Guitar Hero: Van Halen

Overview

Guitar Hero: Van Halen is a 2009 rhythm game developed by Underground Development and published by Activision. It is the tenth installment in the Guitar Hero series and the third to focus on the career and songs of one rock band, Van Halen, following Guitar Hero: Aerosmith (2008) and Guitar Hero: Metallica (2009). The game was released in retail for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii systems on December 22, 2009, in North America, and in February 2010 for PAL regions. However, as part of a promotion with Guitar Hero 5 (2009), the game was shipped to Guitar Hero 5 purchasers in North America prior to its retail release. The game features 28 songs from Van Halen along with 19 additional songs from selected artists that have been inspired by the group. The gameplay UI from Guitar Hero: Metallica was carried over.

The game has received mostly mixed reviews from critics, most of which consider the game's quality to be greatly inferior to its predecessor, Guitar Hero: Metallica, and other games of the series. The reviewers criticized the lack of former Van Halen members Michael Anthony, Gary Cherone, and Sammy Hagar; the limited tracks selected from Van Halen's discography; the selection of other tracks included in the game; and the general lack of features introduced in the previous band-centric games and Guitar Hero 5.

Official trailer

Trailer. Watch on YouTube

Screenshots

Game details

Genres

Music

Developer

Underground Development, Neversoft Entertainment

Publisher

Activision

Series

Guitar Hero

Platforms

PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2

Age rating

ESRB T

Modes

Single player

Yes

Local multiplayer

Yes

Online multiplayer

Yes

Co op

No

Age ratings

ESRB

T

Release dates

Trophies

Trophies47

Platinum possibleYes

Platinum

1

Gold

2

Silver

9

Bronze

35

Total

47

Points

1275

• Platinum Artist Earn all of the Bronze, Silver and Gold Trophies in Guitar Hero Van Halen. Platinum 0.11% of players
• Break that String Complete the song 'I Want It All' as Eddie playing guitar. Bronze 1.51% of players
• I Have a Sound System Create a band named 'Van Halen.' Bronze 1.87% of players
• Have You Seen His Grades? Complete a tutorial level. Bronze 2.17% of players
• It's Alive Unlock Eddie's Frankenstein guitar. Bronze 2.24% of players
• Beaten Win a guest artist song as Eddie. Bronze 1.69% of players
• The Ice Cream Man Win a guest artist song as Dave. Bronze 0.78% of players
• Respect the Wind Win a guest artist song as Alex. Bronze 0.77% of players
• Can I Borrow a Quarter? Create a custom guitar. Bronze 2.09% of players
• Bang your Gong Create a custom drum set. Bronze 1.73% of players
• Ouch!! Create a custom tattoo. Bronze 1.86% of players
• Brown Sound Rock out as classic Eddie. Bronze 2.17% of players
• Diamond Dave Rock out as classic Dave. Bronze 0.93% of players
• King Arthur Rock out as classic Alex. Bronze 0.92% of players
• Born to Rock Rock out as classic Wolfgang. Bronze 1.25% of players
• You Really Got Me Win a song as a band with Eddie on guitar, Alex on drums and Wolfgang on bass. (3 player Band) Bronze 0.56% of players
• Intruder Complete the career intro. Bronze 2.9% of players
• Van Halen Complete a career on Beginner. Bronze 2.06% of players
• Every Band Wants Some!! Complete a song in a full band. (4 player band) Bronze 0.67% of players
• They Ran With the Devil All band members hit a 50 note streak at the same time. (4 player band) Bronze 0.47% of players
• Somebody Get Them A Doctor Hit 100% of the notes in a song as a band. (4 player band) Bronze 100% of players
• Atomic Power Punk All band members activate Star Power at the same time. (4 player band) Bronze 0.49% of players
• Hung High All band members earn an 8x multiplier at the same time. (4 player band) Bronze 0.44% of players
• EVH Unlock all of the Van Halen instruments. Bronze 0.51% of players
• Good Times Perform on every instrument with a member of Van Halen in Quickplay or Career. Bronze 0.75% of players
• Hot for High Scores Score 800,000 on 'Hot for Teacher' as a band on Expert. (4 player band) Bronze 0.27% of players
• I'm the One Score 225,000 on 'I'm the One' on expert guitar. Bronze 0.22% of players
• The Broken Combs Complete a gig in West Hollywood. Bronze 2.3% of players
• Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Dallas Complete a gig in Dallas. Bronze 2.18% of players
• Van Halen II Complete a career on Easy. (Band or Solo) Bronze 1.95% of players
• Jump Complete all Van Halen songs. (Band or Solo Career) Bronze 2.09% of players
• Unchained Unlock all Van Halen characters. Bronze 0.47% of players
• Far Away Lands Complete gigs in London and The Netherlands. Bronze 2.09% of players
• The Space Brothers Complete gigs in Los Angeles and Rome. Bronze 2.18% of players
• Women and Children First Complete a career on Medium. (Band or Solo) Silver 1.79% of players
• Guitar God 5 star all Van Halen songs on Guitar Career. (expert) Gold 0.13% of players
• Diamond in the Rough 5 star all Van Halen songs on Vocal Career. (expert) Silver 0.18% of players
• Double Bass Master 5 star all Van Halen songs on Drum Career. (expert) Silver 0.18% of players
• 316 5 star all Van Halen songs on Bass Career. (expert) Silver 0.48% of players
• The Tour is Ending Complete a majority of the gigs. (Band or Solo) Silver 2.18% of players
• Fair Warning Complete a career on Hard. (Band or Solo) Silver 1.34% of players
• No Brown M&M's!! Watch the facts for a Van Halen song. Bronze 1.86% of players
• Rock Out Big Cities Complete gigs in Berlin and New York City. Bronze 2.13% of players
• Diver Down Complete a career on Expert. (Band or Solo) Silver 0.89% of players
• 1984 Complete a career on Expert+. (Solo Drum) Silver 0.15% of players
• The Woodshed 5 star guitar for 'Little Guitars', 'Cathedral', 'Spanish Fly', and 'Eruption.' (expert) Silver 0.13% of players
• 5150 Complete all Van Halen songs on every instrument. (Guitar, Bass, Drums, and Vocals) Gold 0.62% of players

Playable today

Credits

Publisher

Activision

Developer

Underground Development, Neversoft Entertainment

Released

2009-12-22

Age rating

ESRB T

Region

US

Time to beat

about 4.1 hours