What kept us from being rockstars? No talent? Refusal to wear leather pants that chafe? Fat fingers? All of the above and more. Although none of these stopped Meatloaf. But why us? These are the questions we ponder while playing Guitar Hero II. There's also alot of daydreaming about being these rockstars.

Let's talk about the simple, tetris like gameplay. Basically you strum the guitar while pressing colored buttons on the guitar that matches the buttons rushing at you onscreen. Do everything well, and maybe you think you are Eddie Van Halen. But if you're timing is off, you'll think you're Eddie Van Halen in rehab. Not a pretty picture we can tell you. Hell, we'll show you it too.

Really, what makes this game stand out above all others (besides the freakin guitar you have to buy to play it), is the huge soundtrack you can play along to. These are some of the greatest guitar hits of the 70s and 80s, probably the two best decades for guitar rock. You got the Stones, Aerosmith, and even Lynyrd Skynyrd. If you're too young to know who these guys are, then stop listening to rap all the time.

But we got one big problem, and that's the singers. They aren't the originals, and for some songs, they aren't even close. Like some sort of American Idol copy that just isn't as good, but it's not bad. And another problem is the difficulty. The songs are harder than the first game, and you'll find yourself frustrated often if you're not a big rockstar wannabe. We can't say anthing else bad about the music, but the graphics could have been better. Basically, you get PS2 graphics.

This game has a practice, career, and coop mode. The career mode lets you play and get cash to spend on new costumes, guitars, characters, and music. Although none of these things are worth anything. The music you can buy are from lesser known bands. And really, does it matter who your character is when the characters are so deformed and animated. Also, some hot groupies dancing in the background would help, but they didn't include those. Coop has you playing bass with your friend. You'll need 2 guitars and real patience to play bass. Because we all know bass is boring.

This is a tough game to score. For a guitar game, this is the best (and only) game out there. So for all those air guitar fans, you'll probably find it difficult playing Guitar Hero II. But for gamers, it will seem frustrating too because they took the difficulty up a notch. Also take into account the price, which is more expensive than most games because of the guitar. So our overall feeling is that this game is for guitar hero fans only. The rest of us will find it fun for a little while, but frustrating in the end.