Guitar Hero: Van Halen

From Jump to Eruption, the note placement is a joy to belt out. [Apr 2010, p.113]

Limited coverage of Van Halen’s long history as a band, little involvement from the band members themselves, and a strange assortment of accompanying tracks all conspire to limit the appeal of this title.

Van Halen deserves better. [Jan 2010, p.79]

If you’re cool with just the DLR years and you can hang with the weird faces Dance the Night Away, but if you’re looking for a comprehensive VH compilation and accurate portrayals you might as well Jump, back into GH5.

A Van Halen track pack that's missing everything that made Guitar Hero Metallica a great band-focused Guitar Hero game

Guitar Hero Van Halen is fun, just not the best in the series. The song selection will keep you and your friends happy (just skip Third Eye Blind) and the options are acceptable. Still, with a little more effort, this could've been on the same level as GH Metallica. The band deserved better.

The unfortunate thing about Guitar Hero: Van Halen is that it really had the potential to shine, but there just seemed to be too much working against it. The ongoing band feuds have eliminated not only a large section of the group's catalog, but a founding member as well, and laziness on the part of all parties involved means that there's nearly nothing added to the game to give it the extra content we saw in the Aerosmith and Metallica editions

Its existence is puzzling, its release an admittance of surrender, and its song selection showcases one singer while snubbing another... yet because Guitar Hero remains fun, Guitar Hero: Van Halen comes away as a decent diversion.

Guitar Hero Van Halen may not feature the greatest selection of tracks that will appeal to general fans of the franchise. However, it does provide those looking for a more interesting challenge, giving you access to one of the most intense collections of songs to grace a Guitar Hero game for sometime, definitely one just for hardcore Guitar Hero’s.

I was really excited about Guitar Hero: Van Halen, but all of that excitement washed away when I actually played it.

The song list is great if you love classic Eddie and the guest bands while not relevant, offer a solid mix. Not being able to export the songs into GH 5 or download any new tracks really hurts, but the lackluster presentation hurts even more.

Fails to capture any of the band's magic. [Issue#189, p.74]

Activision could have done a lot better, and I think Van Halen, and its fans deserve better. As a free promotional game, it is passable, but as a full out release, we are expecting a little more.

Like him or otherwise, Eddie Van Halen is a guitar hero, no doubt. This game just doesn't reflect that. [Mar 2010, p.76]

In the end we can only say that Activision has released to market a game without any effort.

A hastily put together product that lacks the overall quality of other band-specific games like Guitar Hero: Metallica or The Beatles: Rock Band. Thank God for Ice Cream Man, Eruption and Panama.

Great for fans of the band, but for the rest it's better to buy any other game in the franchise. And even if you're a fan there's a bit of let down here.

Unless you are an absolute die-hard Van Halen fan there is no way you should pay full price for a game that only offers half the content. If you really want to play it, wait until this game lands in the Bargain Bins in a few months time.

Guitar Hero: Van Halen is a nice part in the franchise when we talk about the music. The gameplay self isn’t different from the last parts and the game also uses an older engine. At every aspect this game is a lesser version then Guitar Hero 5 and that is a shame.

Guitar Hero: Van Halen hasn't become an exceptional game. It plays like every Guitar Hero game, but you can't call it success.

Plainly put, if you’ve played any other band-specific Guitar Hero games, you know what to expect, and that is a game that isn’t as good as the others.

Guitar Hero: Van Halen is a step back for the franchise. [Jan 2010, p.80]

Even though I am not their biggest fan, I still felt like the band deserved much better than this half-assed effort.

Even for absolute die-hard fans, I simply can’t recommend this game.

Sloppy execution, poorly chosen tracks and a growing lack of public interest in both Van Halen and the music game genre make this a lackluster low point in the Guitar Hero franchise.

No effort was put into making it good.

Fans will squeeze out some fun but this is the laziest GH yet. [Mar 2010, p.88]

Van Halen deserved better, and so did Guitar Hero fans. Avoid.

In 2010, Guitar Hero: Van Halen should have never been released in stores at full price. It’s absurd. We’d rather applaud you to wait for the release of Guitar Hero 6, since Guitar Hero Van Halen has the same lack of content as it has lack of love for our frettapping guitar legend. Or as Eddie would probably put it: Aint Talkin’ Bout Love.

As a self-contained music game then, Guitar Hero: Van Halen really isn’t substantial or appealing enough to warrant extended play.

There's so much about this game that falls flat, and so much that feels like a quick cash-in attempt using the band name attached, that I can't suggest picking this up, certainly not at a full price point.