Hail! Hail! Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock is truly the greatest of all rhythm games out there; it is loud, fierce, and an absolute blast.  The disc comes fully loaded with 93 rocking songs and a storyline that is narrated by the god of thunder himself, Gene Simmons of Kiss.

This is an exceptionally exciting release for the Guitar Hero franchise due mainly to the fact that the setlist is packed with power.  Last year’s release, Guitar Hero 5, was a major disappointment because it included some of the worst songs ever written; not to mention, many of the songs had little to do with rock music.  Well, that epic failure is behind us and now the series marches onward in triumph toward the future.

The difficulty settings are really great.  Whether you play guitar or drums—on medium or on expert mode—you get to feel the electricity and the thrill of the performance.  The drums represent my lethal weapon of choice and expert is my favorite setting.  The quick scrolling engine and highly accurate calibration system makes the play action challenging.  The game play is also slightly forgiving so the frustration (“Hey! I hit that note, WTF”) is kept to a minimum.

So which songs are most awesome to rawk with?  Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” will have you going Wayne’s World berserk. Def Leppard finally joined the party game with a live version of “Pour Some Sugar On Me.” Black Sabbath’s “Children of the Grave,” Pantera’s “I’m Broken,” Anthrax’s “Indians,” Tesla’s “Modern day Cowboy,” Kiss’ “Love Gun,”  Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It,” and “Paranoid by Metallica with Ozzy Osbourne are some of my personal favorites.

Also included is Rush’s “2112”; yes, all of it.  And get this—in order to beat the game, you have to conquer three Megadeth songs: “Holy Wars…The Punishment Due,” “This Day We Fight,” and “Sudden Death,” a brand new killer of a track that Dave Mustaine wrote specifically for the game.

If you have a Nintendo DS, the Roadie Battle is a fun element if you have extra people (and extra DS’) sitting around.  In this mode, roadies help you during your performance and sabotage the opponent from the portable gaming system.  You do not need a special Guitar Hero game for the Nintendo DS to play in this mode, just a WiFi connection.

Guitar Hero:Warriors of Rock is badass and a must-have for hard rock fans worldwide.  If you liked Guitar Hero: Metallica and/or felt betrayed by Guitar Hero 5, then you will love the rock and roll honor and glory of this game.