The bottom line is, if you're a Metallica fan, you're going to buy this.

Impulsegamer

In conclusion, Guitar Hero Metallica is a decent improvement over Guitar Hero Aerosmith and hopefully this will inspire other bands to join in the fun.

ZTGameDomain

Metallica songs just seem to lend themselves to this type of game. The note charts are a blast and the presentation is top-notch.

GamePro

That said, this entry is more challenging than previous Guitar Hero efforts, so newcomers should hone their plastic guitar-playing skills on World Tour before braving this one. Once you've learned to shred with the big boys, though, feel free to stage-dive into one of Guitar Hero's best encores yet.

Games Radar (in-house)

The Metallica integration goes deeper than the music itself – the band members all appear in the game, although career mode finds you playing not as anyone IN Metallica, but as the band opening for them while on tour.

Cheat Code Central

An amazing track list compiling important songs from every album of the bands history, solid character animations of the band, accurate representations of the stages the band has played on that fans will recognize, a digital "diary" of the band, and even special attacks in the Battle mode. There's not much else you could ask for. Guitar Hero: Metallica sets the bar for upcoming band-specific titles.

GameDaily

If you love music/rhythm games and looking for a new challenge or you just love Metallica, you need to buy this video game. More downloadable content would've made this the best Guitar Hero yet, but as it stands, it still rocks. Snag it and obey your master.

GameZone

A compelling collections of tracks from the titular band and others, Guitar Hero: Metallica is not only a fine retrospective of the band’s storied career, but also the most fun Guitar Hero game in years.

Extreme Gamer

All together Guitar Hero: Metallica gives up 49 Rocking Tunes, 28 of which belong to the rock monsters Metallica. This makes Guitar Hero: Metallica the perfect add-on for Guitar Hero fans looking to turn up their stereo's and shred.

X360 Magazine UK

With a track list that can rival anything on the market, this has captured the essence of Metallica perfectly. An incredible experience for fans. [Issue#45, p.78]

My Gamer

If you are a fan of Metallica, you must play this game, no question about it.

WonderwallWeb

Guitar Hero and Metallica go together like love and marriage. Fans of the series will love this quality addition to the franchise.

Gameplanet

Clearly the best artist-specific Guitar Hero yet, Metallica captures the intensity and pace of one of the most influential bands in history. It's a no-brainer for purchase if you're already a Guitar Hero fan, and looks sure to become a party favourite amongst those who appreciate extremely loud music.

MS Xbox World

This game really does pay homage to Metallica and this is a game fans definitely need to purchase.

XGN

This game is an absolute must have for every rock and Guitar Hero fan.

AtomicGamer

From the perspective of a Metallica fan that already owns a full set of World Tour or Rock Band instruments and wants to play together with friends, the purchase of GH: Metallica is a no-brainer.

GamingTrend

What can you say? It’s Metallica. If you like Metallica, pick this up. If you don’t, you may want to skip it.

IGN

It certainly doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it's been a while since I've had this much fun with a music game. The only thing keeping me from scoring it higher is the fact that it doesn't support most of the Guitar Hero DLC. Other than that, it's a great experience that Metallica fans should run out and get.

Game Informer

While I knew I’d love playing the songs off the first four albums, the rest of the soundtrack definitely matches the intensity of the vintage stuff.

HellBored

As something built for the fans, you can’t really fault it. It’s the best guitar game out there at the moment, and anything coming after this in terms of band specific titles has a high benchmark to be measured against.

GameFocus

Any fan of metal rock will find more than enough from both Metallica and the bands that inspired them. With great care taken to pick a stellar track list that best represent the band’s music this is a game that Metallica fans will not soon forget since it is most likely sitting on their game shelf now. If you’re a fan of metal music this is a must own.

TeamXbox

The coolest offering is a Metallifacts overlay for all Metallica songs: When you play one, you get the in-game Metallica characters playing the song, but text comes up every few seconds to give you some trivia about the particular song, such as reminiscences from the band or inspirations for that tune or the lyrics. I’m not a big Metallica fan, but I was fascinated by some of what I read.

MondoXbox

The perfect game for every Metallica and Thrash/Heavy Metal fan, also thanks to the subtle but important gameplay improvements introduced by Neversoft. It's a pity that the absence of support for the pre-existing DLC songs library forces us to always keep a copy of GH: World Tour at hand.

Console Monster

Something I was very pleased to note was the vast improvement in graphics and animation over previous Guitar Hero iterations.

Vandal Online

Get into Hetfield's skin with the best Guitar Hero spin-off to date.

Meristation

Guitar Hero Metallica lands with many cool new features and very good presentation. Taking the role of one of the greatest bands of all time is not an easy task, but the game manages well to give the player a huge amount of songs, while fitting well for different skill levels. Furious fret working and thundering drumming are the basics of what achieve to be a great tribute. Only the length of the songs, which can exhaust almost any player on highest difficulty and the decision to not be compatible with other downloadable content different than Death Magnetic are real drawbacks on this great game.

Everyeye.it

Neversoft astonished everyone with an expansion equipped with all the features of a complete game. The introduction of the astonishing Expert+ mode and the tweakings about the career mode and the gameplay made Guitar Hero Metallica a "must have" for every gamer. The songs of the californian band seems to have been written perfectly to fits the Guitar Hero game structure and to involve the player completely. It's a pity that everything good in the game does not apply to the "non-Metallica" songs in the tracklist.

Official Xbox Magazine

It’s Metallica’s underlying design that is the hero of the day, however. For starters, Neversoft has finally mastered the difficulty curve. A far cry from the torturous days of Guitar Hero III’s Hard setting, the songs here are a treat on any skill level. Better, though, is how the career mode is structured. It’s star-based, meaning you’ll unlock new venues and blocks of songs at certain star milestones.

