The Final Verdict.
Well I have kept my promise. It seems like a long time ago now that I was giving you all the low down on the Van Halen Demo but after a lot of strumming, a few harsh failures (and a bit of sneaky Bioshock 2) I am back to give Guitar Hero Van Halen its final Verdict. I feel that the phrase ‘Final Verdict’ is very appropriate when reviewing this game, for more reasons than one. Many people I have spoken to have judged this game quite harshly with opinions that in any court would suggest a verdict of life imprisonment or even death by burning. In other words, they speak of the game only with contempt anger and disappointment. I however feel that every case heard in the gaming courtroom must have defense as well as prosecution, and so I shall endeavor to give you a fuller picture before giving a final verdict. Please rise, put your left hand on the plastic guitar and swear to tell the truth the, whole truth and nothing but the truth. Gh Court is in session.
The defence:
Opening Statement
“The defense pleads that Gh Van halen is an innocent party, created only to amuse, challenge and entertain members of the gaming community. The songs were varied, playable and most of all challenging adding valuable content to a hugely popular series. The gameplay was solid throughout and challenged the player to explore many varying techniques in order to complete the game ”
Evidence.
1. The Set list is Varied, and provides a wealth of new songs. As strange as the choice of songs initially seems, Gh Van Halen does in a strange way have something for everyone. From ‘Painkiller’ By Judas Priest and ‘Master exploder‘ by Tenacious D for the rock heads to ‘I want it all’ by Queen for your mum, this is a mixed bag unlike any other. For some time now music based gaming has been a firm party favorite, and after rigorous testing with the Plus xp-house band I can confirm that though Van Halen may be slightly disjointed in career mode, it was more than enough to satisfy everyone during party play. True it does not have the varied brilliance of say Gh 5 or Rockband 2, but if like me you have a hard-core band who have pretty much exhausted all of the songs currently available any content becomes good content.
2. The difficulty has definitely increase. I can now confirm it. Though I have a feeling the days of ‘Family friendly’ gaming are far from gone, this title embraces a little of the spirit of the earlier Gh titles. How does it do this you ask? by taking the difficulty once again up to epic proportions. Of course. I feel that despite all of its flaws this game is in one way back the way nature intended, with songs progressing from easy and accessible to nearly impossible within a single setlist. I should also say at this point that this game challenges the player to explore many of the more recent Gh playing techniques. This title had its fair share of staggered chords, slide solo’s and four finger chords, making it a challenge for even the most dedicated Gh rocker. Though I kept my promise and completed this game, I must now confess that I am still battling with ‘Hot for teacher’ ‘Spanish Fly’ and ‘Erruption’ in Expert mode. For some this would be a cause for distress, but to me it brings a great sense of joy. Things are back the way they should be. Difficult.
3. Cathedral. As expected this game is quite tap slider heavy, something which causes me great sadness. Though I will use the tap slider if desperate I am not its biggest fan, and though this is obvious unjustified prejudice I am certain that I am not the only one who feels the same way. There is however one shining ray of holy light for those of you who like me think that using the slider is *cough* Cheating *cough*. I am talking of course about the Van Halen Solo “Catherdral” which I am pleased to report is both extremely challenging and without a tap note in sight. As the game finishes with three of Van Halen’s most famous solo’s the tap free nature of Cathedral makes it impossible to complete this game without homing both your tap/slide skills and your traditional solo skills. Sliders beware, solo properly or fail miserably!
The Prosecution.
“Gh Van Halen was an overpriced disappointment with few surprises and even less atmosphere. The band clearly had little to no input with this game, and though the setlist was more difficult the songs chosen made no sense leaving the game lacking in both theme and purpose.”
Evidence.
