When the world was abuzz with the Guitar Heroes and the Rock Bands, I had remained unconvinced. Pressing buttons on what felt like a plastic toy guitar to mimic real music just did not appeal to me. When I got a hands-on experience with DJ Hero, I felt that this would be something different, that this would be a rhythm game I would enjoy.

The Hardware and how it Works:

The turntable controller is a sturdy piece of hardware. When holding it, it has an authentic “non-plastic toy” feel to it. You can play with the hardware on your lap (that is how I played the game). But ideally you would want it set on a table and play it standing as that would allow more arm room, and less strain on your arm and wrist, for the scratching sequences.

As per the picture above, the green and blue buttons are the two different songs being mixed. The middle red button mimics external sound effects. The metal blobs around the disc are a great feature as they allow the player to get a better grasp of the disc using the thumb. The tuner is used to change the pitch of the songs when prompted. The crossfader is moved left or right and is used to focus on one of the two individual songs. Furthermore the developers have intelligently placed a mini controller on the top left of the turntable that can be used for navigation. In other words you won’t need to have a PS3 or Xbox 360 controller beside you.

The crossfader is a key part of any remix. Unfortunately, the developers have made the crossfader very light. It is hard to tell if you have placed it properly back in the middle. This becomes especially annoying as the crossfading sequences become more intense in the later songs. But with the exception of the crossfader, Activision and Free Play Games have done an outstanding job with the turntable.

Steep Learning Curve:

For rhythm music games it is key to have a controller that makes the player feel that they are the ones creating the music. I personally think that the developers have done a remarkable job with the amount of tasks required for mixing. Anything more would have been too much and anything less would have taken away from the experience.

But the multi-tasks also mean the game has a steep learning curve. Asking someone to play a song on medium without any prior experience with the game could leave them overwhelmed and discouraged. Fortunately, the tutorial does a great job covering all aspects of the game. Having little experience with music games, even I was able to play through the earlier songs on ‘Expert’ after the tutorial. But I had to revert back to ‘Medium’ and ‘Hard’ for the rest of the game.

Because there are so many things to be done, the tutorial is fairly long. For these reasons, it is harder for DJ Hero to be placed in a gathering for everyone to try. That is not to say that the game is inaccessible, it just takes a bit of time getting used to. But when you do learn it, it is a blast to play.

The Difficulty Settings:

The ‘Easy’ difficulty setting is easy to pick up as it eliminates the requirement of the crossfader. As the crossfader is a key element to music mixes, the difficulty setting takes away significantly from the experience. In the harder difficulty settings players are also required to scratch in a particular direction for the scratching sequences. In short the higher the difficulty setting the greater the feeling that you are making the music.

Software:

As the whole set costs $130 CDN we also need to have a critical look at the software side of things. The game features a remarkable 93 original remixes made from over a 100 songs. Certain songs are used multiple times but rarely do the mixes sound much alike. Most of the remixes sound great. 

With that said, the developers have played it safe by only covering mainstream genres. The genres include hip hop, rock, pop and electro-trance. I personally loved the Daft Punk songs and would have liked to have a bit more from the electro-trance genre. More specifically, I would have loved some Sandstorm with Darude. Also missing are English and foreign language re-mixes. I can’t blame the developers for playing it safe as they are introducing a new peripheral. But still, there is nothing quite like a hip hop and bhangra remix. 

With the multiplayer experience not being as great as in other music based games (covered below), one would have expected a more engaging and thorough single player career mode experience. Unfortunately this particular section of the game is rather bland.

Each song is scored out of 5 stars. Certain number of stars are required to unlock accessories, stages and additional music set lists. And that is all there is to it. On a lighter note, I did not like that all the female DJ characters were either too slutty and skanky or fat. A great thing about the DJ Hero is that it allows the player to create a play-list of the songs that they would want to play. Ultimately, this genre is about creating good music through the use of a hardware designed to present an immersive experience, and these are the parts that Activision and Free Play Games have successfully nailed.

Multiplayer:

There are about 10 tracks that can be played alongside a guitarist. But these tracks don’t sound as good and as a result are not a lot of fun to play. The main reason for this is that the guitar effects are more apparent than the DJ efforts. This means that the person playing DJ does not get a strong link to the creation of the music.

Other than guitar play, the game does allow the game two turntable multiplayer. However with the game currently costing $130 CDN and a second turntable controller costing $70 at the moment, spending $200 may not be practical for most people.

Final Word:

For me, DJ Hero is a better game than its guitar counter parts as it requires more than just pressing buttons and therefore presents a more immersive experience. Unless you are looking for a deep multiplayer experience, this is likely a must buy for fans of rhythm music games. For people that had been turned off by button pressing on plastic guitars will likely find a more convincing game in DJ Hero.

Despite the lack of deep career mode and a weak crossfader, Activision and Free Play Games have done a great job with this new franchise. DJ Hero goes down as a prime contender for the most innovative game of 2009.

Genre: Rhythm / Music  

Platforms: Xbox 360, PS3 

Developed by: Free Play Games

Published by: Activision Blizzard

Estimated Retail Value: 120 USD, 130 CDN