Anyone who logged on last week will know that my last contribution was a rather excited outburst giving you a sneaky look at the newest Guitar hero controller. I will not lie. I will always be a guitar hero girl. I was hooked at Gh3 and never looked back. I do however acknowledge that there are a lot of Rockband aficionado’s out there and it simply wouldn’t be fair to talk about the new guitar hero hardware without also having a nosey at the newest offering from the Rockband music room. I am usually a Gh girl through and through, but believe me when I say that this time the guys at Rockband really have turned it up to 11…
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
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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.
Back in October last year, the majority of the Plus XP team hit London for the Eurogamer Expo 2009. That was the first time as a team we got together in person. Well Like I said, it was only the majority of us. Not all the team were present at the expo.
This weekend however, the whole core witing team finally got together for a day of arcade gaming and general Rockband-ary, and believe me when I say that Gaming journalist teams don’t get any better than this one.
So what happens when you get an FPS nutter, a RPG Lunatic, a Beanie Wearing strategist, a plastic guitar wielding Goddess and a guy who just loves to film everything gaming related under the sun, into the same space together? Yep, you have guessed it, some pretty Epic gaming carnage, topped off with a sprinkle of comedy mayhem. So what did we get up to for about twelve hours? Well gather round children, for I shall tell you of the legend that is the Plus XP first meet up.
As we were in London, we thought it would be stupidly rude for us not to hit the biggest arcade in the glorious capital, The Trocadero. Some of you frequent viewers have now probably guessed that this place is kind of my local now. But hey who the hell can refuse endless amounts of arcade gaming? Well I say endless amounts, more like how much arcade gaming can we get away with a fiver?
When we first entered the huge awesomeplex that is the biggest ammusement arcade in London, Leon and myself didn’t hesitate in finding the Street Fighter IV Arcade cabinets. Back when both Leon and myself had Xbox Live gold, we would constantly play this game. I was new to it back then and he would forever be taking me down with Ryu. I however eventually discovered M.Bison and from then on we had some Epic battles. So you could imagine what happened here.
It was a heated battle, that eventually ended up in me losing. My verdict, never trust an arcade stick, play with a console controller.
With gaming meet ups at the Trocadero there is always something you have to do as a tradition. It happened when GuitarGirl, MarkBOSS and myself met up with the guys at Ready-Up at the same location. This tradition is none other than the Rambo Arcade machine Rally.
Yes I Felt Like Kicking It Rambo Style, But Something Tells Me That MarkBOSS Needed A Gun Too
Defiantly one of the most Awesomely-Epic arcade game out there. Nonstop shooting and killing, and yes there is even a Rambo rage function. Hence the face.
So after we killed our fair share of terrorists we hit other arcade machines such as Mario Kart, Bishi Bashi, a peculiar game involving jumping up and down repeatedly and what we have lovingly dubbed the W1N machine. A simple game called stack ‘em, where you have to stack blue boxes to reach the top. It’s all about timing, and if you miss you fail but still get some tokens to save up or spend at the prize shop, hence why it’s called the Win machine. Mark being awesome managed to get to the top of this mighty block tower and picked up a jackpot of 500 odd tickets, the lucky bugger. Mind you I still have 56 and I am proud of them.
Then we decided we were a bit tracaderoed out. By trocaderoed out what we really ment was we ran out of pound coins. So we headed back to GuitarGirls flat for some gaming.
Till the early hours we were playing the likes of Rock Band, Worms Armageddon, Vigilante 8, More Street Fighter IV and, well plenty More Rockband.
This is what we actually look like when we game....seriously!
You may remember me mentioning before that MarkBOSS was at this wonderful shin dig (well of course he was, he is part of the team) now, when markBOSS is around you know he is going to be armed with his Video camera. We have some classic Rockland moments lined up for all you Plus XP readers soon. Unfortunately they will not be with us this post, we are all busy people when we aren’t gaming.
So that was about it for one of the most Crazy fun filled Saturdays there has ever been since Eurogamer. I hope you enjoyed reading about it and hope to have another one soon. Maybe a community meet up, who knows.
I’ll leave you with this parting shot of the Plus XP team gaming when things get ugly. Come on guys you can’t expect all our gaming encounters to be all sunshine and lolly pops.
