‘DJ Hero’ Review

Format Reviewed: PS3

Age Rating: 12+

Developer: FreeStyleGames

Publisher: Activision

Local Multiplayer: Yes

Online Multiplayer: Yes

Genre: Music

            With the huge success of the Guitar Hero franchise, it seemed obvious for Activision to make a more ‘hip-hop’ equivalent for those who, like me, prefer dance music to rock and metal. However, many fear that ‘DJ Hero’ is a mere rip off of the GH series and not worth a purchase, especially considering the oh-so-hefty price tag: a RRP of £108. But trust me; it’s nothing of the sort.

            When first loading up the game and starting the tutorial, there’s a sense of such freshness and originality as a young-sounding male voice explains how to play. Despite following along the same lines as GH, having to press certain buttons as they move towards the screen (a green, red and blue one in DJ Hero), there are some very substantial differences.

            Firstly, there’s the cross-fade slider which you move left and right depending on where it moves on-screen. There are also the scratching sections where, instead of just pressing the one of the three buttons, you hold it down and, unsurprisingly, ‘scratch’, as well as being able to rewind the mix a few seconds once you’ve managed to get a certain number of hits in a row. The Euphoria button, a Star Power GH equivalent, can be pressed when you nail certain sections, and there’s also the effects dial which you can twist at will in certain sections to change the way the music sounds, implementing an element of creativity to the mixture. Also allowing you to take some control over the mix are freestyle sample zones, where you can choose certain sounds/voices to be played that add to the mix as well as your score.

For each mix you perform, you get a score and a star rating out of five. Unlike GH, it’s impossible to actually fail a mix; it will continue till the very end even if you’re doing terribly. The more stars you achieve, the more things you unlock, such as new mixes as well as venues, decks, headphones, DJs and outfits for them. All you’re really going to be interested in unlocking are new mixes, but the other things still provide some variety and customisation options that will keep you coming back for more.

             Not that you’ll need extras to keep you playing; the gameplay itself is so slick and satisfying that you’ll return to DJ Hero on a regular basis. The satisfaction of hearing your scratches and cross-fading directly controlling the music and giving it that extra ‘rave-factor’ (you’ll have to excuse my lack of knowledge on the technical terms…) is immense, especially for those of you out there who have always secretly fancied yourselves as DJs.

            There are over 93 mixes for you to scratch your way through which will take a very considerable amount of time but, even after you’ve done them all, you’ll still keep returning to improve your high scores and try them on harder difficulties, so replayability shouldn’t be a problem. However if you are getting bored of the mixes on offer then never fear, as the developers have started releasing new mixes that you can download from the PlayStation Store, albeit at a price.

            As for multiplayer options; if you’re lucky, or filthy rich, enough to have two DJ controllers then you can do DJ vs. DJ with any of the mixes with someone in the same room, or simply play with someone else over the internet. This is certainly fun though doesn’t give the same feel of being in a band like other music games do like Rock Band and Band Hero. As well as two people ‘DJ-ing’ together, if you have a guitar controller you can do Guitar vs. DJ mode, which is fun but somewhat short-lived due to the severe lack of songs it’s actually compatible with.

            So here I am, wondering what else there is to say about DJ Hero…but in all honesty, I don’t think there’s really a lot more I can say. The bottom line is that this is a truly refreshing game with a neat peripheral that will keep you coming back for more. The only niggles I found with it were that sometimes it feels awkward scratching the blue button as it’s the closest to the middle of the turntable and therefore doesn’t have a very big turning circle. Also, you don’t get different stars for different difficulty settings, which is odd considering it’s made by the same people that made Guitar Hero and also rather annoying as it means you could just as easily get all the stars in the game playing it on beginner mode.

            But these two things are certainly no reasons for you to not go out today and pick up the game. For all you people out there looking for a new, fresh music game; pick up DJ Hero today. Trust me, you won’t regret it.

Verdict

Graphics: 80%

Gameplay: 93%

Lifespan: 90%

Overall Rating: 91%