Music games always had a great variety of things to innovate: Back then it was all about DDR, then came the era of Guitar Hero, to the revolution of Rock Band, but does that mean that there are not more things to do? Thus enters DJ Hero, a game that like all other music games, tries to help you feel like something you're not (you're not a dancer, a guitarist, or a drummer so stop pretending), but like all others, it makes you feel damn good doing it. However...


Will you drop 120 bucks like it's hot or will you ask them to please stop the music?

Presentation
Those familiar with Guitar Hero's art style or hip hop graffiti will feel right at home here as the game practically shouts its personality to you. However, besides the music, that's all it will shout seeing as how there's no story mode here... or hell... even a career mode. Inside, you're be doing things the old fashioned way: You go from set list to set list doing all the songs to unlock them and then you simply just unlock stuff. It's extremely little rewarding just going through set lists (more on that later) other than to explore the 90+ song titles here. However, the music is definitely a high point here.

Music
For a game so entirely focused on being a DJ, it needs to give you the same feel as one. However, DJs aren't just about the turntable they use: they also need to have awesome music, which thankfully, DJ Hero includes. You won't find music like this outside of going into clubs as each song is unique: Each 'song' is really just 2 songs spliced together to give an interesting mix. If you thought that the song 'Feel Good Inc' by Gorillaz and 'I heard through the grapevine' by Marvin Gave would never go together, you'd be dead wrong. If you thought The Aranbee Pop's 'Bittersweet Symphony' and LL Cool J's 'Rock the Bells' are too different to heard at once, you're in for a big surprise. If you thought Eric Prydz's 'Pjanoo' and The Killer's 'Somebody told me' are too crazy to put together, then you obviously never ate a Reeses.

What I'm trying to get at is that there are tons of songs here, more than what's on Rock Band's disc, and a lot of them are really good. There's something for everyone here, unless you exclusively listen to country, in which case, you're outta luck. Still, there's no better time to listen to rock, pop, hip hop, or even electric (Daft Punk for the win) than to drop 120 bucks on a 90 song soundtrack that's also a game. I will note however that many songs are severely overused despite how each mix is unique and how great it sounds: Eric Prydz's 'Pjanoo' is used in 3 songs, as well as Gwen Stefani's 'Hollaback girl' and Gorillaz's 'Fell Good Inc.' Each song may be different, but I would've also preferred different songs.

Game play

Daft Punk's in the house

If it wasn't apparent before, this game uses a unique controller called a turntable:


Let me explain how to use this controller to you: The thing on the left (which would be on your right when you play unless you're left handed) is called the platter, and it has 3 buttons on it along with a spin able disc. Like Guitar Hero, you're basically playing Simon Says: You see notes pass along the highway (the note palette) and when it gets close to the indicators, you do whatever the note tells you to do. If you see a simple blue or red note hit the indicator, then you only need to press the same note on your platter. However, when you see a long note along with scratch marks on it (or arrows on higher difficulties), then you would instead hold the button down and 'scratch' the platter by spinning it until the long note stops. I am not doing so well explaining it, but people who played music games before will know how it works, but if you're new to it, don't fret (especially since it's a turntable): There's an option to allow you to see on-screen what to do (I hope so... it was on the demo I know that).

However, music gamers will also need to do something called 'cross fading' which is done by the little sliding piece on the right (see how his left hand is holding a small slide able piece? That's a cross fader). You know you'll need to cross fade when you see the highway lines suddenly turn left or right, to which you must respond by sliding the cross fader in the corresponding direction. It may look simple, but the timing at first will throw you off seeing as how sensitive it is, or how fast it takes to actually cross fade. And on lower difficulties there's some leeway, but on higher difficulties, or even just hard songs (like Daft Punk's 'Technologic' and Gary Numan's 'Cars') there can be hell equal to the bass pedal on Rock Band's expert difficult on drums. For example, you'll have to do something called 'spikes' which means you need to slide the cross fader to the direction it tells you and then quickly snap it back within a half of a second. Which you think it may be easy, and for some it may actually is, but when you take into account how sensitive the cross fader is, along with how unnoticeable the little 'bump' indicator is (placed in the middle of the cross fader slit), you'll definitely want to practice, which sadly, can only be done by replaying a song, seeing as how there's NO practice mode.


The long notes (the green part) is for 'scratching the platter' while the cross fader (in this case, the blue line) is used to cross fade

So what's the point of the cross fader? In real life, DJs have two platters on their turntables and they have two songs playing together (and they have to beat match it, which you don't have to do), and the cross fader is used to switch the flow of the song: If the cross fader is in the middle, then both songs will play, but when you shift it to the left and right, then the correspondent platter will be played exclusively: Simply put, the cross fader determines which song will be played. It's very awesome to be able to feel like a DJ by allowing you to do these parts of the song, as well as actually hearing the song take effect, but it can get extremely hectic. Thankfully however, if you get Euphoria (the equal to Star Power) by perfectly playing a highlighted portion of a song, then activating it (done by pressing the black button above the cross fader) will allow the cross fader to be controlled by itself (do note however that when you run out of euphoria that the cross fader is in the right place or else you'll lose your multiplier).

