Livin' it up while you're going down!
Anyone who's played Guitar Hero in its many variants will find that little has changed in Guitar Hero: Aerosmith. Notes still come down a note highway, requiring that you press the fret buttons and hit the strum bar in time with the action. Guitar Hero: Aerosmith also features the Battle Mode lifted part and parcel from Guitar Hero III, where players use power ups to gain the upper hand.

However, what is new to the game is the intimate focus on a particular band, in this case Aerosmith. As the player goes through career mode, they unlock videos and bits of trivia about the band, which is sure to please some fans. As should be expected, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith also features a wide variety of Aerosmith songs, including classics like Livin' on the Edge, Love in an Elevator and Walk This Way.

Guitar Hero: Aerosmith also has the distinction of being criticized as a rehash, not unlike the reaction Guitar Hero Rocks the '80s garnered last year. Some critics disliked the primary focus on Aerosmith and still others were disappointed that certain songs like Dude Looks Like a Lady, Crazy and I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing were excluded. Many questioned the value of a game with barely over 40 songs being featured for a retail-price of $50 - $60 depending on the system, particularly for those who've grown accustomed to the additions of vocals and drums in Rock Band. Guitar Hero: Aerosmith has roughly a 70 percent average on GameRankings.com.

"Aerosmith junkies will love Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, thanks to its impressive song list and extra content. Everyone else, however, should rent it," reads GameDaily's 7-out-of-10 review. "It's a pleasant diversion, providing single-player and multiplayer enjoyment for would-be strummers, but with missing songs and the same old gameplay, it doesn't have enough sweet emotion to justify its $59.99 price."

We're livin' on the edge!
While some would debate the merits of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith as a "full game," Activision undeniably threw some marketing power behind the release. Dream On was offered as a free downloadable track for Guitar Hero III, and unlike Guitar Hero Rocks the '80s, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith had a guitar bundle with a special faceplate for those that pre-ordered. The band members of Aerosmith also participated in a sneak preview event at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York City, and the game was the main sponsor for Dario Franchitti's No. 40 Dodge in the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on June 29.

Of course, in a corporate sense Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is just a stepping stone in Activision's corporate policy to exploit the Guitar Hero brand. The big release this year will be the much anticipated Guitar Hero World Tour, but we wouldn't expect it to be the only Guitar Hero game in the next few months. It's widely anticipated that the likely Guitar Hero: Metallica will release early in 2009, demonstrating that the true legacy of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith will be more band-centric releases in the future.