Fry getting busyHeather’s been out of town for a few days, and as is always the case when she travels, I’ve reverted to my bachelor days. While this of course entails my usual habit of exclusively eating food of the microwavable variety, her timing couldn’t have been better, as this is also the week Guitar Hero III shipped.

My copy arrived yesterday, and I eagerly fired it up, only to discover that while the game was pure liquified awesome, my swanky new wireless guitar had a manufacturing glitch preventing me from hitting the all-important green/red chord (it automatically hit the yellow button whenever I tried). I quickly switched to the still functional wired 360 guitar, but I was pretty heartbroken. Not enough to stop playing, mind you – I apparently played right through my first California earthquake without noticing it. But thankfully a quick trip to Target (and one very cool manager who helped me finagle a return without a receipt) netted me a new, functioning replacement.

Anyway, I finished the game on normal a little while ago, and it has lived up to my significant expectations. The boss battles are a little pointless, but the song list is excellent. But the real treat was attempting to play “Through the Fire and Flames” by Dragonforce, which is unlocked once you complete the game. It’s no shocker that this is the hardest song ever put in a Guitar Hero game (there was even that video of it a few weeks ago proving this fact), but good lord, nothing prepares you for actually playing it.

How crazy is it? Let me put it this way: I played it about ten minutes ago, and my left hand still hasn’t recovered. I haven’t attempted to do it for actual points yet (just practice) and I sincerely doubt I’ll ever be able to make it all the way through the song on any difficulty. But it’s cool to have that insurmountable wall there to climb. Also, this dude is awesome. The fact that the achievement you unlock when you finish the song on expert is called the “inhuman achievement” is a testament to what an acomplishment that is. I can safely say I’ll never get that. But the game is still awesome. Now if only my left hand would stop shaking I could get back to enjoying it.