In a season full of unnecessary sequels and cheap imitations, DJ Hero brings a much welcomed fresh breath of creativity to the rhythm based music genre.
Guitar Hero and Rock Band had its turn in the spot light. But now it’s time to stow away all the other plastic instruments and dive headfirst into Activision and FreeStyleGames’ innovative and ambitious attempt to authentically recreate the art of DJ’ing.
Featuring a brand new controller, a diverse soundtrack with tons of famous artists, and tons of replay value,DJ Hero is by far the most novel and enjoyable music video game to come out in quite some time.
The plastic turntable that comes with DJ Hero is sturdy and has some weight to it. Additionally, all the various buttons and dials actually feel well-constructed, unlike some of the earlier guitars that were bundled with Guitar Hero. When you’re pressing buttons, sliding the cross fader or spinning the platter DJ Hero’s turntable actually feels like it could pass off as the real thing.
The only problem with the controller is that it’s difficult to balance it on your lap. With Guitar Hero, you could rock out anywhere, provided you had enough room to stand up. With DJ Hero though, you’ll probably need a flat surface to rest the turntable on.
DJ Hero’s gameplay is somewhat reminiscent of Guitar Hero or any other music based rhythm game for that matter. Three notes (red, green or blue) descend towards the bottom of the screen, and you hit the corresponding button once it enters the specific zone.
A “Euphoria” button lets you increase your score multiplier, and a rewind feature (accomplishing by spinning the platter) reverses the song for a few seconds and lets gamers rack up more points. However, DJ Hero adds even more realistic elements of DJ’ing that makes a seemingly familiar experience distinctly unique and awesome to play.
Turning the platter creates a scratch effect in songs and the mixer allows you to choose between certain sound effects. But the cross fader is where things really get interesting. On medium difficulty, the stream of green and blue notes racing towards you diverge to either the left or right.
These branches signify where the track changes, and you’re responsible for moving the cross fader to the appropriate position. Succeed and the mix continues uninterrupted. Forget to move the cross fader or accidentally shift it into the wrong position, though, and the music will completely fall silent until the problem is fixed.
On paper, DJ Hero doesn’t sound all that difficult. After all, with only three buttons, how hard could it possibly be? On the medium difficulty, the game is pretty easy. However, crank the difficulty to hard and things quickly become hectic. Tracks change frequently and in rapid succession, the platter can only be turned in the specific direction and notes descend much more quickly.
While DJ Hero never quite reaches the insane level of difficulty found in Beatmania, most gamers will have to spend a considerable amount of time practicing before taking on the game’s harder songs on more advanced levels.
Once you do acquire the skills to handle DJ Hero at its hardest, the experience is nothing short of amazing. Your hands will move faster than they ever have before as you press buttons, turn dials and scratch the record. With music blasting in your ears in tandem with the roaring adulation of the digital crowd, you actually feel (if only for the duration of the song) like a real DJ.
Regardless of how good DJ Hero’s gameplay is, its really the game’s compilation of songs that makes it shine. There’s 93 mixes featured exclusively in DJ Hero that span numerous genres, including rock, electronica, pop, hip-hop and more.
You’ll play through mixes created by artists like Kid Cudi, Tears for Fears, Jay-Z and many, many more. Guitar Hero and Rock Band are famous for ensuring that rock enthusiasts are provided with popular, recognizable tracks to emulate, and DJ Hero does the same exact thing for fans of music like hip-hop, electronica and other DJ-based forms.
All the recordings are crisp and sound excellent, and they actually playback according to how well you perform. For instance, if you miss a part where you’re supposed to toggle the cross fader, one of the tracks will play normally, but the other won’t.
Messing up leaves deafening, ugly silences that ruin the rhythm and flow of the song you’re playing, but all that does is make successfully playing a song from beginning to end that much more rewarding.
DJ Hero also comes with all the multiplayer options that you’d come to expect from past rhythm-based music games. You can go online to challenge other aspiring DJ’s, or you can play cooperatively and competitively offline as well.
Also, on certain tracks, another player can hop on with a Guitar Hero guitar and add a rock track to your DJ’ing. The addition of DJ and guitar tracks is a really nice touch and well implemented, but all in all, the multiplayer offerings, particularly the competitive modes, are a little sparse.
There’s definitely room for improvement in future installments, but regardless, the multiplayer mode in DJ Hero is still more than adequate. It may not be worth rushing out and buying another DJ controller, but if your buddy is willing to bring one over, the multiplayer is still a lot of fun.
DJ Hero manages to capture everything that made Guitar Hero such a runaway success in 2005. It’s incredibly addicting, innovative, fun to play and challenging, and it certainly doesn’t hurt that it has one of the most varied and robust soundtracks ever to be featured in a video game. The multiplayer options are a little bit on the light side, but regardless, fully expect to invest countless hours with DJ Hero as you master songs, unlock new content and play with friends.
