Overview:
-Estimated achievement difficulty: 9/10 (5/10 for 700)
-Offline: 42 (920)
-Online: 8 (80)
-Approximate amount of time to 1000: 8-50 hours
-Minimum number of playthroughs needed: 5
-Number of missable achievements: None
-Glitched achievements: Seek & Destroy
-Do cheat codes disable achievements: Yes
-Does difficulty affect achievements: Yes

This game mostly involves achievements attainable on any difficulty, and therefore makes obtaining 700 only mildly strenuous to the average gamer. However, obtaining the full 1000 requires near perfection.

Introduction:
Guitar Hero: Metallica is the ultimate music-rhythm game for hardcore Metallica fans and for casual gamers alike. This game has 50 achievements totaling 1000. It will require at least five playthroughs in the game’s career mode to obtain every achievement; one playthrough for every instrument (guitar, bass, drums, and vocals), and one playthrough involving two through four people (band). Aside from playing through the campaign, you will need to play a few online matches and achieve certain scores or accomplish certain tasks within many songs of the game’s setlist to achieve all 1000. Guitar Hero: Metallica will require players going for the full 1000 to maximize the use of the game’s plastic drums, microphone, and especially guitar. Several achievements require you to play songs on expert difficulty almost perfectly, scoring 97%-99% on the song. However, many achievements can be obtained by a newcomer to music-rhythm games, making the task of obtaining 700 much easier than netting the full 1000.

The only known glitched achievement is Seek & Destroy. This achievement requires you to play 20 online matches, winning or losing them. For most people, this achievement unlocks when it is supposed to. Some people, however, have reported playing through over 50 matches, and not getting the achievement. It appears that the best method to avoiding this achievement glitch is to play battle mode, failing repeatedly until you get the achievement.

To input a cheat, go to the main menu. Select “Options,” then “Cheats,” then “Enter New Cheat.” The only cheats that disable achievements are the “Always Slide” cheat and the “Auto Kick” cheat. All other cheats are either for personal preferences or for entertainment purposes. For a list of cheats, view this website HERE.

Step 1: Tutorials (1 for 5)
This roadmap assumes that you have no experience playing music-rhythm games. If this is the case, the best way to start would definitely be to play the tutorials. If you do not have instruments yet, those need to be purchased as soon as possible. For Guitar Hero: Metallica, any plastic guitar will work; any guitar from a previous Guitar Hero game or even any Rock Band guitar works. Because of this, I would recommend the Guitar Hero III Les Paul guitar (considered one of the best guitars), and one other guitar of your choice. For a microphone, you can use a Rock Band microphone or a Guitar Hero microphone. Even a standard Xbox Live headset will work. For drums, note that you will receive the best experience with a Guitar Hero: World Tour drum set. You can, however, use a Rock Band or Rock Band 2 drum set. If you are going for all achievements, then the World Tour drum set is a must, as you can not achieve The More I See unless you have those drums. Once you have all instruments, play through every tutorial and familiarize yourself with the game. Make sure you do not form any bad habits; always do exactly as the tutorial says. Playing every tutorial will net you The More I See.

Step 2: Career Playthroughs (23 for 565)
Play through every instrument career on a difficulty of your choice. For the band career, you only need two players, however, you can have as many as four. If you can earn five stars on every song, you will only be required to play 15 songs per career. This will net you James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett, Robert Trujillo, Holier Than Thou, Nothing Else Matters, Wherever I May Roam, The Memory Remains, Trapped Under Ice, Invisible Kid, Some Kind of Monster, The House Jack Built, Stone Dead Forever, Damage Inc., and Motorbreath. You should have The Ecstacy of Gold by now, but if you don’t, keep playing songs until you acquire $15,000. For one of your instrument careers, play enough songs to earn 100 stars. This will give you …And Justice For All. To earn Metallica, you will need to beat at least one career on expert. To beat a career on expert, you can play every song on any difficulty, until you reach the last song, which must be played on expert. If you are having trouble, I would recommend drums, as you can have a friend hit the bass pedal while you drum the pads. Beating The Thing That Should Not Be on expert will also give you One if you do not have it already. After you are done with every career, you will have at least $15,000. You can now customize your character. Firstly, create a character to unlock Disposable Heroes. You can then create a custom instrument and tattoo for your character to unlock Fixxxer, and Blackened. Lastly, go create a band logo to unlock Eye of the Beholder. A very simple 20 with these last four achievements.

