Content

• Steps
• Part 1 of 3: Complete the prologue
• Part 2 of 3: Walkthrough the rest of the song
• Part 3 of 3: Improving Skills
• Tips
• Warnings
• What do you need

Dragon Force's "Through the Fire and Flames" from 2006's "Inhuman Rampage" is not just the hardest song in Guitar Hero III, it is considered the hardest song in the entire series. It takes a lot of practice to live through the song "Through the Fire and Flames" at the expert level, but with a couple of tricks it is still possible. Moreover, the song was first performed perfectly in 2008.

Steps

Part 1 of 3: Complete the prologue

1. 1 Use a rubber band or capo to hold down the green fret key. The intro to this song, in which you are forced to alternate between the green and other keys on the neck of the guitar controller at a very fast pace, is considered one of the more difficult parts of the entire song. A simple trick that Guitar Hero experts use to make this part easier is to hold down the green key with an object for the entire duration of the prologue. To do this, you can take a regular elastic band, hair elastic or capo. Thus, players can only focus on the remaining keys. Of course, it will not be easy to do this, but this method is one of the easiest.
   • If you want to use this trick, then make sure the item you choose is tight enough to hold the green key firmly, but loose enough to be quickly removed from the green key when you move on to the next section of the song.
2. 2 Use an ascending legato technique (instead of constantly strumming) for the song's intro. After the very first red key, the rest of the prologue is one big legato ascending and descending sequence that doesn't require you to strum, just press the correct frets. This means that this part can be skipped by playing only the first note. You won't lose points from playing too much if they happen on the correct key-string (although they are not required), so do not focus on them too much, but rather press on the correct keys-frets.
   • Ascending legato is performed by pressing one note and "hitting" the second note above the first so that it does not produce sound. Descending legato is performed by playing the first note and touching the second without sound. In Guitar Hero, the ascending and descending legato have a white center (no black border).
   • The difficulty of doing some ascending and descending legato in the water section is that if you miss a note, you have to play it again to drop the string. If you are not careful, you can easily miss a dozen notes, forgetting to play them after every mistake.
3. 3 You can also perform a tapping technique. Playing the introduction to a song with one hand can be difficult. If you are having difficulty reaching the blue and orange keys while gripping the green one, consider using your strumming hand.
   • To do this, move your strumming hand up to the neck of the guitar after the first string and use your index and middle fingers to press the blue and orange keys. For example, if you strum with your right hand, you play the first note with your right hand, and then use your index and middle fingers to hit the blue and orange notes (if you are left-handed, do the opposite).
   • Some high profile players even use the strumming elbow to play the first note. Thanks to this, their fingers are already in place so that they can press the keys when necessary.
4. 4 Forget one of the colors in the prologue. Having trouble hitting each note in the prologue? Limit yourself to only four notes and do not press one of the most difficult (for example, orange). You won't get some points, but there are enough notes in the prologue that you can play well if you hit them on time, of course.
   • Remember, if you miss notes and break a successful sequence, you must be ready to hit the notes again. Your sequence of ascending and descending legato will not work.
5. 5 Get ready to instantly jump to a fast scale. One of the main difficulties of the introductory part is that after repeated execution of extremely complex sequences of notes, everything ends in a very fast scale, which is similar to nothing else that has come before. However, this part is not impossible if you know what to expect:
   • The prologue ends on a green note, and the scale begins on an orange one. These notes are in the same places as they were during the prologue, so if you pay attention, you can smoothly transition from one note to the next.
   • The first downward note is the downward legato. However, the second green note at the bottom of the scale must be played repeatedly. After that, the second orange note at the top of the scale should also play.

Part 2 of 3: Walkthrough the rest of the song

1. 1 If you like, you can leave the rubber band on the fretboard up to the part where the vocals begin. If you've used the rubber band trick discussed earlier, it might seem that you need to remove it from the green key right after the introductory part ends. In fact, this is not entirely true. In Guitar Hero, if you play one note, you can hold all the keys “under” it (down the fretboard) and still hit the notes. Since there are no chords here (two or more notes at once) until the vocals start, you can leave the rubber band on the fretboard until then, and this will not affect your playing.
   • This is very convenient as you will not miss any notes as you remove the rubber band from the controller's neck during the early parts of the song, which are jam-packed with notes. There is a slight pause after the first chord in the guitar part, so you will have a little time to calmly release the rubber band.
2. 2 Play the fast sections of the song with an even sixteenth-note rhythm. The song has several parts, where one note must be played very quickly within one to two seconds. In order to go through these parts, you do not need to madly press the keys. If you play too many notes, you will only lose points and disrupt the successful sequence. Instead, you need to play a fast but very even rhythm. Since these sections are jam-packed with notes, playing with an uneven tempo can result in the loss of many points.
   • Take as an example the Post Insanity part that follows immediately after the introductory part. Here, the fast rhythm alternates between different notes. You need to focus on playing evenly and only move the fingers of your left hand when you need to change the note. Once you have mastered a stable game, these sections will not seem so difficult to you.
3. 3 Complete the easy parts of star power. Having a star drive mode in stock in this song can mean victory or defeat. Because of this, you should take every opportunity to accumulate as much Star Drive as possible.Failure in the light section of the star drive is not allowed in this song! Below are a few of the easiest sections towards the beginning of the song where you can earn some stellar drive. If you go through them, you go through the easy parts of the song itself:
   • Immediately before the loud instruments sound, there are several light chords during the first stanza, followed by a short scale. For its completion you will receive Star Drive Points.
   • Immediately after that, there is a long line of fast green notes, for which you will receive Star Drive Points.
   • When the lyrics go to the words “So now we fly ever free / We’re free before the thunderstorm”, there will be a star drive section right after it.
   • After the start of the first chorus ("So far away ...") you will find a very easy two-chord opportunity to accumulate Star Drive, use vibrato for more Star Drive!
4. 4 Use star drive with care. On tough songs like this, where survival is more important than scoring, star drive won't help you if you don't use it to get out of tough situations. While almost the entire song is quite complex and you can get it wrong in any part of it, there are a few places that even high-profile players say they are more difficult. Below is a list of such parts (the name of each section is taken from the practice mode):
   • "They're hammer ons" (prologue)
   • "Blackest waves"
   • Climactic Buildup
   • Herman's Solo
   • "What the ..!?"
   • "Rampaging Dragons."
   • "Twin Solo" - If you can get through this part, then you can handle the rest of the song.

