We had an opportunity to see the upcoming game Guitar Hero behind closed doors at E3. Since we both enjoy rhythm games, our favorite being the Latin-flavored maraca shaker Samba de Amigo for the Dreamcast, we were excited to see what this guitar based game had to offer.

We sat down with Daniel Sussman and Greg LoPiccolo of Harmonix to see the game. Speaking as fans of heavy metal music, we thought the game was very cool. You use a controller shaped like an actual guitar, which will be produced by the publisher, Red Octane. After picking a character, you get to play the song at a venue. There will be six characters, each with their own unique animations and attitude. The game will have you work up through different venues, starting with playing in your own garage and working up to playing in a large stadium venue.

We knew the game was going to be interesting to us once we saw the song options. There were five songs implemented already, all recognizable to anyone who enjoys rock music. We had a demo of the gameplay for the song "Symphony of Destruction" by Megadeth. The gameplay was typical for a rhythm game, you use the guitar controller timed to the music to succeed at the song. The guitar controller has five buttons on the fret board and a second control to "strum" the guitar; the guitar controller we used had a non-functional whammy bar, although this should work in at the game's release. The controller will be designed so that both left- and right-handed users will be able to use the guitar comfortably.

To play the game, the player holds down the proper buttons on the fret board and then "strum" at the appropriate time. Sometimes you'll have to hold the buttons for certain lengths of time as shown by the moving bar. Easy difficulty only uses three of the buttons, while higher difficulties use up to all five buttons and require use of chords and fancy finger work to succeed. Even though neither of us is a guitar player, we both had fun playing the game. Psychochild did a bit better at it than Skymare did, but we both enjoyed the game tremendously and were sad to leave when our time was up.

We were pleasantly surprised to see the game in such a solid form, especially after the Harmonix guys told us that the game was only about four months into development. The game was really fun to play, even with the limited song selection and the final animations not included. When released, the game will have two-player modes, allowing two friends to jam together. The game will have about 30 songs with some unlockable bonuses. Song selection will include works from Megadeth to Green Day to Jimi Hendrix. In addition, Red Octane is running a contest called "Be a Guitar Hero" to include a song submitted to them through a contest.

The mix of familiar rock guitar music should bring new American fans to the rhythm game genre. To tell the truth, it was nice to see a game with familiar songs instead of the typical electronica or J-Pop songs you find on most other rhythm games. And, who doesn't fantasize about being a rock guitarist, playing air guitar when they think no one is watching? We know we're very guilty of that.