by I Commentator I

© 2010 Declan S

Guitar Hero; Van Halen joins the ranks of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith and Guitar Hero: Metallica as the next Guitar Hero installment that focuses on a particular band.

Having played all the renditions of both Guitar Hero and Rockband on the Xbox 360, it is hard to mask my initial disappointment at Van Halen.

Whilst both Guitar Hero 5 and Band Hero have used the flashy new career mode system, which includes challenges that encompass all instruments and play styles, it is clear that Van Halen was produced before either of those games, because it reverts back to an old style which is similar to the other band specific games.

Whilst one set is full of Van Halen songs, the other is filled up with bands from other songs which include the likes of Queen, Tenacious D, The Offspring, The Clash, Yellowcard and more.

Sadly, in Van Halen the songs from other bands are better to play than the Van Halen songs themselves.

For anyone who has played a Guitar Hero game, there are not going to be any surprises here. It follows the standard Guitar/Microphone/Drum kit combo that has been included in every game since World Tour. The game ships with 28 Van Halen songs and 19 songs from other bands.

This is on par with the other band expansions too, yet is disappointing in the face of other Guitar Hero titles, which have the same retail price yet ship with twice as many songs.

In terms of comparison to other band games, Van Halen is better than Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, yet much worse than Guitar Hero: Metallica and Rock Band: Beatles.

Whilst those two titles featured extension info on the band, with pictures, Bio’s, and extensive information, as well as videos etc., Van Halen lacks this extensive extra work that has gone into both those games.

However, Guitar Hero: Van Halen does have a drawcard to it- 3 instrumental tracks from Eddy Van Halen, which will test even the best Guitar Hero players. As someone who has beaten Through the Fire and Flames on Guitar Hero: 3 , as well as having easily beaten every other guitar hero game on expert, I was very surprised when I found myself failing multiple times on these Eddy Van Halen songs. As of now, I still have one to go.

Even if it isn’t the best in the series, Guitar Hero: Van Halen does offer a decent challenge to the more hardcore Guitar hero fans.

Up to four people can play coop offline/online and 4v4 multiplayer is also available.

Despite this, your chances of finding a decent game online are slim. If you do manage to find some people online, the majority of them will be playing guitar as well, so whilst great if you are a drums player or a singer, not so great if you too have your guitar plugged in.

This game is much more enjoyable online if you have a few friends all ready to join up with each other.

In Conclusion, there isn’t really much to say about Guitar Hero: Van Halen. It more like glorified DLC. You have to be a really big Van Halen fan to dish out retail price for this title.

Hot tip of the day: go out and pick up Guitar Hero 5 instead, sorry to say, but this one is a miss.

© 2010 Declan S

“4.5/10

Guitar Hero Van Halen Song List

1. Van Halen – Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love
2. Van Halen – And The Cradle Will rock
3. Van Halen – Atomic Punk
4. Van Halen – Beautiful Girls
5. Van Halen – Cathedral (Solo)
6. Van Halen – Dance The Night Away
7. Van Halen – Eruption (Solo)
8. Van Halen – Everybody Wants Some!
9. Van Halen – Feel Your Love Tonight
10. Van Halen – Hang ‘Em High
11. Van Halen – Hear About It Later
12. Van Halen – Hot For Teacher
13. Van Halen – I’m The One
14. Van Halen – Ice Cream Man
15. Van Halen – Intruder/(Oh) Pretty Woman
16. Van Halen – Jamie’s Cryin’
17. Van Halen – Little Guitars
18. Van Halen – Loss Of Control
19. Van Halen – Mean Street
20. Van Halen – Panama
21. Van Halen – Romeo Delight
22. Van Halen – Runnin’ With The Devil
23. Van Halen – So This Is Love
24. Van Halen – Somebody Get Me An Issue
25. Van Halen – Unchained
26. Van Halen – You Really Got Me
27. Alter Bridge – Come To Life
28. Billy Idol – White Wedding
29. Blink-182 – First Date
30. The Clash – Safe European Home
31. Deep Purple – Space Truckin’
32. Foo Fighters – Best of You
33. Foreigner – Double Vision
34. Fountains of Wayne – Stacy’s Mom
35. Jimmy Eat World – Pain
36. Judas Priest – Painkiller
37. Killswitch Engage – The End Of Heartache
38. Lenny Kravitz – Rock And Roll Is Dead
39. Queen – I Want It All
40. Queens Of The Stone Age – Sick, Sick, Sick
41. Tenacious D – Master Exploder
42. The Offspring – Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)
43. Third Eye Blind – Semi-Charmed Life
44. Weezer – Dope Nose
45. Yellowcard – The Takedown

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Filed under: 3rd Party Games, Console gaming, Game Impressions, New Xbox 360 Games, Xbox 360 Game Reviews, Xbox 360 News Tagged: | "Guitar Hero: Van Halen Review", "Van Halen songs", Activision, Alex Van Halen, David Lee Roth, Eddy Van Halen, GH: Metallica, GH: Van Halen, GH:5, Guitar Hero, Guitar Hero 5, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, Guitar Hero: Metallica, Guitar Hero: Van Halen, Jan Van Halen, Rockband, Van Halen, Wolfgang Van Halen