The formula is, at once, both familiar and a little different. Oh, and if you are up for a challenge then Guitar Hero: Aerosmith has precisely what you may be looking for.

The expansion is a mixture of Aerosmith songs through the ages as a reward for playing through two songs (in the career mode) by other bands. Sometimes the songs are covers, like the Hard to Handle number (covered by Steve Ouimette), but others like Ted Nugent’s Cat Scratch Fever are master recordings. You get to wander through the six venues that were signposts in the career of Aerosmith, beginning with the first high school (Nipmuc) the band played at. At the end of each level, after playing two songs by other bands, you get to play a couple of Aerosmith’s tunes. If you do that well enough, you might get an encore. Interspersed with the trip through time are sound and audio bytes featuring members of the band and their recollections about the time and place.

The game follows, for the most part, the course established by GH3. There is a boss battle towards the end, with Joe Perry, which will result in unlocking him. And once you complete the game on any of the settings, you do get a bonus track.

However, when it comes to the difficulty of the game, be prepared for some finger-busting action. Even on medium, the game is a challenge as you move along. Some of the Aerosmith tunes will have your fingers flying on the fretboard keys.

When you enter the career mode, you get to pick from the assortment of pre-built characters. Even though all the bosses in GH3 were unlocked, they did not appear here on the main menu. You get the classic character, such a Casey Lynch and crew, to choose from, and the Aerosmith numbers will not feature your band or character, but it is the titular band that you play as (Joe Perry, specifically).

The crew at Neversoft did a very good job of creating caricatures of the band and concert style, without – though – some of the nastier on-stage elements the band has been known to do when playing live. (Let’s put it this way, the last Aerosmith concert attended – in the 1990s – was a mixture of great sound and some definite R-rated stage antics; no idea if the band has mellowed over the years or not; also, hit songs like “Dude Looked Like a Lady” are not found in this collection. Don’t expect Janie’s Got a Gun or Cryin’ either, for that matter.) But overall, the graphics are very solid.

There are more than 40 songs here, including some of the great Aerosmith tunes like Mama Kin, Train Kept A’Rollin’, Sweet Emotion, Walk this Way (with Run DMC) and Dream On. The sound on this title is terrific, so get ready to crank the speakers. Regardless of the songs that didn’t make the cut, this is still a great compendium of songs by an iconic American band.

Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is a nice bit of band history wrapped up in a challenging game. The video clips with the band won’t have much replay value past the first go-through. While the graphics have been upgraded, nothing totally new has been added to the formula, though. Still, if you are a fan of the band, or looking to move along the GH challenge, this is a worthy successor to GH3.

Gameplay: 8.0
The same formula is in play here. Load times are still in place and the video clips are a nice distraction, but quickly become redundant.

Graphics: 8.7
Some of the best concert animations to date. The rest of it is the same old song and dance (to borrow from the titular band’s phraseology).  

Sound: 8.5
Great Aerosmith tunes, but too many covers for the in-between songs.

Difficulty: Med/Hard

Concept: 7.5
The same refrain – same game mechanics, same general format. The concert graphics are better, but unless you have more than two eyes or are capable of playing without gluing your eyes to the scrolling notes, you won’t see them unless you are a spectator – and that’s not much fun.

Multiplayer: 8.0
The same format is still here – online or head-to-head on the same machine.   

Overall: 8.0
This compilation treads the same areas as GH3, is a little shorter on the song list, but does pay a nice tribute to Aerosmith. The game does provide a challenge, but unlocked characters from GH 3 should have rolled over into this title. And while there is a great list of songs here, others that might have provided a little more variety to the compendium of the band’s best songs of all time are missing. What is here is solid; but in the end, it felt like there could have been more.