Scratch This
Well, crap. DJ Hero is actually fun. Just beware of sticker shock and bring a healthy love of mash-ups (not to mention the tolerance for the noise they can descend into) and you'll be set. Get it? Set? Like a DJ? A DJ's s-aww, forget it.
Published: October 30, 2009
Rewinding actually does something else: shows off how solidly-built the controller really is. The crossfader slides a bit too freely for a video game trying to welcome newcomers (and at this point everyone is a newcomer, previous experience in other music games or no), the effects knob seems a little hokey and the Euphoria button is a lightly glowing big textured button. The second you flick your wrist and send the turntable spinning backwards, though, the momentum and weight of it all does feel incredibly solid.
The little flap that hides traditional Select/Star/d-pad/face buttons is a little on the flimsy side (a pop-up latch would have been nice) and the whole process for swapping sides to allow for lefties like me to move the turntable to the right of the controls never feels like it fully locks into place (you slip off a port cover on the side, reach underneath, slide a latch and the two pieces separate, allowing you to swap them and reverse the actions in a simple two-step process). Even still, these are little nitpicking quibbles, and I have to admit that with plenty of use, the thing really does feel solid. And being wireless is of course fantastic.
Of course, whether or not it's worth twice the cost of a normal next-gen game -- and double that if you want to get two players together to battle locally (there's a Trophy for that) -- is another fiscal question entirely. You can supplement some of the solitary feel of the main single-player game by battling people online or having someone with a guitar peripheral jump in on a few of the songs, but the bulk of your time in DJ Hero is surprisingly solo, an interesting contrast to the blatantly social experience of the other Hero or Band games out there.
Regardless of how you play, though, what you're playing is the make-or-break factor for a music game, and across the 93 mixes provided (some of which are re-used in different sets), at least half of them are seriously bounce-worthy -- even for someone who hates hipping and hopping. Pretty much any song that mixes in Eminem's "My Name Is" can go straight to hell; it's pure annoyance, especially when it tries to infect Beck's "Loser". They've also milked the hell out of Rihanna's "Disturbia," but it's pretty much the soundtrack's ace in the hole, somehow transforming whatever song it's mixed with into something better.
As a whole, the soundtrack is definitely more plusses than misses and it's all pumped out to your surround in either PCM or Dolby Digital with some fantastic separation between the left and right channels, truly embracing the idea of having 5.1 channels to mess with. Cranking up a subwoofer on some of the more epic songs (Eric Prydz' "Pjanoo" -- which you may have heard in Rockstar's Ballad of Gay Tony GTA IV commercial -- has a bass line that absolutely destroys when pumped through a nice set of speakers) really does transform that room into a dance floor experience.
The visuals, too, are quite good, mixing a fairly thick crowd of increasing size with nicely detailed (and customizable) DJs, outfits for 'em and decks. The framerate holds solid, the layout of the swooping turntable-esque note lines and supporting meters are all logically laid out (though the length of your Euphoria meter's burn could be more clear). In short, it looks good, not lacking in any real way with some imaginative little venues for your bleepy bloopy thumpy bumpy music to play out in.
I shouldn't like DJ Hero. The list of artists and the whole idea behind what you're doing should have been a major turn-off, but personal biases can't really diminish the quality and fun factor in the experience that FreeStyleGames has put together. If you don't abhor mash-ups with the same kind of vehemence that I do, this game should be an instant purchase, and if you're still curious, by all means, take the time to find someone with the game or try out a retail kiosk and you'll see that, yes, music does indeed have the power to overcome any preconceived notions of enjoyment.