Kombo

Even if you aren't a fan, it is undeniable that GH: Metallica is the best version of the Guitar Hero franchise to date, from a technical standpoint. GH: Metallica is guaranteed to exceed your expectations.

Planet Xbox 360

The catalogue of songs is among the greatest selections for Metallica fans, even if they aren’t into rhythm. Sure, not every Metallica single is presented, but for the 30 or so tracks provided, there’s a plethora of singles for fans of the metal gods.

NZGamer

If you’re new to Metallica, this is a great introduction to classic metal, and a showcase title for Neversoft, who have really begun to ride the lightening.

Game Chronicles

This score is for the Metallica fans who will be buying this game regardless of what I have to say, and hopefully the next Guitar Hero installment will continue to improve the technical side of things why offering some music more appealing to the masses and not just a niche group of hard rockers.

Talk Xbox

At the end of the day, Guitar Hero: Metallica is essentially what it sounds like: a Guitar Hero game for Metallica fans; by the fans, for the fans in the purest sense.

GameTrailers

Even if the master of puppets doesn't pull your strings, the sheer breadth of challenge offered by the game's sadistic setlist is yet another ace up its sleeve.

Xbox World 360 Magazine UK

As good a band-based music game as we're likely to get. Until The Beatles arrive. [July 2009, p.83]

Games Master UK

A major step forward for Guitar Hero. The only question to ask is: do you like Metallica? [June 2009, p.79]

Official Xbox Magazine UK

The best band tie-in to date. [June 2009, p.79]

Gameplayer

It’s an almost perfect example that any other similar projects in the future should follow ­ a game that creates a gaming experience that Metallica fans will cherish.

VideoGamer

What you essentially get here is 49 tracks metal and heavy rock tracks - 28 of them culled from Metallica's back catalogue, and a further 21 selected by the band themselves.

Armchair Empire

Though I’m sure Activision would never go for it, I propose that Guitar Hero undergo a name change. Rather than “Guitar Hero: Metallica” it should be labelled “Guitar Hero for Metallica Fans!” because that’s a more apt description of what you get with each of these showcase titles.

Gamer.nl

If you've got nothing going on with Metallica then it seems a little illogical to buy this game. But you'll probably buy it anyway if you're a Guitar Hero or Rockband fan. The game deserves that much attention. Especially Guitar Hero veterans will love the rocky numbers that are enclosed in this package. On the other hand, the little flaws and the inferior career-mode (in comparison to Rock Band) can be too much of a problem for the casual rocker.

LEVEL (Czech Republic)

Keys to paradise for head bangers and Metallica fans – this is new Guitar Hero. Fans of other styles and bands have to wait their turn.

Gameplayer Sweden

Neversoft could have gone the easy way with Guitar Hero: Metallica, it would sell anyway. But instead, they make one of the best music games ever with a reform of the career mode and a lot of great music. Not just from Metallica. The result? A must-buy-game for everyone, not only true Metallica-fans.

Play.tm

It's perhaps not the ideal starting place for GH newbies (unless they're Metallica die-hards) but for the rest of us it's a lovely addition to our growing GH library.

BigPond GameArena

At the end of the day Guitar Hero: Metallica offers just enough to justify it not just being another track pack - just barely offering enough to be worth purchasing yet another Guitar Hero game.

Thunderbolt

This is by far the best Guitar Hero to date.

Eurogamer

But beneath the scream and riot there's a mathematical reality that simply makes for really good videogame levels.

Totally360

Overall Guitar Hero Metallica is a fun game. If you are a fan of Metallica you should definitely pick it up as this game is total fan service.

Gamer 2.0

As a stand-alone game Guitar Hero: Metallica is decent. The 49 songs in the game are all good, though it would be great to be able to export them to World Tour and have everything in one place.

SpazioGames

Guitar Hero: Metallica its an excellent chapter of the series, thanks to some fixing to the gameplay and the new modes dedicated to the drummers. Dedicated to all the fans of Metallica, the numerous extras and the tracklist won't let you down. The only major defect is the lack of compatibility with the DLCs of World Tour, ruining the longevity of the title. Definitely a game for every Rhythm game and most of all for every Metallica lovers.

3DJuegos

Guitar Hero: Metallica is certainly not a revolution, but this new and funny new entry in the musical series will satisfy every fan of the band.

Gaming Nexus

Guitar Hero: Metallica is certainly better than its Aerosmith counterpart, but it still misses the point of the Guitar Hero franchise.

GameSpot

For World Tour players who are on the fence, Guitar Hero: Metallica is a solid game with a strong setlist that offers you a great fake-plastic-rock experience.

Game Revolution

Guitar Hero: Metallica is exactly what you expect it to be: a solid, offhand reworking of Guitar Hero World Tour with a bunch of Metallica songs.

Boomtown

Neversoft is getting better at these Guitar Hero games. But if the developer can't get its note charting in order - and give us the option to choose which guitarist's track we want to play (rather than constantly moving between them) - then Guitar Hero 5 may not be as well received as World Tour.

AceGamez

If this experience taught me anything, it's that Guitar Hero: Metallica is one for the fans.

GameShark

Ultimately, if you like Metallica (a lot), and if you like the standard Guitar Hero gameplay formula, then this game is well worth the price of admission. If you don’t meet both those criteria, however, you really should move on.

Teletext GameCentral

Metallica fans will be happy enough, but everyone else will lament the lack of evolution and poor value.