Part 3 of 3: Improving Skills

1. 1 Make full use of the practice mode. When it comes to playing through incredibly difficult songs like “Through the Fire and Flames,” the in-game practice mode comes in handy. There are a number of convenient functions available here to help you practice your performance of "real" songs. These features include:
   • The ability to slow down the tempo of the song.
   • The ability to rehearse parts of a song without having to play the entire song.
   • Ability to customize the scrolling speed. To do this, you will need to enter a cheat code through the options menu.
2. 2 Play the song on "doable" difficulty, then train to the expert level. If you don't have the skills of Herman Lee (guitarist and songwriter of Dragonforce), the chances of you being able to beat this song at the Expert level on the first try are very, very small. The best way to master this song is to start at a difficulty level that will allow you to complete the entire song (even if it's an easy difficulty). This will give you a sense of the important points in the song and help you gradually increase your speed and accuracy (even though the difference between medium and hard difficulty, and hard and expert is quite significant).
   • In addition, playing at an easier level will allow you to go through the introductory part of the song and practice in the subsequent parts.
3. 3 Practice other difficult songs for a change. Skills that allow you to play through other difficult songs in Guitar Hero will also be useful in Through the Fire and Flames. Plus, practicing other challenging songs will give you a little variety so you don't get burned out by Dragonforce. Below is a list of songs from games that feature "Through the Fire and Flames" and are considered some of the most difficult:
   • Guitar Hero III
   • "Raining Blood" by Slayer
   • "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" (cover) original by Charlie Daniels Band
   • "One" by Metallica "
   • Guitar Hero Smash Hits
   • "Play With Me" by Extreme
   • "Beast and the Harlot" by Avenged Sevenfold
   • "The Trooper" by Iron Maiden
4. 4 Listen to the song in real life. Part of what makes Through the Fire and Flames so challenging is that it is very difficult to predict what will happen next. However, if you listen to a song in real life until you have more or less memorized the whole song, it will make it much easier to perform. Once you can predict the sequence of a song, Guitar Hero can play ahead. For example, if you know that Herman Lee's incredible solo is coming next, then you might want to hold on to the star drive until you need it.

Tips

• If you are relying on star drive to complete a solo game, then you need precision. The solo features 3 easy-to-follow star drive phrases. Take a look, and don't waste your existing star drive. Otherwise, when it ends, you will not be able to collect the 2nd of the 3rd phrases. It is a good idea to apply star drive immediately after starting the solo game (instead of waiting). When Star Drive is over, you should be ready to receive the first of three Star Drive Phrases.
• Playing this song in co-op mode will also help you.
• If you want the song to be almost impossible to pass, then set the cheat code to super speed in the cheats menu and turn the speed to "5". To do this, you need to press the following fret keys: orange, blue, orange, yellow, orange, blue, orange, yellow. Remember to play the note when entering the code.
• Practice is the key to excellence. If you can't get through something, then work on other songs. Make it your goal to score 10 million points in 42 songs on their set list.
• If you want to practice upward legato, practice on the solo of the song "Cult of Personality", as well as the introduction, conclusion and solos of the song "Or My Name is Jonas". Don't forget to rehearse the introduction to "Cliffs of Dover" and the solo to "One" too. Go all the way from slowest speed to maximum speed.

Warnings

• If you don't know how to effectively hit the keys in a solo in the middle of a song, do not try this during live performance. Do this only in practice mode. If you are still trying to learn this, then watch other players' videos to see how they do it.
• Don't spend 10 hours a day going through it. Train only the solo, prologue, "Post Insanity" and "Rampaging Dragons" sections. You will get better and better over time.

What do you need

• Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, PlayStation 2 consoles or compatible home computer
• A copy of the games Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock or Guitar Hero: Smash Hits (or Guitar Hero: Greatest Hits in Europe) for the aforementioned consoles
• Compatible guitar controller or suitable gamepad for the aforementioned consoles