For aspiring DJs, I will note that while this game can only make you FEEL like a DJ, you won't be able to actually become a DJ. DJs have to beat match or something and then have unique, interesting mixes, but this game only allows you to play what they made: You won't be able to mix and match songs like they do, nor will you have your own scratches in the song. You can however minorly customize the song by three methods: The sample freestyle, the tuner like thingy, and rewind. The sample freestyle is the least hyped at you can only use a predetermined sample of sounds to put into a song in a predetermined spot on the song, which is a long, red, blank line, but there's something to be said about putting Flava Flav's signature 'Yeah boy' in a mix: it's hilarious. The effects dial is like a custom cross fader: When you see an orange circle with an arrow on top, you can turn the effects dial for not only a 2x multiplier, but to also cross fade the song a little. And the rewind function, which is earned by playing perfectly for a set number of notes, can rewind the song a little bit. All you do is spin the platter back 360 degrees and then the song will not only rewind, but you also get a 2x multiplier (do note that multiplier aside from the 4x that you can through normal play do NOT stack up).

Final thoughts (multiplayer included)

Last night a DJ saved my life (not actual game play for that song)

So actually playing the song is all good, but why and what are you doing it for? To put it simply, stars and songs as well as characters, new turntables, venues, and costumes. You get stars by getting a set amount of points in a song and that in turn unlocks things like DJs (Daft Punk, DJ Jazzy Def, and the late DJ AM are included: sadly, no Jay-Z or Eminem) as well as new set lists. There's plenty of stars to unlock, but I must note on how little the challenge the game forces on you: You can earn all your stars simply by playing on Easy and the game doesn't care whether it’s on easy or expert. Plus, if you do decide to challenge yourself, then the stars you earn is what you earn, and there's no reason to torture yourself unless you plan to play online:

Multiplayer
There's only one game mode to play and that's against another DJ. The host will pick the songs will the guest will only be playing them against the host. It's a little fun when both players are of equal skill, but there are some players who should be playing on expert who are playing on hard, and that makes it a lot less fun when you can only play Hard and get 4 stars. You do get to choose beforehand what difficulty you'll be playing on, but the easier difficulties are hardly played online: If you don't plan to play at least hard, good luck finding a match (I didn't, but then again, that was on launch day). However, many players love to be the host unless they want that 10G achievement or bronze trophy for being the guest as the host will be the only one picking the songs, which kinda puts a bummer on guests. There is sometimes a little lag in loading up a game, but I have had no lag during actual game play, so hopefully that'll be the case with you.

Final notes redux
There's hardly no reason to challenge yourself in this game as the game doesn't care about how you play. In fact, there's even a party mode, so if you care jack squat about playing the game and earning stars, then you can just hold the Euphoria button during a song to have the game play itself, therefore just giving you a steady stream of music. It's a good idea to have for people who love the soundtrack, but add in the cheat code to unlock everything (data will not save), and you got basically an expensive soundtrack. However, the songs are good, and if you play them, it's a blast, especially if you got friends in the room or onlookers about. For those who have guitar hero, DDR, and Rock Band, make room for this little guy, because he's definitely worth the cash, but only if you're playing it, which you should.

Score:
Graphics ---- 8.5
-Like all music games, are you really even playing attention to the background? If you seldom do, you'll love seeing the DJs work their magic, but there are some things I disliked, like how the DJs would have their hands free when they're supposed to be scratching, or how the people just stand there and watch. Still, the graphics are good, and the art style kills.

Sound ------- 9.5
-I really love the music, and below I included some links, so go see for yourself.

Controls ----- 8.0
-It's hard to get used to at first, but it eventually becomes second nature. I wish the cross fader had more resistance in it, and that the studs on the platter actually helped me stop slipping my fingers off, but hey, it's new.

Fun Factor --- 8.5
-If you ever dreamed of being a DJ, or just love music games in general, then definitely play this: It's a beast, and it feels damn good when you play.

Final Verdict - 8.5
-Activision is definitely taking a risk by making this game as there's too many music games out on the market so I say to support them by buying it. If nothing else, the soundtrack just rocks enough to warrant a purchase, but you'll feel like a DJ playing it.


Top picks for DJ Hero

'I heard through the grapevine' by Marvin Gave vs. 'Feel Good Inc' by Gorillaz
'Shout' by Tears for Fears vs. 'Pjanoo' by Eric Prydz
'Hollaback Girl' by Gwen Stefani vs. 'Last night a DJ saved my life' by Indeep
'Bittersweet Symphony' by The Aranbee Pop Symphony vs. 'Rock the bells' by LL Cool J
'Somebody told me' by The Killers vs. 'Pjanoo' by Eric Prydz
'We will rock you' by Queen vs. 'Robot Rock' by Daft Punk
'Technologic' by Daft Punk vs. 'Cars' by Gary Human