The DISASTROUS VAN HALEN Video Game That Was Given Away For Free!

The forgettable Van Halen Video Game released by Activision - Guitar Hero Van Halen

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I cite my sources and they may differ than other people's accounts, so I don't guarantee the actual accuracy of my videos.

[Dairunt]

Imagine if Beatles Rock Band only included pre-Sgt Pepper content. And George is replaced by Dhani Harrison. And half its content is from other bands.

That's Guitar Hero Van Halen for you.

[guitarrilho]

Guitar hero was the biggest influence for me to start listening to rock music, and to see it crumble like that really hurts for me

[konowd]

Late in Van Halen’s career they were fucking up all over the place. It was sad to see such a once mighty band go out with a whimper instead of a roar

[Captain_Kickass-lf]

Everybody is talking about Dave versus Sammy but nobody is talking about Michael Anthony. In 2009 I got to finally see Van Halen with David Lee Roth after a half dozen tours with Sammy... And I was actually a little bit disappointed. But it wasn't Dave's fault. I never really appreciated how much of a contribution his playing and back up vocals contributions made to the overall sound of the band. Wolfgang doesn't sing and it left a noticeable hole. So I'm glad that game bombed because they didn't give Michael Anthony the recognition that he deserves. When you've got like THE guitarist and the most outrageous/ hardest rocking vocalist in a band, it's easy for the rhythm section to get forgotten about. Until you need them. Love and and respect to Mikey. Glad he and Sammy got to work together in Chickenfoot. Two of the nicest guys in rock and roll.

[waltermiller]

The Metallica version came with an extra foot pedal, so you could play double bass. Amazing!!

[kenterminateddq]

I played the Guitar Hero: Van Halen and, yeah, it's the video game equivalent of Van Halen III: It's underwhelming and disappointing but I had some enjoyment with it.

[tenebrousoul]

This is literally the first time I've heard of the game

[jimkalfakis]

Even in the game, you can still see DLR’s hair piece

[lucass.]

For me, GH: Metallica is a masterpiece when it comes to band-centric music games. It was a marriage made in heaven and perfectly showcased all the parts from the contributing bandmembers, both past and present. The Expert Plus difficulty added a new challenge on drums. It's the one game that I would play again and again, even after all these years later. GH: Valen feels pretty lackluster and, in my opinion, too many safe decisions were made during the making of the game.

[MrDlt]

I'm a gamer, Gen Xer and musician, but I never really understood the appeal of the Guitar Hero franchise. I grew up actually playing a guitar, so I guess I thought that time would be better spent actually learning to play an instrument. However, VH was one of my favorite bands and Eddie was a god. That said, IF I was into such a thing, nothing would piss me off more than seeing Wolfgang packaged as if Michael Anthony never existed. He was so much of their bottom end, and vocal sound. I kind of regarded Van Hagar as a different band, so I could probably have learned to live without seeing him in the game. But the Wolfgang thing would deff have rubbed me the wrong way.

[MJAussie]

The game was part of the Roth/Van Halen pissing show. Roth refused to do it if Hagar was involved and Eddie refused to acknowledge Michael in anyway due to being salty that Michael wanted to actually spend a little time with his family

[Stephen_Eee]

This was such a great fad, i used to do pest control, and yes Everyone had GH

[WREDog]

From what I remember it wasn't just pre orders, you could buy a copy of GH 5 from the stores and you'd get a free copy of GH VH (don't remember if it was a voucher or a download code). It came out around the same time as Rock Band Beatles, and you could tell how half assed and phoned in the game was. VH deserved better.

[thisfreakingguy]

I was always a big fan of Aerosmiths revolution x game when I was a kid

[scottyo]

Never did nor wanted to play guitar hero. When you play a real guitar this stuff is just silly

[trevorburhans]

I liked GH Van Halen and played it a lot. I’m also more of a fan of the DLR era so it didn’t bother me that the Sammy Hagar songs weren’t there. My only complaint was with Bohemian Rhapsody cause it’s mostly piano but you’re still playing stuff on guitar for some reason

[nicksterwixter]

The thing is, if you're a Van Halen fan and a Guitar Hero fan, there was still a lot to love in here just in terms of the setlist. But for all the reasons you mentioned, I remember it feeling like a weird release at the time. The game also used the older, clunkier Guitar Hero: World Tour engine instead of the newer Guitar Hero 5 engine, despite being released after GH5. I think Activision had started up a few too many Guitar Hero projects at this time, and things weren't getting released in the order they originally planned. People had stopped caring by this point and there was no going back.

[jgrangervikings]

The Van Halen Guitar Hero game was fine, but it didn’t include Sammy Hagar. That’s a crime, dude. It made what could’ve been a classic game just a fine game…and ultimately fairly forgettable.

[DJSockmonkeyMusic]

I don't care what anyone says, 5150 is just as good an album as 1984. So to wipe Sammy out of the band in a game about the band, that just screams Eddie's ego.

[badbirdkc]

LOL. I'm the proud owner of a free copy given away on the KOXM podcast for submitting a trivia question. Until this video popped up, I forgot I had it.