DJ Hero Review

Written by: Darren Cartledge Posted: 17th November 2009

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Spinning me right right round like a record.

DJ Hero Details:

	Music
	PlayStation 3/Xbox 360/Nintendo Wii
	FreeStyleGames
	Activision

12+

Out Now

1-2

If I'm honest I've never really been an admirer of the Guitar Hero games! Strumming along to scrolling colour coded prompts is something that has not really ever appealed to me! So with this in mind it is fair to say that I didn't hold any high expectations for Activision's latest music project, DJ Hero.

As DJ Hero introduces yet another peripheral I’ll start this review by talking about the new turntable controller. For anyone who bought an early band kit for Guitar Hero World Tour and was disappointed, I’m pleased to say that the build quality of the deck is pretty solid and generally has a nice feel to it. The mixer can be removed and switched round for left handed player’s which is nice and everything is spaced to give it a comfortable feel. The mixer section features a special effects come sampler knob, a transparent black button which glows red when Euphoria is available (the DJ Hero version of Star power) and a cross fader for activating the different tracks of mixes. The usual control pad controls are also nicely hidden away under a flip up panel so as not to spoil the aesthetics of the deck. If there’s any criticism I can level at the deck is that the cross fader switch feels a little flimsy and maybe susceptible to breaking during the course of play. Other then that it is a fairly solid and nice peripheral.

As you would expect the game shares many similarities with Guitar Hero, but instead of cords running down the neck of a guitar, you get the edge of a record moving in a slight curved motion. The prompts change for the various actions you have to perform such as scratching, and cross fader but generally the game looks very similar to the Guitar Hero games. Although I would say DJ Hero does actually look a little better with more vibrant colours and animated characters which seem to react a lot better to the music.

So with a similar look does the game offer the same kind of playing experience as Guitar Hero? Well yes and no! Just like the Guitar Hero games DJ hero tests your timing abilities but instead of having to concentrate on simply pressing buttons and strumming on a Guitar or bashing away on the drums, DJ Hero tends to throw a whole lot more at you. Often requiring you to perform scratches that immediately lead into cross fades, but not only that the mixes in DJ hero often have you performing several actions at once! The end result is a gaming experience that shares similarities to that of Guitar Hero but is somewhat more compelling and all together more intense and enjoyable!

However, it’s not perfect! For instance, developers Free Style Games have completely omitted the “fail” feature of Guitar Hero which means you’re simply playing to gain the highest score to post to the games online leaderboards or unlock content such as decks, characters and samples. This does take a certain edge away from the challenge on offer in the game and makes it feel like your simply playing through the mixes to please the virtual party goers that fill the various venues and little else. To make things a little more competitive each mix can be played against another player should you have two decks? Failing that, you can also choose to compete online. Again the aim here is simply to achieve the highest score possible! DJ hero is obviously aimed at Guitar Hero or Rock Band fans and this is evident in some mixes that feature support for a guitar peripheral. This again places players in a head to head situation and whilst it may sound like a strange concoction it is a welcome feature that works surprisingly well. And means those guitars won’t be sitting around gathering dust.

As I’ve already briefly mentioned DJ Hero features a Euphoria system, this is basically the DJ Hero version of Star power and allows you to boost your score multiplier when activated. However, DJ Hero also introduces a new system allowing you to boost your score, rewinds. Rewinds are activated by spinning the turntable backwards which in itself requires a fair bit of skill to catch the button in the correct position. And with most things in DJ hero making the most of a rewind is all about timing using them at the right time to gain maximum affect.

As with any music game the most important aspect is of course the songs contained within and DJ Hero which features some 93 exclusive mixes from a vast array of genres including hits from Queen, David Bowie, Rihanna, Vanilla Ice, Eminem and Weezer to name but a few. The majority of the mixes are of a very high standard and work brilliantly although there a few bad eggs amongst them. However, for rock fans the game offers very little as the music featured in DJ Hero is very much geared towards R&B, Hip Hop and Dance.

Not being a fan of the Guitar Hero game I wasn’t expecting much from DJ Hero, but what I found was an intensive and more importantly enjoyable experience that pushes your skills to the limit. If you like the Guitar Hero games there’s a good chance you’ll love DJ Hero and I recommend it as probably the best music game I’ve ever played.