DJ Hero
With names such as Daft Punk, DJ Shadow, Grandmaster Flash and DJ Yoda on the box; you know there’s a certain sense of pedigree in DJ Hero.
Whilst many may think it’s just another flimsy plastic controller game this simply isn’t the case, instead you’re greeted by a sturdy wireless DJ deck; featuring a movable turntable which houses the famous Hero coloured buttons, a crossfader, effects dial and the “star power” equivalent Euphoria button. The name of the game is to perform DJ sets using actions such as button presses, scratches, crossfading between the individual tracks and inserting samples at certain points.
Featuring 94 DJ mixes, the individual songs themselves are from a wide range of genres such as pop, hip hop, rock, dance, soul and techno amongst others. Some of the mixes are truly inspired and frankly quite incredible such as Public Enemy ft. Zakk Wylde – “Bring The Noise 20XX” vs. Justice – “Genesis”, others are simply crimes against humanity e.g. the poorly implemented: Foo Fighters – “Monkey Wrench” vs. Beastie Boys – “Sabotage”.
Overall the presentation is solid, but menu navigation is atrocious and players have to infer which deck controls select certain options. The PS3 version also requires an ugly looking wireless dongle to stick out of the front of your console instead of proper Bluetooth compatibility being built in. Another annoyance is how Activision doesn’t want to let you forget that they also make Guitar Hero by making one of the set lists compatible with their guitar controller. Sounds great, but it’s so poorly executed; aside from the DJ/Guitar mixes being the worst in the game, even if you don’t want to use the functionality, the screen still splits in two and you end up watching a computer controlled guitarist playing the track in your peripheral vision. It's rife with name dropping: you know you’re playing DJ Hero; you don’t need to be told constantly throughout the mixes.
At its heart, however, DJ Hero is a truly inspired rhythm game and one which is far superior to its predecessors. Once you’re in the zone, it’s sensational, and you really do get the feeling that you’re DJing, constantly challenged by the mixing, scratching and dropping in of samples. Providing you like the genre’s mentioned you can do far worse than DJ Hero this winter.