Now, I'm not going to go on my usual spiel about how much better this game could have been if all of Neversoft's resources and efforts were focused on just one Guitar Hero release, or how this game could have run a closer race to The Beatles: Rock Band had it been handled differently, no, that's not how I'm feeling today. Instead I'll be blunt and say, GH5 is an exceptional rhythm title which luckily breathes a half-breath of life into a franchise I was ready to give up on.

Playing rhythm games obviously requires a firm grasp on rhythm and beat itself. If you lack this fundamental, you're going to look damn foolish as you try to swoon your lovebird sporadically fluking notes playing "Ring of Fire" to her. All you need to do is keep your eye on the highway, which is the scrolling board that moves toward you on the screen, and keep a keen eye out for those coloured notes that cruise toward you – when you see one, frantically find the colour on your instrument of choice, successfully make the pretty noises happen and that lady of yours will be melting in moments. Luckily for beginners, GH5 is truly the casual gamer edition of the franchise, especially by way of difficulty and learning curve. Sadly for long-time devotees this comes as quite a slap in the chops as the difficulty has been toned down significantly; on the brighter side, it's worth it, making the game that much more accessible. I've said it upon each and every release of the franchise, but this is definitely the party game of the generation.

What is it this time around, you ask? I simply answer ‘party mode'. Say you've got a party happening, and you need background music, ‘hey, Guitar Hero has a decent soundtrack just bang that on' you think. When left at the menu screen, GH5 enters a ‘party mode' where it'll simply shuffle and play through the songs on selection, but that's not all. Say an inebriated pal starts tearing at your shirt crying about how "Hungry Like the Wolf" is his song and he must play, once upon a time you'd have to halt proceedings and sift through menu after menu. Not this time, simply jack in an instrument and jump in, no matter where the song is. It's a terrific innovation, and it's an indicator that those behind the desks at Neversoft were finally thinking for the party boy and girl inside. It's accessible and makes any party that much more, well, nerdy (but fun).

All of the Guitar Hero staples are still in place, such as the career, quickplay and online mode. All of which have subtle differences, of course. Career progress is gauged solely by how many stars you can bank from each song, with the maximum being nine! How could you get nine stars? Well, you can get six stars for achieving a full-combo on a track, and the remaining three are for newly implemented challenges for each tune. Granted, these are far from unique and do begin to get a bit repetitive but needless to say, they're a step in the right direction and give players more reason to go back to each song. Whether it be to achieve that 150-note streak they missed, or perfectly sing the descending "Fame" segment of Bowie's classic. Exceptional completion of these challenges will reward the player with new avatars, including the ever-controversial Kurt Cobain, and the less-recognized but more talented Matt Bellamy. Another impressive group of rock icons having their likenesses paraded on a virtual stage to music that, most of the time, isn't even theirs, it's a sad case.

It seems as though Neversoft have pulled their binoculars out to glance at that Rock Band franchise that's constantly pulling away from them. They've been wise enough this time to borrow, but cleverly rename, some of Rock Band's in-game elements. For example, now if you and your band can successfully play a section of a song you'll execute a ‘Band Moment', reaping a higher multiplier as reward; much like Rock Band's unison-bonuses. And something that Guitar Hero fans have been crying for since Rock Band first landed, the band revival meter makes an appearance in GH5. If a player fails out, the remaining members must play well as a group to revive the fallen, however failing to do so will end the song prematurely. It's good feeling fresh without actually doing anything new.

Remember the age old debate of who had to be stuck on bass? I do. Luckily for me, I was better than all of my friends so I never really was left on the much unloved four-string. Thankfully, the solution has been made easy in GH5 as you can arrange any combination of instruments, even four of the same. I mean, you can play with three friends all four on guitars, or all four playing drums. Heck, all four singing, but no-one has to be stuck on bass; unless you're into that sort of thing, of course.

The game has a simple, yet impressive online component given the amount that the player can do. You can choose either quickplay, or competitive, from the main menu and then simply hit the orange button on the guitar neck and await the arrival of your online foes. As long as it remains active, it's certainly something I can see myself always going back to, thanks to a simple integration into the menu interface; a press of a button is all it takes, people. Rockfest also manages to keep things fresh, without relying on the same ole' pro-face off each night. Players can delve into game modes such as ‘momentum', ‘perfectionist', or ‘elimination' where at the end of each section the least successful player gets wasted. It's incredibly fun, and with the ability to create playlists and assign different tracks to each game mode, there are a lot of legs in GH5's online mode.

Much like the games that have come before it, Guitar Hero 5 does a fine job glamorizing the world of being a rock star. From the number of unique venues on offer, including my favourite ‘the Hypersphere', to the legend avatars that graciously signed away a fragment of their being to Neversoft, the game certainly looks the part. Like most, there's an odd stomach-churning feeling seeing Kurt Cobain doing what he did best in a virtual world, I mean he was practically a martyr against commercialism – it just doesn't sit right, and I wasn't even close to being a fan of his work. But hey, it's not Activision's fault, Nirvana fans can only point the finger at Courtney Love for signing away the man's legacy. If you hate the look of all the in-game characters, you can always fill your band up with your Xbox Live avatars as well which looks very cute, if maybe a tad too wholesome.

If there's one thing that Guitar Hero 5 does have, it's a broad and extensive soundtrack. It boasts a whopping 85 tunes, so surely there'd be a little something for everybody. Thirty artists make their rhythm game debut, and in keeping up with the casual theme of the game, one quarter of the tracks were released in the last year and a half. As it becoming a trend of these music-rhythm titles, all of the tracks are available from the get-go during quick play. Players like me will love some of the smoother rock bands on offer like Dire Straits, Bon Jovi and Duran Duran. There's certainly a lot of variance in the list, don't you worry about that, from Children of Bodom to Peter Frampton, King Crimson to Kings of Leon. It's a fresh, but very well-rounded list that should please both casual and established music aficionados and is a much better selection of tracks than has featured in some past editions of the series.