Garv
P.S. if you want to see the rest of the photos from the Meet, check out our Facebook Page
Well after a long postal delay (thanks a bunch royal mail!) I am now the proud owner of my very own copy of the Beatles Rockband. Some of you may remember my previous taster review about the game, and I am pleased to say that so far it has lived up to my high expectations. Overall it is an extremely uplifting and very well put together game. The game tells the history of the Beatles through a mixture of chronologically ordered music choices, photography, and animations which resemble a kind of living scrap book. The game characters also age throughout the games progression making you feel like you are really taking a journey through time with the band. I found the gameplay enjoyable, much the same as Rockband 2, however unlike Rockband 2 you do not have as much control over the drum solo’s and the whammy bar seems to have little or no effect on the note you are playing. I feel this is a shame as this freedom to experiment was a nice touch in the previous games, and without these features I find myself distanced from the gameplay. There are however a few nice features to the game which go some way to making up for this. One of these is the opportunity to unlock bonus photographs and create an album of the beetles history for exceptional performances during the career mode. Though these are probably only of interest to true beetles enthusiasts, it does give you a reason to challenge yourself which I feel gives the game a greater replay value.
One thing about the game however, is really bothering me. Unlike previous Rockband games, in this game to play the singing career you need a proper microphone, the normal x-box live headsets don’t work. Now usually this would not be a problem (seeing as most people with the band kits have a mic) but with the addition of 2 and 3 player harmonies this becomes very frustrating. I can’t even try out this new feature without buying a second mic (which I probably won’t use outside this game anyway) and seeing as i usually play alone or with a full band and not 2 singers I cannot justify buying a second mic. This has made me wonder why Harmonix has decided to stop the use of the live headsets. Is it because they are not as effective, or simply a scheme to make people shed out for the extra microphones? With this thought, my mind begins to ask the higher question, are official Rockband Mic’s really necessary to complete the game? Or is it possible to equal or beat your score using an X-box live headset instead. Also, and perhaps more importantly, are singers without the proper microphones truly at a disadvantage, or are they just using this as an excuse for their poor singing? I decided to conduct a short experiment to find out once and for all.
The experiment went as thus. Using Rockband 2 on expert mode I sang a 3 song setlist with the official Rockband Mic and noted down the scores. I then sang exactly the same songs with the X-box live headset and compared these scores with the original set. The results were quite conclusive-
Blondie-One way or another
Rockband Mic- 128,332 (I put this down to having no warm up!) 5*
X-box live headset- 130,863 5*
Kansas- Carry on my wayward son
Rockband Mic- 106,613 4*
X-box live headset- 91,056 4*
It looks to me that though the scores are consistently higher with the Rockband mic, it is possible to get the same *rating with a score almost as high with a live headset. Overall this experiment has taught me three things.
That it is more fun to sing with the Rockband mic
The Rockband Mic gives slightly better results than the Live mic
The same star level can be achieved with the Rockband mic and the Live headset.
To conclude, though the Rockband mic gives slightly better scores, in my opinion the scores are not different enough to warrant scrapping the Live headset altogether. This tells me that Harmonix have scrapped the live headsets in the Beatles game either to try to improve the gaming experience, or simply to sell more microphones and make more prophet. I am sad to say that I believe it is the latter, sorry Harmonix, your busted!
I have finally taken the plunge and ‘upgraded’ to a traditional stand alone Rockband drum kit today. It may seem odd to be telling you guys this but it has made me think, which is better, the stand alone or portable drum kit? Seeing as I am now part of the probably very exclusive (and slightly sad) group of people who now have both, I thought I would rate them to find out once and for all which one is truly worth investing in and which is soon to be retired to the cupboard under the stairs.
I must at this point confess that I am not going to be including the Guitar hero drum set in this review. Why!?! You ask? Well the answer is simple. I don’t own a Gh Kit! So thats the end of that.
Rockband Stand alone kit
Pros
It is the much loved original drum set and will always have a place in our hearts/bedrooms
The layout is easy to play and has a nice angle
It is height adjustable
It comes with wooden sticks
The pedal is durable
The buttons are easy to reach
It has a stick holder
Cons
Its costs a bit more
It takes up A LOT of space
You cant move the drum pads around
It takes longer to assemble
The sticks although wooden are still flimsy (I think they will last about 3 days)
Rockband portable Kit madcatz
Pros
Its portable baby!!!
It costs less
It packs away into a very small space
The drum pads can be spaced out any way you like
It has a nice design on the drum pads (prettier)
It is durable
It is quick to assemble
Cons
The drum pads have a habit of moving when you play, I have to tape mine to the table
The Buttons are quite hard to reach at times
The pedal is smaller than the one supplied with the original edition and tends to move A LOT while you play
When it is placed on a high table the angle makes it hard to play
It comes with plastic sticks (mine broke about a week into using it)
So there you have it. They rank equally (though only on paper). If you ask me they both have their good and bad points. The portable kit has been my loyal companion for a year now and though I don’t think the makers really researched how many people keep waist high tables smack bang in front of their TV’s (here’s a hint, it’s not many!) it has always been reliable and great fun at parties. The new kit I consider a little treat to myself for serious high score building, it’s bulky, but without the annoying distraction of a constantly moving foot pedal. It’s really just about finding the right kit for you, or if you’re like me throwing sanity out of the window and buying both!