1. Lets face it, Guitar hero Van Halen has little or no story line. In the good old days Gh titles encouraged you to connect with your band by showing you their progression from rock wannabes to rock gods. In more recent titles this has been taken to new levels, by allowing you to help your band members build their careers, earn cash and even defeat enemies, adding much needed dimension and a true sense of purpose to the games. I am disappointed to say that Gh van halen has little to none of this vital content. You begin the game as Van Halen at the end their musical career, which personally left me feeling both confused and as if there was nothing left to be achieved. Though in the past I never really valued any of this atmosphere building content, I must say that its absence was extremely clear when playing this game. At points it was difficult not to wonder ‘Why am I doing this again?’ which can never be a good thing. Sadly Gh Van Halen simply cannot compete with the, more atmospheric, compelling band orientated releases such as Gh Aerosmith, metallica and more recently the beetles Rockband.
2. It is undeniable, the set-list makes no sense. Though the setlist doesn’t look to bad on paper I have to say that even I (with quite a strange taste in music) found it a little unnerving. Unlike the Gh compilation titles (5/World tour etc..) which are strangely allowed to mix up genres, as time progresses I have come to expect most band based Gh titles to have a sense of theme and identity. For example, Gh metallica had a strong metal theme which ran both through the character creation, cut scenes and most importantly the setlist. Van Halen mixes songs which are just frankly un-mixable, in many cases leaving the player as much confused as inspired. ‘Painkiller’ with ‘Stacey’s mom?’ No Thank-you.
3. It is also clear that the band itself had very little input in this game. Further adding to the disappointment factor of this game is the remarkable lack of band themed content. Whereas Gh metallica told the story of the band using songs, video and pictures, Van Halen used only songs with no structure or explanation. Even without being a big Van Halen fan I found the lack of the usual band based ‘Treats’ a little strange. Van Halen fans expecting a glimpse at the lives your hero’s? Prepare to be disappointed.
4. It is a little tap slider heavy. Though the gameplay is quite varied it is still virtually impossible to complete this game without using the tap slide bar. Though this will not bother everyone, if your like me and enjoy doing solo’s the old fashioned way you will be disappointed by pretty much all of the last gig. Also if you have an old pre-tapslide style guitar beware, in expert mode this game is not for you.
5. Your efforts are not rewarded. Hours of trawling through career mode and what do you get? Nothing. No battle with the devil, no fire and the flames, no flying carriage of rock, no skyscraper, and certainly no fireworks. Three solo’s and thats it. Nothing.
The Verdict.
Ok, so lets be realistic here. What were we expecting? I said in my initial demo review that there was not very much new happening here, and to be honest why mess with a format that works. True this game lacked a lot of the atmosphere and mod-cons of Gh 5 but overall it delivered what we have come to expect from these titles, more songs. The one thing which has really suffered during this game is not the all important gameplay but the atmosphere. I would say that if you love titles such as ‘The beetles Rock Band’ for the rounded, thought out story you are likely to be disappointed by Van Halen, but if you are simply after more/harder songs this is for you.
On this note. Many have said that simply providing new songs is not enough to warrant a new release, and that this would be better left to downloadable content but I would argue that this is not necessarily so. After-all, though X-box live is pretty widespread I know plenty of people who are unable to have access, meaning that if Gh went over entirely to downloadable content they would be, well F****d. If like me you are lucky enough to have access to X-box live I am happy for you, but I ask you. Is it fair to punish all of those who live in the countryside/low net speed areas/with their parents/in student halls, just so you can be opinionated? There is simply no justice in that.
I Agree that this game is no game of the year, however if treated as an expansion pack its challenging setlist makes Van Halen actually a lot of fun. If you are a dedicated Gh fan, looking for a bit of a challenge I say ignore the critics and have a go. If you are a Gh Virgin looking to pop your Virtual rock cherry I would steer clear. After-all this game is much more about Rock than Romance and you are likely to be disappointed.
24
x
Oh, I almost forgot. For those of you who read my Van Halen review and are wondering if this game helped me regain my ‘GuitarGirl’ status I am pleased to say that despite this somewhat damming review, I have once again found my love of the plastic guitar. In the end it was not so much a new game which helped me regain my fret mojo, but a little help from my friends. Don’t believe me? Here is a tasty easter egg to prove it.
Enjoy x
