The "Guitar Hero" games are on the verge of hitting overkill territory. There are no fewer than five -- yes, five -- variations coming out this year alone.

Still, it's been a good formula, and "Guitar Hero 5" makes some very nice changes.

Like "Guitar Hero World Tour," "GH5" is a full-band game, with parts for guitar, bass, drums and vocals. In general, "GH5" plays the same as its predecessors.

But there are some big differences, all of which are meant to make the game more accessible.

The biggest change is the ability to do pretty much anything at will. Don't want to play anymore? Fine, drop out while the others keep going. The song's too hard? Switch the difficulty. Want to play a different instrument? Just change it.

Plus, the restrictions on instruments are gone. If you have two people fighting over the guitar part, let them both play it. You can have a four-guitar band if you want, though that seems a bit boring.

You also don't have to worry so much about failing a song. Gone is the three strikes and you're out rule. Now, if you fail, your bandmates can bring you back as many times as needed, as long as they keep the crowd happy by playing well.

"GH5" also adds challenges. Each song has a goal for one of the instruments (or the full band), such as note streaks or playing a certain way. Meeting these challenges unlocks an extra, from clothes and instruments for your rocker to cheats.

For the party-minded, there's a RockFest mode with six game types for up to eight players (if you're online). These game types provide fun competition. For example, perfectionist mode awards the win to the player with the highest accuracy on a song.

Visually, "GH5" gets a face lift and looks pretty good, especially with its stable of unlockable rock stars (Shirley Manson, Kurt Cobain, Johnny Cash, etc.).

I'm more of a "Rock Band" girl, but this is the most fun I've had with a "Guitar Hero" game in a long time.

-- Questionable judgment: While most of the 85-track song list is decent, a few songs don't seem the best choices for the game. I'm looking at you, "Bring the Noise."

-- See yourself: The Xbox 360 and Wii versions of the game let you bring your avatar/Mii into the band. This is a nice idea, but they look pretty ridiculous and out of joint on stage with the regular characters.

"Guitar Hero 5"

Activision/Red Octane, for Xbox 360 (also for PlayStation 3, Wii, PlayStation 2)

Rated: Teen

Cost: $59.99

Score: 8.5/10

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