Sorry this has all just been a load of noise…. Hopefully it will be GH5 next time!
Hi everyone, I’m GuitarGirl24 and this is my first post for Plusxp.com.
As you’ve probably guessed by the name, I’m a big fan of music based gaming. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t say that I’m the undefeated champion of these games or anything, but most people who have seen me play (sometimes for 6 solid hours or more) would tell you that I truly am a Rock-Hero addict. Over the last few years I have grown addicted to both the Rock Band and Guitar hero series, and am here to give you all the news and updates on the new additions to this loud and proud gaming revolution.
A sneak peek at The Beatles: Rock Band
Though I have an unprecedented love of the music based gaming genre, I have never been as excited by the band specific releases as I have been about the compilation based games. Needless to say with Guitar hero 5 just around the corner the Beatles Rock Band had not been at the top of my gaming wish list. However when I was lucky enough to get a sneak peak at the game earlier this week I was pleasantly surprised.
The graphics have certainly improved (though I was playing it on on a massive HD TV so what can I say) with great attention to detail being played to the atmosphere created within the game. The likenesses of the characters was great, and the new retro fret bored patterns were a nice touch. I also really enjoyed the innovative use of graphics within the recording studio levels. The session begins in a standard recording studio, but as the song builds your characters are taken on on a journey into a surreal, extremely colorful, fantasy land before being gently transported back into real life. Its a bit like stepping into a hippy dream, and though Paul McCartney and John Lennon skipping in circles can be a little distracting at times its a nice touch.
Now to the gameplay, the important bit! I sampled both the drum and guitar modes, and though I didn’t get to play all of the songs I did pick up on a few changes. The guitar mode is basically the same as it was in Rock Band 2, however the first few songs I played seemed far easier than those in the previous titles. I soon selected a song which claimed to be more difficult, but though it was a little harder it still failed to really challenge me. At a guess, I would say that the difficult songs come quite far towards the end of the game, making this a good choice for newbies and parties, but perhaps not the most challenging addition to the series. There is also the option to add a second singer to the band, which makes this game even more of a party favorite. As for the drum setting, there were some changes here; the biggest thing I noticed was that the overdrive activation method had changed. The large solo bar (previously used to activate overdrive) has gone, and has been replaced by a smaller strip with a double note at the end. This set up leaves less freedom for the drummer to solo, but is helpful if like me you don’t like missing out on the programed solo’s when the overdrive bar comes at an inconvenient time.
Overall I would say that this game is a lighthearted, fun edition to the Rock Band series. The choice of songs looks good, the gameplay is up to scratch and the graphics certainly won’t disappoint. As for me, not a lot can beat Guitar hero 3 and Rockband 2, but for Beatles fans its a must.
The Rockband and Guitar Hero war has been going on since the dawn of plastic instrument time. No one is really sure who is winning, both games have their ups and downs.
Back in the early part of last year. Neversoft thought it would be great idea to go down the rout of portable gaming and release Guitar Hero On tour for the Nintendo DS. This game had a small four button peripheral and a pic shaped stylus for you to rock out with. Even though I seemed to get hand cramps from the thing I could definitely see the appeal for the casual gamer on the go. I mean come on even my mother owns the game so it must work on some level.
Harmonix have now gone down the portable rout with Rockband Unplugged, a new title for the PlayStation Portable. I gotta say, for me it doesn’t cut the cake, more like takes the cake, puts it in a blender in an attempt to make a really nice smoothie for everyone but fails, miserably.
The idea behind this game is to control the whole band, with no peripheral of any kind either. You have to use the up and left arrows accompanied with the triangle and square buttons which is OK but nothing special (and sometimes a little confusing with the other buttons). Then when the song kicks in you have to control each instrument one at a time, how is this done? Well you have to hit a certain amount of points on each instrument before switching with the L and R buttons. Very odd indeed, the challenge in it is all the instruments gradually start spewing gems for you to hit and if you muck the slightest bit up you find yourself sprawled over each instrument like some sort of mad man. Not the greatest way to enjoy your favorite songs on the go. But yu never know, as this is only a demo maybe in the full game you will get single instrument play, if so then I could definitely see this game working quite well.
OK this may be me being picky here but the demo doesn’t even let you play one whole song! Mid way through your instrument fumbling, the song fades out and then says buy the full game! *Hurls PSP*, maybe its because I’m used to 360 demo’s I’m not sure, but surly at least one whole song wouldn’t hurt.
So if you want a good-ish portable music experience I suggest getting GH on tour or similar for DS. Just leave Rockband Unplugged … well unplugged.
