Guitar Hero Van Halen

By: Patrick Lighthall

Tuesday January 19, 2010

As we all know, the success of the original Guitar Hero (and eventually Rock Band) has spawned a litany of titles in different musical genres to keep gamers rocking.  The latest endeavor features the hits of the legendary 80’s band Van Halen.   Backed by other artists, Van Halen gets immortalized on the video game stage with another standard offering from the Guitar Hero franchise.

Upon starting your rock career, you will be thrust onto the biggest of stages by playing in Van Halen and letting loose on the sea of fans with “Panama.”  From there, you will play through a slew of Van Halen classics as the “greatest arena rock band of all time.”  If you’re a fan of Van Halen, you will get to jam along to their most well known songs, including “Jump,” “You Really Got Me,” and “Eruption (Solo).” Like the other gaming titles in the Guitar Hero franchise, you can rock out with the band playing the guitar, bass, drums, or good old-fashioned vocal chords.

Guitar Hero Van Halen employs the usual visual effects expected from the musical franchise.  The incorporation of Van Halen gives a unique flavor to the Guitar Hero franchise, and the band is depicted both in their 80’s glory and current stage duds.  The rocking doesn’t stop with Val Halen, since a good variety of other standard options are offered.

The Van Halen set list gets a helping hand from some well known artists from the last few decades.  Ranging from 80’s staples like Billy Idol, to more current artists like Blink-182 and Killswitch Engage, Guitar Hero Van Halen gives gamers over 40 new songs to try on their instrument of choice.  Just like the other games in the franchise, a variety of unlockable characters, items, stages, and songs are also available.  You can spend the hard-earned cash in the game to upgrade to that new guitar, or buy that unbuttoned shirt for your glam rocker.  There is also a “create-your-own-rocker” feature, which lets you customize the artist to your choice.

Overall, Van Halen brings some good songs and a little variety to the Guitar Hero series.  Guitar Hero Van Halen is all the game we’ve seen before with hits from a band well versed in sold out arena shows.  If you like the band or want to try your hand at some new songs, Guitar Hero Van Halen is a good choice.