Step 3: Band Play (7 for 120)
All of these achievements can be done online or locally. Ride the Lightning, 2 X 4, The Struggle Within, and The Four Horsemen can all be achieved pretty easily if everyone in your band can play expert. If you are having trouble finding an expert vocalist, choose the song Orion. It has no words. Metal Militia may take some time, but shouldn’t be too hard because the difficulty does not matter. While going for these achievements, you may pick up Master of Puppets. If you don’t, it can be easily boosted by putting the other three band members on beginner, and you on medium or higher (assuming you can play well on medium). The last achievement, Battery, is probably best achieved online with people on the Achievement Trading Thread. You will most likely need a band that plays every instrument on expert for this achievement.

Step 4: Online Play (7 for 85)
All of these achievements can only be obtained online. Every achievement can be boosted with people from the Achievement Trading Thread. If you don’t want to boost, Better Than You, The Unforgiven, The Unforgiven II, The Unforgiven III can usually be obtained by playing only a few matches. When the opponent quits, achievements will still unlock, making these fairly easy. Black will take a little bit of work, but is still fairly achievable. Due to the lack of people online, Blitzkrieg, will almost certainly have to be boosted. At the end of this, if you still do not have Seek & Destroy, play a few more matches until you get it, but remember to be wary of the achievement glitch (see Introduction).

Step 5: Song-Specific Achievements (5 for 150)
These achievements are definitely the hardest in the game. Dyer’s Eve, and Stone Cold Crazy can be achieved on hard difficulty. Enter Sandman also can be achieved on hard by scoring 100% on the song and having a perfect star power path. For more information on star power paths, check out Scorehero.com found HERE. Fight Fire With Fire requires 98% or higher on expert only, and Creeping Death requires 99% or higher on expert only. Practice mode will become your best friend when going for these achievements. For the complicated guitar solos/drum beats, practice on a slower speed until you can 100% it. Then increase your speed and repeat. Eventually, you should be able to score 100% on normal speed. Good luck.

Step 6: Achievement Mop Up (7 for 75)
Now that you’re done with the majority of the achievements, it’s time to mop up those last seven. Green Hell, and Astronomy are best done on easy difficulty, however you can do them on any difficulty except beginner. Go play as Lemmy and King Diamond to unlock Lemmy, and King Diamond respectively. Go for Cure while working for the last two. After that, hop onto GHTunes and download a song to unlock Reload. The last achievement, Hero of the Day, is the only one of these seven that might take some work. If you only have one bass pedal, your best bet is probably Wherever I May Roam.

Conclusion:
If you managed to get all 1000, you are exceptionally talented. If you managed to get all 1000 without breaking anything (instruments, TV, body parts), then you are a God. If you are still missing achievements, they are most likely from Step 5. At this point, I would just leave them, move onto new games, and be content with the 700

[x360a would like to thank tmcmullen08 for this Roadmap]

Guitar Hero: Metallica Achievement Guide

Printable Guide
Show completed achievements
Show secret achievements

There are 50 achievements with a total of 1000 points

  • Complete the Tutorials

    Note! You need to have a Guitar Hero drum kit. You cannot unlock this achievement with the Rock Band drum kit.
  • Complete any instrument career on Expert (Guitar, Bass, Vocals, Drums or Band)

    (6)   
    Get 70 stars in a Career Mode, which should unlock the Ice Cave venue where you play "The Thing That Should Not Be." It doesn't matter what difficulty you know all the other songs, as long as you beat "The Thing That Should Not Be" on Expert, you will unlock this achievement.
  • Complete the career as the vocalist

