Kombo's Review Policy: Our reviews are written for you. Our goal is to write honest, to-the-point reviews that don't waste your time. This is why we've split our reviews into four sections: What the Game's About, What's Hot, What's Not and Final Word, so that you can easily find the information you want from our reviews.

What the Game's About
Guitar Hero 5 is the newest installment of the Guitar Hero franchise from Activision. You know the routine: you play plastic instruments to popular rock tunes and live your fantasy of being a rock star in the comfort of your living room.

What's Hot
It isn't a big secret that Activision loves their Guitar Hero franchise. So much so, that it seems a new disc version is being talked about or released. With Guitar Hero 5, there is little mystery left with the franchise. That doesn't mean that it should go stale with age. The past few titles have been resting on the past successes and not being aggressive trying to get more fans in the popular genre. Guitar Hero 5 officially cranks up the volume to 11 and makes a splash on the scene with some features that are nice to boast about. The graphics have seen a remarkable upgrade and look more natural as hyperbolic personalities of the rock stars have been reigned in somewhat. There is an emphasis on making Guitar Hero 5 a game that anyone can pick up and put down that fuzzes the line between casual and hardcore gameplay.

One of the marked improvements is the way that you can drop in and out of a song as you please. No more waiting for a song to be over until your friends can join, they pick up a plastic instrument and wail away when you start the Party Play mode. Along those same lines, if you can't decide on who plays drums and guitar, everyone can finally play the same instrument. There are a ton of songs on the disc to start off with and it plays like a great iTunes playlist. Unlike ever before, there is something for every shade of rock star. There is some serious name recognition on the stock playlist and you'll even see plenty of famous faces to aid you in your quest for stardom.



What's Not
One of the new annoyances is the new Star Power animation. The first couple of times it happened, I lost concentration and the resulting multiplier. It won't mess you up for long, but it was different to see extra objects scan across the note highway, so be prepared for that.

The playlist is good but it uses the shotgun method of capturing gamers. It spreads its bullets so far that it's bound to hit many targets but none of them particularly hard. There will be a point where you wish there was more of an effort to go deeper with some genres of music while you run the gamut of Johnny Cash to 3 Doors down.

Final Word
Someone must have switched to regular coffee because Guitar Hero 5 is fresh and reinvigorates the series with outstanding presentation value and entertaining modes. Guitar Hero 5 is on track to dominate the charts with the pedigree of a rock legend and the freshness of a new indie band.