Review: DJ Hero

Posted on 15. Nov, 2009 by Chris Evans in Featured, PS3, Reviews, Wii, Xbox 360

Guitar Hero and Rock Band are, on the whole, relatively easy to pick up for first time players.  Getting used to where to put your fingers takes a little time, but the basic concept of pressing something down with one hand and strumming with your other is fairly familiar to us all.  The same, however, can’t be said for DJ Hero.  Beyond moving a hand backwards and forwards and saying ‘wikki wikki wikki’, what a DJ actually does is a mystery to the vast majority of us.  As a result, playing DJ Hero for the first time is one of the more daunting experiences in gaming.  Even as a seasoned veteran of the music rhythm genre, it took me a good hour or so to really feel confident with what I needed to be doing.

Once you get your head around the new controller and new set of symbols though, DJ Hero is a joy to play.  The turntable controller has two parts, the fully rotatable turntable itself, which incorporates three coloured buttons, and the second half which features a crossfader, effects dial, ‘euphoria button’ (DJ Hero’s version of star power) and the console’s native controls hidden under a flap at the top.  Gameplay mainly consists of moving the crossfader form one side to the other to select either or both of the two tracks, while with your other hand you press the coloured buttons to trigger tracks and samples, or holding the buttons down and moving the turntable to scratch.  The turntable itself feels well made and the action on all of the moving components feels just right.  The only real issue is with the crossfader – while it does have a notch at the centre point, it can be hard to find in the heat of the moment, making it that little bit too easy to overshoot the mark.

As you progress, advances techniques like crossfader spikes and directional scratching are introduced.  Then there is the aforementioned ‘euphoria’, earned by successfully completing highlighted sections of the song without making a mistake, the effects dial which can be used to alter the EQ of certain sections or to select samples to insert as you see fit, and rewinds that can be earned by getting long streaks of notes, which see you spinning the turntable back 360 degrees to rewind the song and replay a section of it.  It may sound complicated (probably because it is) but once you’ve got the hang of it, using the controller is probably second only to drumming when it comes to feeling in control of the music.  Even though for the most part you are still just following what’s on screen, there is still, for this reviewer at least, a feeling of connection and influence with the music that I haven’t found since Amplitude and Frequency back on the PS2.

All of this would be no good without a quality soundtrack, and that’s exactly what Freestyle Games have created.  As well as their main studio in Leamington Spa, Freestyle set up a second studio in London, which they populated entirely with DJs.  Add to this DJ Shadow helping to select tracks and create mixes, Jay Z and Eminem working as consultants and additional mixes from Grandmaster Flash, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Daft Punk, DJ AM, DJ Yoda, Cut Chemist, DJ Z-Trip, J.Period and Scratch Perverts, and DJ Hero can boast not only the most varied selection of songs in a game, but hands-down the best soundtrack of any music game out there.  All but seven of the 93 songs on the disc are mixes of two songs, and the vast majority have been made specifically for the game.  There really is something here for everyone – Queen, Beastie Boys, Gwen Stefani, Gorillaz, Marvin Gaye, David Bowie, Jay Z, Jackson 5 and Gary Newman are all in there amongst many others, and even Vanilla Ice and MC Hammer get their own bizarre mix.

The most disappointing element of the package is the multiplayer offering.  Far from the DJ battles or co-operative mixing that I had hoped for, there is nothing more than a basic score attack mode, with both players playing the entire song rather than alternating parts as is seen in the various guitar based games on the market.  Equally basic, but somehow refreshing, is the career progression.  There is no character creation, no making setlists and playing gigs, no flying around the world and no cutscenes.  Just like the original Guitar Hero, you simply get a list of tracks, earning more as you advance.  There are, however, a decent number of characters, venues, decks, and even headphones to unlock, so you can still stamp some personality on the visuals.

DJ Hero feels as fresh and exciting as Guitar Hero did back in 2006.  After years of seemingly endless guitar based games, DJ Hero has brought a whole new way of playing and a whole new style of music to the genre, and the world of gaming is all the better for it.