       
    See "Kirk Hammett"
  • Complete the career as the drummer

       
    See "Kirk Hammett"
  • Complete the career as the guitarist

       
    Achieve 70 stars to unlock last gig at the Ice Cave and complete "The Thing That Should Not Be". Any difficulty will unlock this achievement.
  • Complete the career as the bassist

    (1)   
    See "Kirk Hammett"
  • Complete all instrument careers

    (6)    
    Unlock Kirk Hammett, Robert Trujillo, Lars Ulrich, and James Hetfield to unlock this achievement. All of the careers must be on the same save file.
  • One

     

    10

    Complete a song with any instrument on Hard or Expert in local Quickplay or Career

       
    Self Explanatory
  • Earn 100 stars in Band Career or any single instrument Career

       
    Complete 20+ songs to get the required 100 stars. Can be done on any difficulty, just has to be 100 on a single career instrument. The difficulty doesn't matter.
  • Earn $15,000

       
    Expert FC (Full Combos) should net you $800+, but most songs on Expert will net $300+. Expect around 20 - 50 songs on Expert to hit $15,000 total.
  • You triggered star power simultaneously (4 player band)

    (10)   
    Have enough star power for each band member to use it (5 - 6 vials), and have everyone in the 4 player band deploy it at similar times. This will allow everyone to be in star power mode at the same time, which is what is required for this achievment.
  • 2 X 4

     

    10

    Earn a band Hot Streak (4 player band)

    (6)   
    Have every band member get a streak together for a section of the song. If one person breaks streak, it breaks the band streak.
  • 100% a song (4 player band)

    (39)   
    Have every member get 100% on the song. Can be done on Beginner by yourself if you have all the instruments honestly. Drums only need bass pedal, guitar / bass is just strums, and vocals can be done with a fan.
  • Complete a song in a band in Quickplay or Career (4 players)

    (2)   
    Simply complete a song with all 4 instruments in the band active.
  • Complete a song with all band members on expert in Quickplay or Career (4 player band)

    (12)   
    Same as The Struggle Within, except everyone on Expert. You simply have to pass the song. It doesn't have to be pretty.
  • Complete the career in a band (2-4 player band)

       
    Achieve 70 stars to get the Ice Cave venue and complete "The Thing That Should Not Be".
  • Win an online Pro Face-Off match

    Ranked or Player Match, just simply win
  • Win an online Band v Band match (8 players)

    This can be boosted, since you will not fail out in Band v Band mode, you both just need a set of all instruments.
  • Play 20 online matches

    (10)  
    Ranked, Player, and Co-op online count.
  • Win an online Face-Off match

    Ranked or Player Match, just simply win
  • Download a song from GHTunes

    Self Explanatory
  • Complete a song on Expert + in Quickplay or Career (drums only)

    (8)   
    Look for songs in Quickplay that have the symbol of the achievement on it, those can all be played on Expert+. These are Expert song with double bass charted in it, so I would HIGHLY advise you to have two pedals.

    Some easy songs to try if you are struggling are Whenever I May Roam and Master of Puppets.
  • Complete a song in every venue

    (5)   
    Complete a song in each venue (including unlockables).

    *TIP* Replay a song in Career mode to choose different venues.
  • View a Metallifacts video

      
    Choose the bonus options on a song, click Metallifacts, and watch a "pop up video" of the in-game band playing the song and displaying fun facts about the song or band. Once it is finished, the achievement will unlock.

    *YOU HAVE TO WATCH THE WHOLE VIDEO, DON'T END IT EARLY*
  • Black

     

    10

    Win an online battle match with the Fade to Black power up

    Play battle mode (Ranked or Player) and have both players last through the song once. You replay the song again and all power ups from that point forward are "Fade to Black" power-ups. Win with the power up to unlock achievement.
 

Secret achievements

  • You completed a song at the Ice Cave venue

    (1)   
    This is the last venue in Career mode. Unlocks after 70 stars
  • You rocked out as Lemmy

      
    Complete the song "Ace of Spades" by Motorhead in Career mode to unlock Lemmy. Then go back to Character Select, purchase Lemmy for $1000, and then play any NON-Metallica song, as any Metallica song you play will have Metallica characters only.