[Originally posted on College News]
Guitar Hero and Rock Band had its turn in the spot light. But now it’s time to stow away all the other plastic instruments and dive headfirst into Activision and FreeStyleGames’ innovative and ambitious attempt to authentically recreate the art of DJ’ing.
Featuring a brand new controller, a diverse soundtrack with tons of famous artists, and tons of replay value,DJ Hero is by far the most novel and enjoyable music video game to come out in quite some time.
The plastic turntable that comes with DJ Hero is sturdy and has some weight to it. Additionally, all the various buttons and dials actually feel well-constructed, unlike some of the earlier guitars that were bundled with Guitar Hero. When you’re pressing buttons, sliding the cross fader or spinning the platter DJ Hero’s turntable actually feels like it could pass off as the real thing.
The only problem with the controller is that it’s difficult to balance it on your lap. With Guitar Hero, you could rock out anywhere, provided you had enough room to stand up. With DJ Hero though, you’ll probably need a flat surface to rest the turntable on.
DJ Hero’s gameplay is somewhat reminiscent of Guitar Hero or any other music based rhythm game for that matter. Three notes (red, green or blue) descend towards the bottom of the screen, and you hit the corresponding button once it enters the specific zone.
A “Euphoria” button lets you increase your score multiplier, and a rewind feature (accomplishing by spinning the platter) reverses the song for a few seconds and lets gamers rack up more points. However, DJ Hero adds even more realistic elements of DJ’ing that makes a seemingly familiar experience distinctly unique and awesome to play.
Turning the platter creates a scratch effect in songs and the mixer allows you to choose between certain sound effects. But the cross fader is where things really get interesting. On medium difficulty, the stream of green and blue notes racing towards you diverge to either the left or right.
These branches signify where the track changes, and you’re responsible for moving the cross fader to the appropriate position. Succeed and the mix continues uninterrupted. Forget to move the cross fader or accidentally shift it into the wrong position, though, and the music will completely fall silent until the problem is fixed.
On paper, DJ Hero doesn’t sound all that difficult. After all, with only three buttons, how hard could it possibly be? On the medium difficulty, the game is pretty easy. However, crank the difficulty to hard and things quickly become hectic. Tracks change frequently and in rapid succession, the platter can only be turned in the specific direction and notes descend much more quickly.
While DJ Hero never quite reaches the insane level of difficulty found in Beatmania, most gamers will have to spend a considerable amount of time practicing before taking on the game’s harder songs on more advanced levels.
Once you do acquire the skills to handle DJ Hero at its hardest, the experience is nothing short of amazing. Your hands will move faster than they ever have before as you press buttons, turn dials and scratch the record. With music blasting in your ears in tandem with the roaring adulation of the digital crowd, you actually feel (if only for the duration of the song) like a real DJ.
Regardless of how good DJ Hero’s gameplay is, its really the game’s compilation of songs that makes it shine. There’s 93 mixes featured exclusively in DJ Hero that span numerous genres, including rock, electronica, pop, hip-hop and more.
You’ll play through mixes created by artists like Kid Cudi, Tears for Fears, Jay-Z and many, many more. Guitar Hero and Rock Band are famous for ensuring that rock enthusiasts are provided with popular, recognizable tracks to emulate, and DJ Hero does the same exact thing for fans of music like hip-hop, electronica and other DJ-based forms.
All the recordings are crisp and sound excellent, and they actually playback according to how well you perform. For instance, if you miss a part where you’re supposed to toggle the cross fader, one of the tracks will play normally, but the other won’t.
Messing up leaves deafening, ugly silences that ruin the rhythm and flow of the song you’re playing, but all that does is make successfully playing a song from beginning to end that much more rewarding.
DJ Hero also comes with all the multiplayer options that you’d come to expect from past rhythm-based music games. You can go online to challenge other aspiring DJ’s, or you can play cooperatively and competitively offline as well.
Also, on certain tracks, another player can hop on with a Guitar Hero guitar and add a rock track to your DJ’ing. The addition of DJ and guitar tracks is a really nice touch and well implemented, but all in all, the multiplayer offerings, particularly the competitive modes, are a little sparse.
There’s definitely room for improvement in future installments, but regardless, the multiplayer mode in DJ Hero is still more than adequate. It may not be worth rushing out and buying another DJ controller, but if your buddy is willing to bring one over, the multiplayer is still a lot of fun.
DJ Hero manages to capture everything that made Guitar Hero such a runaway success in 2005. It’s incredibly addicting, innovative, fun to play and challenging, and it certainly doesn’t hurt that it has one of the most varied and robust soundtracks ever to be featured in a video game. The multiplayer options are a little bit on the light side, but regardless, fully expect to invest countless hours with DJ Hero as you master songs, unlock new content and play with friends.
[Originally posted on College News]
