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Guitar Hero: Van Halen First Impressions


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What do you guys think so far?

My take:

*Expected an actual case, not a slim cd style case (does include game art however)

*Surprised on how I am enjoying the VH and guest act songs. So many of the Van Halen songs I was like "that's them!??!". Having fun with the songs so far

*I think the graphics and presentation are all TERRIBLE. I immediately noticed the dip in graphics vs. GH5. It truthfully looks like a Wii game, or maybe GH2. Van Halen and co. look "ok", but Axel and the rest of the game look terrible, the notes and the highway look odd. Like a PC or PSP game or something. I have an HD tv with HDMI cables so I know it is the game that looks bad. GH5 looks great. I just played Aerosmith recently, and I think that looks better. The easy to navigate menus and band lobbies we got accustomed too in GH5 are gone.

*Career setup- I loved the way GH5 did it. I liked the challenges and loved being able to do any song as any instrument or as a band with ease. This game goes back to the GH3 style where you play some songs and earn cash, unlock more venues...and so on.

*We all knew what to expect with the achievements, and I must say I don't like it. Playing through EACH career on expert (and expert+ for drums) will be a pain (OK, so I suck, but if I DIDN'T, they would be a pain).:p

But...overall, despite my gripes, I like it. I certainly wouldn't have paid $60 for it though.

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i like the over all soundtrack, kinda wish there was some later Van Hagar stuff on there, beat it on hard, wasnt too bad.

 

Cathedal was too ez(perfect 1st time thru on Hard)

Spanish Fly and Eruption hold true, they are a test.

 

Give Cathedral a spin on Expert. It is certainly not Eruption or Spanish Fly in terms of difficulty, but they definitely ramp it up a ton from Hard.

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I agree with everything you said - it's hard to complain about a free game, but I certainly wouldn't have spent $60 for this. I mean, it seems like they took GH:Metallica and added in a Van Halen skin. For instance, you know the unlockables that were available for purchase (clothes, etc.) that were in GH:M but were from GH:WT? Yeah, those EXACT ones are in GH:VH - they didn't even update it with the GH5 items! (Where is my pelt with horns?!)

 

I'm not even joking when I say it plays, looks, and feels EXACTLY like GH:M with a Van Halen skin - not a bad thing, I liked GH:M, but this certainly could've (& should've) been better.

 

Where are all of the new things that made GH5 sooo much more fun (challenges, etc?) I sincerely hope they didn't just take 20 steps backwards like this sub-par game indicates...

Edited by when_vegans_attack
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I believe it was said months ago that this game was being based off the GH: Metallica engine as they already had this game almost done when GH5 came out, and the most likely reason is that they wouldn't be able to switch to GH5's way and still pump out this game.

 

I haven't got it yet, hopefully will in the next few days, but from the vids on youtube it LOOKS as though Spanish Fly is the hardest song in the game? It's definitely harder than Eruption.

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Lovin the game, the graphics may not be the best....but the setlist is one of the best ever from any GH or RB game. The sound is also very clean.

 

As for how much I would spend on it, not .01 cent. The way EVH has treated Sammy over the years and especially with Mikey be kicked out of VH for playing with Sammy. Even classic VH songs where all the members are dressed in their 70's styles have Wolfie playing. I think this is a total disrespect to former members and fans.

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Yeah, I was wondering what they would do with bands that have had several different members (GH:Metallica had no Newsted :( ) ... how are they going to handle it when my GH: Helloween comes out?!?!? :p 3 singers, 4 guitarists, 4 drummers, and just 1 awesome bassist. :p

:drunk

 

Not bad for a free game though. ;) I've never really given a crap about Van Halen, but they have a few songs I like... some of the other acts are great. The game does look like a cheaper version of Metallica, with harder achievements-- my skill level will never let me 5-star all the Van Halen songs. :(

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What do you guys think so far?

My take:

*Expected an actual case, not a slim cd style case (does include game art however)

*Surprised on how I am enjoying the VH and guest act songs. So many of the Van Halen songs I was like "that's them!??!". Having fun with the songs so far

*I think the graphics and presentation are all TERRIBLE. I immediately noticed the dip in graphics vs. GH5. It truthfully looks like a Wii game, or maybe GH2. Van Halen and co. look "ok", but Axel and the rest of the game look terrible, the notes and the highway look odd. Like a PC or PSP game or something. I have an HD tv with HDMI cables so I know it is the game that looks bad. GH5 looks great. I just played Aerosmith recently, and I think that looks better. The easy to navigate menus and band lobbies we got accustomed too in GH5 are gone.