    *Or play Vocals and sing "Ace of Spades" by Motorhead to get achievement*
  • You performed as the bassist

       
    Complete a song on Bass
  • You performed as the guitarist

       
    Complete a song on Guitar
  • You completed a song in every In-the-Round venue

       
    This should unlock after the first four or five venues in career mode are unlocked and at least one song in each venue has been passed.
  • You hit every star power phrase in the song Orion

      
    Play it on Easy and hit all the star powers if you are unable to hit it on other difficulties.
  • You completed a song at The Stone venue

       
    Unlocks after completing a career mode.

    Go back in Career and replay a song you already beat to choose a venue. Choose The Stone venue and achievement unlocked when you complete the song
  • Cure

     

    5

    You recovered from a poor performance in Quickplay or Career

      
    During a performance, drop down into the red on the rock meter, then recover back to green rock meter and complete the song.
  • You created a new custom band logo

     
    Create a custom band logo. When you save it, the achievement will unlock.
  • You created a new custom instrument

     
    Create a custom instrument. When you save it, the achievement will unlock.
  • You created a custom tattoo

     
    Go to edit a character and select a tattoo, once you create it and save it, the achievement will unlock.
  • You scored the highest individual score on a song in a band

    (1)   
    There are two ways to do this:

    1) Play online with crappy people in a band and hope you get a higher individual score than any of them.

    2) Do this with the Band v Band achievement earlier, and play the instrument that is linked to your main profile.
  • You created a new custom rocker

     
    Create a custom rocker, and when you save it, the achievement will unlock.
  • You performed as the drummer

       
    Complete a song on Drums
  • You performed as the vocalist

       
    Complete a song on Vocals
  • You rocked out as King Diamond

    (1)  
    Complete the song "Evil" by Mercyful Fate in Career mode to unlock King Diamond. Then go back to Character Select, purchase King Diamond for $2000, and then play any NON-Metallica song, as any Metallica song you play will have Metallica characters only.

    *Or play Vocals and sing "Evil" by Mercyful Fate to get achievement*
  • You scored 330,000 on the song Enter Sandman on guitar

    (7)  
    This is a really easy song outside of Solo, and even then its not too bad. With a bad star path, you will need a 98%+, but you might be able to get it with a 96% or 97% with a good star path.

    Can be done on Hard with 100% + Perfect Star Path
  • You scored 450,000 on the song Dyer's Eve as the drummer

    (5)  
    Hard difficulty is the way to go. Note: Auto Kick disables achievements.
  • You scored 340,000 on the song Fight Fire with Fire as the bassist

    (4)  
    Song is only achievable on Expert with at least a 98% and up.
  • You scored 65,000 on Stone Cold Crazy as the vocalist

    (3)  
    Aim for 88% on Expert, 95% on Hard, or 99% on Medium depending on streaks and how good the free-form vocal sections are. SAVE STARPOWER FOR FREE-FORM, THATS WHERE YOU GET MOST OF YOUR POINTS.
  • You scored 575,000 on the song Creeping Death as the guitarist

    (14)  
    99% with excellent star path. If you miss more than five notes, you might as well restart since its a long song.
  • You scored 1,000,000 on the song Battery as a band

    (33)   
    Full Band on Expert, maybe with one instrument playing another difficulty, can net this achievement.
  • You won an online Face-Off match by 25,000 points or more

     
    Win a Ranked or Player Face Off match by 25K or more, remember that if someone is on a lower difficulty than you, their score will be rounded up at the end for "fairness", so it has to be 25K more than the final total score.

    It will unlock if the opponent quits out of the match
  • Drummed every green note and finished the song Blood and Thunder with the rock meter in green

    (7)  
    The simple way is to play on Easy and play the song without missing a Green note and make sure that you finish the song with a green rock meter.
  • You won an online Pro Face-Off match by 25,000 points or more

     
    Same as The Unforgiven II, but no rounding. Both players will be on the same difficulty.

    It will unlocks if the opponent quits out of the match.

You might also like