Mongo Nation

Is DJ Hero the game-changer it appears to be?

By Jeremy Azevedo

When GTA: Vice City came out, it had an undeniable impact on the music industry. It’s soundtrack resurrected dozens of classic 80s songs that hadn’t been played on the radio in years. Within weeks, those very same songs were once again staples at every bar and club in America.

When Guitar Hero started catching on, hard rock and metal experienced a similar revival. It could be argued that there would be no Steel Panther, no Brutal Legend, no Avenged Sevenfold being played on the radio had it not been for the success of Guitar Hero. It is my belief that DJ Hero will similarly impact the hip-hop industry.

Before we get into the specifics of the gameplay, I need to impart to you that the mix of songs in DJ Hero goes far beyond the scope of what I would have expected. Largely as a result of working with superstar DJs like Z-Trip, DJ Shadow, DJ AM, Grandmaster Flash, DJ Jazzy Jeff and Daft Punk, the wealth of knowledge and the breadth of genre represented here are mind-blowing. For example, one song mixes Chuck Brown & The Soul Searchers “Bustin’ Loose” with The Zombies “Time of the Season”. That’s digging deep. What’s cool though, is although those two songs probably sound obscure to some of you, when you actually hear them, you will recognize them right away. Not only that, but they mix together amazingly.

DJ Jazzy Jeff FTW!

For every obscure music nerd track, there is an equally good pop mix, such as Kid Cudi “Day ‘N’ Nite” vs. Black Eyed Peas “Boom Boom Pow”. Even if you find those songs played out and intolerable, when you hear them together it’s like one of those weak Transformer toys that suck by themselves, but if you collect them all, they form into one giant, badass robot that’s actually super cool. This is exactly why mash-ups are becoming so popular as of late; they breathe new life into songs that may seem to have been bled dry. (Although I could have done with fewer repetitions of “Holla Back Girl” by Gwen Stefani. Seriously, that song is in this game like 100 times.) When you really interact with DJ Hero and truly experience the depth of production that goes into the songs, you can almost hear iPod DJs wilting into obscurity where they belong. This is what real what pretending to be a real DJ should sound like, people.

The actual gameplay of DJ Hero is pretty easy to get the hang of, but hard to master. Guitar Hero veterans will catch on pretty quickly, but will find the timing very difficult to nail every time at first. The crossfader doesn’t make things any easier, as it doesn’t really click into place in the middle and requires you to develop some finesse to effectively switch between tracks on some of the faster sections. However, if you take on the mixes in their proper order, there is a steady progression of new techniques and skills that are introduced, and it’s easier to learn the ropes than if you were to jump directly into one of the later, more difficult songs right from the start.

Customizable samples are dedicatd to the red center button.

The single player campaign of DJ Hero is a lot of fun, due in part to the newness of the peripheral and the steady progression of star collecting. The stars you earn in the gameplay unlock what seems like hundreds of characters, decks, skins, headphones, new setlists, and various other outfits and crap. You’re constantly kept playing just to see what’s going to open up next. It would have been nice to have all the songs unlocked right from the start for multiplayer, but that would sort of negate much of the fun in single player mode. It’s a slippery slope. There really isn’t any way that they could have implemented the excellent challenge system of Guitar Hero 5 because there’s only the one instrument for most of the game. So it is what it is.

Multiplayer is where the game sort of loses a little steam. It’s cool that two DJs can play at once, but it’s not really as if you’re playing together or against each other or anything like that. You’re just playing at the same time. The guitar Vs DJ battles are a clever addition, since some people probably have little interest in the turntable and would prefer to just play the guitar. It’s also a great way to rope in Guitar Hero players with the promise of a new challenge. But at the end of the day, the DJ/Guitar songs are, again, hardly interactive. What’s worse is, these songs don’t really service the fans of either genre and are probably the weakest in the game. DJs would probably rather be playing anything but Jackson 5, and guitarists would probably rather be playing anything but Third Eye Blind. It’s a compromise that really doesn’t satisfy either party. I will say this though: None of these issues will stop your friends from playing DJ Hero for hours on end.

Guitar vs. DJ battle mode.

Any and all complaints aside, I find it difficult not to recommend DJ Hero to any gamer that hasn’t already picked it up. Even if you aren’t the biggest fan of hip-hop and electronic music, you probably will be by the end of the game. (I actually despise house music and rave culture, but I still loved the game.) The peripheral works great and takes up a hell of a lot less space than your various guitars and drums and other crap. And it’s more girl friendly; my wifey knows ten times as many of these songs as she does on Guitar Hero, so we’re not stuck doing Blondie and Paramore over and over again, ad nauseum. So unless you’re a serial sausage partier, DJ Hero is probably going to be your go-to drinking game from now on.

I award DJ Hero 8.5 out of 10 Unicorns Fighting A Robot Dolphin

-1 if you’re experiencing a terminal case of music game fatigue, one that even a change of genre isn’t going to fix.
+1 if you’re super pumped to hear what Dizzee Rascal “Fix Up Look Sharp” vs. Justice “Genesis” sounds like, or Gang Starr “Just To Get A Rep” vs. Mobb Deep “Shook Ones, Pt.2”.
-1.5 if you read that last sentence and it made absolutely no sense to you.
+1.5 had I been invited to the Jay-Z/Eminem performance that happened down the street from my house unbeknownst to me.

DJ Hero Intro Trailer.