Mini demo review
I have been feeling a little ashamed of myself of late, and as it is game related shame I feel I must confess. As you all probably know I have been writing under the name ‘GuitarGirl24′ for some time now, and recently this has caused me a some conflict. You see though my name was in part chosen merely for my love of guitar solo’s (and I LOVE a good guitar solo) it was also a reference to my unconditional love of the plastic guitar. Yet recently I confess I have been neglecting my faithful fretted friend in favor of my much louder, more tiring plastic drum peripheral. I must explain. It is not that I no longer love my plastic guitar, it is simply that I have spent less time with the drums, and therefore find them more challenging. That combined with the fact that recent Gh and Rockband releases have been getting more and more family friendly with each new release (Or easier, lets not beat about the bush here) has swayed my attention away from the guitar and onto the much newer world of virtual drumming. This is the cause of my conflict, my shame. As time goes by I cannot help but wonder, will anything be able to re-ignite my passion for the plastic guitar? Or am I doomed to change my name to ‘DrumGirl’ and hot, sweaty and most of all tired for evermore.
By this point you may be thinking all hope is lost, and that I have given up hope, but fear not. 2010 is here, bringing with it hope for all of those who like their solo’s fast, furious and finger burning. For anyone who hasn’t read the title I am talking of course about Gh Van Halen, and for those of you without X-Box live here my take on a demo which I believe may just have the power to get us all strumming once more.
At this point you may be thinking that I am a huge Van Halen fan, I mean why else would I get so excited about this game otherwise right? WRONG. Beyond knowing the chorus to “Jump” my Van Halen knowledge is actually embarrassingly small, leading to the inevitable question: Why do I find this release so exciting? Its simple really, the demo beat me. At this point, primarily for the risk of sounding big-headed I will give some context to this statement. Though, I am in no way undefeated I rarely consider songs un-winnable. In the good old days of guitar hero I used to fail songs all the time, but as some of you who have read my previous articles will know recent releases have posed me almost no challenge. For example, I played Gh 5 from start to finish in expert repeating only two songs, suggesting either I have become a guitar goddess (unlikely), or the games have been getting easier. Therefore to be beaten 33% into “Eruption” and to be still hopelessly stuck at this point in time is VERY interesting. Could it be that Gh Van Halen has a set-list with difficulty to rival that of even Gh Metallica? It would certainly be a refreshing start to 2010 if it does, and after-all I do like a challenge.
As for the rest of the demo its pretty standard really. Same format of following a bands rise to stardom etc… Same slightly self indulgent feel that Gh Metallica had (oops, should I say that?) However it is worth mentioning at this point a few unexpected curiosities which caught my eye when playing. Firstly, On downloading this demo I couldn’t help but notice that it has a strange underlying retro feel. Though there are no major changes in graphics or gameplay (if anything the graphics have improved again) I did manage to spot a couple of little changes to the game which were more puzzling than revolutionary. For example it seems that the decision has been made to revert back to the more spaced out screen layout reminiscent of titles released pre- Guitar hero world tour. By this I mean that the score meter, star power bar and star meter have moved to their retro positions at the sides of the screens, instead of being down the sides of the fretboard. I find this change a little surprising as besides perhaps making it slightly harder to read your score and play simultaneously it accomplishes next to nothing. Slightly more pleasing to me is the appearance of the traditional Guitar Hero set characters. As you are all probably aware the Gh band members have evolved quite a long way since Gh 1, in my opinion reaching perfection Gh 3, only to change beyond recognition in world tour and beyond. I am pleased therefore to report that In Van Halen our favorites are more or less back to their old selves. Sure Judy nails has lost a few pounds, and Larz a little more trim, but at least Casey Lynch has her long hair back. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, that bob never suited her….
Anyway, onto more important things. Set-list. Now as you will expect this game comes with a fair dose of Van Halen tracks as well as a splattering of other “Rock hits’. During the demo You are able to play a selection from the full playlist including “Drop Nose” by Weezer, “The end of heartache” by Killswitch Engage, “Eruption” by Van Halen and “Panama” by Van Halen. Though Eruption was the only song to actually cause finger burn, all of the songs were intricate enough to be found enjoyable, and this leaves me hopeful for the rest of the set-list. On the subject of the rest of the Set-list please Enjoy.
Van Halen Selection
“Ain’t Talkin Bout Love”
“And The Cradle Will Rock”
“Atomic Punk”
“Beautiful Girls”
“Cathedral (Solo)”
“Dance The Night Away”
“Eruption (Solo)”
“Everybody Wants Some”
“Feel Your Love Tonight”
“Hang ‘Em High”
“Hear About It Later”
“Hot For Teacher”
“Ice Cream Man”
“I’m The One”
“Jamie’s Cryin’”
“Jump”
“Little Guitars”
“Loss Of Control”
“Mean Street”
“Panama”
“Pretty Woman”
“Romeo Delight”
“Running With The Devil”
“So This Is Love”
“Somebody Get Me A Doctor”
“Spanish Fly (Solo)”
“Unchained”
“You Really Got Me”
Other songs
“Come To Life” Alter Bridge
“White Wedding” Billy Idol
“First Date” Blink-182
“Space Truckin” Deep Purple
“Best Of You” Foo Fighters
- “Double Vision” Foreigner
“Stacy’s Mom” Fountains Of Wayne
- “Pain” Jimmy Eat World
“Painkiller” Judas Priest
“The End Of Heartache” Killswitch Engage
“Rock And Roll Is Dead” Lenny Kravitz
“I Want It All” Queen
“Sick, Sick, Sick” Queens Of The Stone Age
“Master Exploder” Tenacious D
“Safe European Home” The Clash
“Pretty Fly For A White Guy” The Offspring
“Semi-Charmed Life” Third Eye Blind
“Dope Nose” Weezer
“The Takedown” Yellowcard
True there is nothing particularly unexpected here, and some of the songs are of course Rockband repeats 
as usual. However Van Halen are know for their solo’s, and that leaves me hopeful that the gameplay will be more enjoyable than the set-list may let on. That is, as long as the solo’s we are offered are not to heavily reliant on the slider/tap feature of the newer guitars. Call me old fashioned, but I do love a good finger breaking solo…You know what I mean…
Just a couple more things. Though this game is like Gh Metallica in theme, I am pleased to say that some of the problems which once tormented me have now been fixed. The biggest improvement to me comes in the smallest of features. Unlike Metallica this game allows you to chart your progress through the different difficulty levels using tiny Guitar picks with roman numerals on. Each Pick represents a different difficulty (kind of like the skulls in world tour) and beside each pick there is space where your score for the song in each difficulty is written. I know, I know. this seems like such a small thing, but anyone who tried to play Metallica in two difficulties will know why this is so important. I also couldn’t complete this demo review without mentioning the great attention to detail that has been paid to animating the band. Every member is expressive and dexterous, to the point of being almost quite scary. Though their energy can be a little overwhelming at times its is nice that although once again it seems we must abandon our custom creations to “BE” Van Halen, at least our virtual selves look as if they are actually having a good time.
And thats it. The demo is still on line so if you have a spare 5 minutes I suggest you download away and see what you think. Oh and if anyone gets past 33% on Eruption in expert (Not using the tap and slide bar!) please let me know. I will make you a paper crown.
Oh, and before I go I will make you all a promise. I “GuitarGirl” hereby promise to resist the lure of the drums and play this title from start to finish on my plastic guitar. I Vow to be faithful to the frets once more, and resist my evil urges in order to once again justify my name. No longer will I be found banging from noon until night, else the gods of rock strike me down for…misrepresentation of goods………?
Until next time,
GuitarGirl24
x