*Career setup- I loved the way GH5 did it. I liked the challenges and loved being able to do any song as any instrument or as a band with ease. This game goes back to the GH3 style where you play some songs and earn cash, unlock more venues...and so on.

*We all knew what to expect with the achievements, and I must say I don't like it. Playing through EACH career on expert (and expert+ for drums) will be a pain (OK, so I suck, but if I DIDN'T, they would be a pain).:p

But...overall, despite my gripes, I like it. I certainly wouldn't have paid $60 for it though.

Ugh magenta.

 

Based on your review, I'm not surprised you left the biggest thing out. Sound quality; it's excellent. Every song sounds very well done, it's hard to give an example but those with a good ear will pick it out no problem.

 

You gripe about the graphics. They are something to gripe about but saying they are worse then Aerosmith makes me cringe. Van Halen is using the same engine that Metallica is using, it surprised me you didn't know, or mention, this. It's disappointing; I was really hoping for GH5 engine, which is well done, but I'll take what I get.

 

If your comparing this game to GH5, save yourself the trouble and compare Metallica to GH5, it's obvious what's better there isn't a debate. The only thing that changed in this game, is presentation and the set list.

 

You say you wouldn't buy it, and I completely agree that YOU wouldn't... you didn't even know that Van Halen did some of the songs you were playing.

 

Cut, Clear, and Dry: It's the GH: Metallica engine with new VH Presentation in place of the Metallica stuff, with good sound quality, and Van Halen songs, does this sound like something you want? (Albeit a re-hash of a game engine) If anything were to sway me from purchasing it, it would be the timeframe it was released in, this game takes a step backwards, by releasing after GH5 with an older engine.

Edited by Six to Eight
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@Lite2RW - your thoughts pretty much echo mine.

 

I'm loving that I can play this now for free. I'm a huge VH nut, and as much as it would have pained me to do so, I was gonna wait for this baby to hit the bargain bin before I bought it, for the very reasons you mentioned.

 

One disappointment though. Where are the videos of the band? I was looking forward to seeing some footage of the band in the mo-cap suits. Maybe I haven't played far enough in to unlock that kind of stuff or something, but I sure haven't been able to find anything like that browsing the menus. Maybe I'm blind?

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Well worth "free", might have even felt like a bargain at $19.99. As stated everywhere else, the graphics and presentation are crap and feel half-finished but the songs themselves have been fun to play thus far (and this is from a dedicated non-fan of Van Halen). Seeing the fat Eddiespawn in place of the fat bassist and the complete absence of Sammy Hagar is pretty funny and says more about the band's state of mind than anything else to me. Not complaining, mind you. Sammy Hagar makes my brain bleed. The songs from other artists are middling to pretty good, so no complaints there either.

 

All in all, not a bad bonus! I worry that I'll lose or crush the cardboard sleeve the game came in but that's alright. Anyone who actually complains about this should buy a DVD case for a buck and print out their own cover (maybe even photoshopping themselves into the artwork while they're at it) for the game and calm the F down.

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First Impressions after sightreading through XGuitar career:

 

-Fun Songs, but pretty easy compared to GH:M, etc. Painkiller's chart specifically is far easier than in RB2. The final tier songs weren't more difficult than anything in GH:M, GH2, GH3. The 5 Star achievement will be attainable on guitar for anyone who's beaten TTFAF or other hard stuff from other games. I sightread FC'd Cathedral on XGtr for example.

 

-Spanish Fly and Eruption are easily the hardest guitar 5 stars, and probably harder than almost any GH songs to 5* because they are almost exclusively fast solos where tapping is required.

 

-Don't care the least bit about crappy graphics in these games.

 

-I wouldn't have paid full price for GH5 or this, but with this deal, I'm glad to have both.

Edited by JMills109
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I would also like to mention that the career is kinda annoying because to officially "beat" any of the instrument careers you must beat EVERY song on the difficulty you are playing - so, if you can't beat that ONE song on expert guitar you're stuck with the Hard achievement. At least there was a bit of wiggle room in earlier titles (ie. purchaseable venues, etc.) So much for copying GH:M.

Edited by when_vegans_attack
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First impression: It's Guitar Hero: Metallica with a Van Halen skin. None of the new features implemented with GH5 are in this. Which doesn't make sense since the "normal" launch date is sometimes in Nov/Dec.

 

Has even less of a "story" comparred to Metallica...and feels like a pretty disjointed series of venues. Overall? It's a cash-in. No two-ways about it.

 

Glad I didn't pay a dime for it.

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