I spent a good deal of time today with the Guitar Hero III demo on Xbox 360. The demo includes 5 songs which can be played in any difficulty setting. The songs are Hit Me With Your Best Shot by Pat Benitar, Lay Down by Priestess, Even Flow by Pearl Jam, Rock You Like a Hurricane as made famous by Scorpions, and The Metal by Tenacious D. I had no problem getting 5 stars on everything in Medium, and am playing through on Hard now trying to get 5 stars. Personally I think The Metal is the most fun to play of the demo tracks.

Even though the game has moved over the Neversoft as the publisher, it still retains the classic Guitar Hero feel. The icons on screen have changed a bit, as has been seen in all the videos and screenshots, but the gameplay remains in tact. Guitar Hero veterans will feel at home quickly as they play through the tracks. The demo also includes a couple multiplayer modes. I didn’t have anyone here to test them out, so I can’t comment yet.

If you haven’t grabbed the demo yet, there’s a couple ways to get it. You can either buy Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground, buy this month’s OXM magazine, or download the demo here. Yes, you can download this demo and burn it to a disc (and it’s legal too). The download is an ISO file, so use your favorite CD burning program to burn it as a disc image. Once it’s done, put the disc into your 360. Don’t be alarmed, it won’t load. It will say Mixed Media Disc and stay at the Dashboard. Leave the disc in the tray and go to the Demos section of the Xbox 360 Dashboard, where you’ll find the Guitar Hero III demo. Fire it up and go to town. Since you’re loading from a CDR, it’s a little slower than normal with the load times, so be patient.

Overall, the demo is great and shows everyone Guitar Hero is still here to rock. Can’t wait for the full game coming soon so shred some great songs.