Just like they did with their previous band-focused effort, GH: Aerosmith, Activision is back and now putting forth Metallica for their countless fans in Guitar Hero: Metallica released this week on Xbox 360 and PS3.

The tracks in the game run the gamut in terms of covering most of the popular songs in the band's storied history including "Seek and Destroy" and "Master of Puppets" -- 49 songs in all, including bands that influenced Metallica over the years.

"We wanted a little bit of a different slant. Basically, you start out and you play some songs and you get warmed up, and there's a competition. We're trying to pick a band to play with us and go on the road with us," Lars Ulrich told USA Today.

"Story" mode, similar to Aerosmith's game, follows the band's rise to fame as you relive moments in venues such as the LA Forum, Tushino Airfield, and the Hammersmith Odeon.

Slayer Struggle

Acquiring Slayer songs, much like The Beatles with Apple Corps., has been notoriously hard to get into the current crop of rhythm games, but Activision managed to add "War Ensemble" from Seasons of the Abyss. Ulrich, in an interview with GameInformer, commented on Slayer's inclusion:

"I'm super psyched we got Slayer in there. Slayer's got to be part of any heavy metal video game. There had been some issues with their lyrics. That gets into a whole slew of stuff like, 'Microsoft won't do it if this lyrical content is in there.' There's all this b------t you have to deal with, but we stood up for Slayer, and we finally got Slayer cleared like a week ago."

Originally, "Angel of Death" was supposed to appear in the game but concerns from parents on the lyrical content in the song got the team to replace it with "War Ensemble."

The Pre-Order Kick

GameStop, if you pre-ordered GH: Metallica, gave out a second foot pedal compatible with the game's "Expert +" mode that includes a splitter to connect it with the drums' one you already have. Unfortunately, as of this writing, Activision hasn't announced any other ways to get the pedal otherwise.

If you're willing, you can buy a "replacement" pedal on RedOctane's site for $20 and find a splitter yourself. As Guitar Hero fans already know, Metallica's tracks in previous games were always in the later, harder tiers of the game. Throwing in another pedal into the mix should satisfy the urge rock out even further.

Where's Cliff Burton?

Along with Metallica's songs, there's a history of interchangeable members in the band. GH: Metallica's lead designer, Alan Flores, answered MTV's question on getting Cliff Burton in the game:

"I think I can definitely say no. That was actually kind of sensitive thing with the guys in Metallica. We asked them about that and they never said no. They just went, “Ehhh.” They didn’t want to make [current bassist] Rob Trujillo feel like he wasn’t as important a part of the band as he is. So there’s no Cliff Burton in the game, but there’s Cliff Burton in spirit. You get to play his basslines. We talk about him in the Metalli-facts [trivia] as well."

Band members that do show up in the game were motion captured playing all the songs featured in GH: Metallica live. You could even say that computer-generating the band kept their youthful spirit without their real-life signs of aging.

The Set List...

The tracks featured in the game are below. Remember that if you downloaded the "Death Magnetic" DLC pack, it will show up with the rest of the songs in the game on Xbox 360 and PS3. Future PS2 and Wii iterations will include a couple of tracks from the DLC pack on the GH: Metallica disc in Spring (likely early May).

Metallica Tracks

All Nightmare Long
Battery
Creeping Death
Disposable Heroes
Dyers Eve
Enter Sandman
Fade To Black
Fight Fire With Fire
For Whom The Bell Tolls
Frantic
Fuel
Hit The Lights
King Nothing
Master of Puppets
Mercyful Fate (Medley)
No Leaf Clover
Nothing Else Matters
One
Orion
Sad But True
Seek And Destroy
The Memory Remains
The Shortest Straw
The Thing That Should Not Be
The Unforgiven
Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
Wherever I May Roam
Whiplash

Other Artists

Alice In Chains - No Excuses
Bob Seger - Turn The Page
Corrosion of Conformity - Albatross
Diamond Head - Am I Evil?
Foo Fighters - Stacked Actors
Judas Priest - Hell Bent For Leather
Kyuss - Demon Cleaner
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Tuesdays Gone
Machine Head - Beautiful Mourning
Mastodon - Blood And Thunder
Mercyful Fate - Evil
Michael Schenker Group - Armed and Ready
Motorhead - Ace of Spades
Queen - Stone Cold Crazy
Samhain - Mother of Mercy
Slayer - War Ensemble
Social Distortion - Mommy's Little Monster
Suicidal Tendencies - War Inside My Head
System of a Down - Toxicity
The Sword - Black River
Thin Lizzy - The Boys Are Back in Town