GH 80s and Civ 4 BTS Impressions

I've barely scratched the surface of both these games, but I thought I'd toss up some impressions.

First up, Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s. There's a whole lot of vitriol being spewed towards this game, and I'm unsure as to why. Yes, there are only 30 songs. Yes, there are fewer characters. Yes, the venues are recycled (but with 80's style). No, there aren't any unlockable behind the scenes videos, character outfits, or bonus songs. Yes, the game is 50 bucks (or 40 at Best Buy, wish I'd known that before I pre-ordered). Yes, the songs are all from the 80's and most of them are covers.

My response to all that: so what? It's fucking Guitar Hero. Frankly, I could care less about behind the scenes videos and outfits and venues and all that shit. The bonus songs in the first two games were indie tunes. Seeing as how we're not in the 80's anymore, it would be a bit difficult to find indie 80's bands for the bonus songs. 30 songs isn't a lot, but it's enough, I think. Best Buy's pricing is very fair. If you don't like 80's rock, why'd you buy the game? It's pretty clear in the title that's what you're getting, if you're too stupid to read it, I can't help you. And finally, I've never understood why everyone hates the fact that most of the songs are covers. They should be. The idea behind the game is that you're the guitarist in a cover band. Why should you be playing along to master tracks? You're not Milli fucking Vanilli.

I'm definitely enjoying my time with the game. I don't hate any of the 10 tracks I've played so far, and I doubt I'll end up hating any of the other 20. There were at least a few songs in both GH 1 and 2 that I hated, so as far as the track listing goes, this game is actually better than the first two games.

Next, Civilization 4: Beyond the Sword. I've spent too many hours to count playing Civ 4. This expansion adds a bunch of new play mechanics for vanilla Civ 4, and a shitload of scenarios and mods to boot. I've only tried one mod so far, Next War, which expands the late game tech tree. I haven't even seen any of the new techs yet, but the re-balancing of existing tech and new features have already got me hooked again. I'm going to have that sweet Civ 4 juice pumping in my veins for a long time to come.