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Rock Band, go choke on a mic.

Yes, the game has gotten early reviews already, but our hands-on time with it has given a real glimpse into the changes we’ve all been waiting to see. What does Guitar Hero 3 have in store for those of us bleeding for new tunes to rock out to, and does it have enough oomph to take on previous Guitar Hero developer Harmonix’ Rock Band?

Sure, GH3 has more of a Tony Hawk look, but so what? At least it isn't a PS2 port.

For those who don’t know the story, when Harmonix was bought by MTV and Activision acquired Guitar Hero publisher RedOctane, Activision needed to get a new developer for its biggest new franchise. Neversoft, creators of the acclaimed Tony Hawk skating series, loved Guitar Hero and frequented it during office breaks with their own competitions.

When Neversoft president Joel Jewett told RedOctane this, it was a matter of time before they contacted him to make the new game. After that conversation, he marched into his office with Guitar Hero 2 in one hand, guitar in the other, and notified his team that this was their next project.

Looking at the game now, it’s apparent that it isn’t Harmonix who worked on the title. It was a group of fans who saw the flaws of the original and fixed them, and put in everything they wanted to see in the game. Almost like an indie group remaking a movie with an incredible story but poor acting, Neversoft has actually achieved something remarkable by doing this: a highly refined game that is simple, fun and exactly what we wanted to see.

There are quite a few fixes. In GH2, it was easy to miss a note or hit it too early when just hitting chord buttons without the fret button in quick succession, which meant timing had to be absolutely perfect. It was incredibly annoying when that happened because timing differed between those notes and standard notes. Now it is much cleaner, and there is an ample amount of time to hit the next note.

Next is the improvement of multiplayer. Now it’s not just who can score the most points, it’s a real battle. Screw the opposition, you can mess with his equipment and make him wish he never laid eyes on an instrument. GH2 was far too kind. This is metal! And competition requires serious action.