DJ Hero review

Game type: Music.

Maker: Activision.



Platforms: Reviewed on Xbox 360. Also available for PS3, Wii, PS2.



Hits: The fun in DJ Hero comes from the overall experience. When stringing a series of taps and scratches and cross-fade switches, you'll get into the groove of playing a true DJ. The change of direction in the music game department is a major breath of fresh air for Guitar Hero and Rock Band players who had memorized all the band parts for Rush's "Tom Sawyer" by now.



I fretted over playing it, because watching game play of it on G4 made me think it would be complicated to control. But after I had played it for a good 15 minutes, all of the basic controls seemed easy to get a hold of.





View full sizeActivisionDJ Hero features single-player and co-op modes.



Musical talents in the game feature that of Daft Punk and DJ Jazzy Jeff. Playing DJ will give you more of an appreciation of what DJs have to do. You will probably find it more fun to be the one playing the songs instead of listening to them.



The wide diversity of song genres is another one of DJ Hero's perks. You'll find tracks that mix everything from hip-hop and rock to classic rock and pop.



Misses: The biggest and most aggravating of all the flaws is the obvious lack of hardware safety in the controllers. My controller broke the very first time I played it. I turned it on and did the tutorial and everything was fine. I turned it off to eat dinner and returned to it to find that the scratching peripheral on the controller had broken during its very first play.



We were able to obtain a new controller, which is OK so far. The controller's apparent fragility might hinder someone from buying it as a gift.





View full sizeActivisionThe DJ Hero turntable looks cool, but its plastic construction feels fragile. Our first one out of the box quit "scratching" after one gaming session, and we had to get a replacement.



The other flaw is the very limited mix list. The game will re-use and re-use the same song in some instances. Is this from a lack of creativity or lack of budget?



Content Rating: Teen.



Recommendation: DJ Hero will be a great gift for your inner scratcher or your own little DJ.



Grade: A







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Game reviewer Matthew Crowson has never actually played vinyl records on a turntable. Write to him care of bcrowson@bhamnews.com





View full sizeActivisionThe DJ Hero controls should come easily to people adept with music games such as Guitar Hero.