DJ Hero and DJ Hero 2 Part 1: DJ Hero

From the makers of Guitar Hero come a brand new series ready to cut, scratch, and mix their way through today’s top hits and yesterday’s olden classics. May I present DJ Hero and its second installment DJ Hero 2? No? Well too bad I’m doing it anyway!

            Becoming a DJ Hero (DJ Hero)

                The first game introduced us to some new characters and gameplay that has never been done before and introduces some very different ideas in the world of rhythm and music gaming. Players cut and scratch through many different venues and different setlists containing songs from everything from hip-hop to pop and rock to rap. And some gamers are lucky to come in contact with a cheat code that unlocks a superstar DJ (or should I say DJs) that you can play straight away (hey, that rhymes). I’ll tell you about them later. Here’s a hint in case you’re a little antsy: You can never see their faces.

 Cut, Scratch, Mix, and Repeat

            So the first setlists are the tutorials that teach you how to jam and mix like a rock star…or in this case a DJ star. Your teacher is DJ Grandmaster Flash, who evidently was the man behind deejaying and many techniques regarding deejaying. I actually liked this particular tutorial guide, since he has a sort of swagger about him and brings a familiarity about the game. Very nicely done. Anyway, after you've got the basics down, it's time to hit the clubs and scratch some setlists. This was my first critique, Guitar Hero games (which inspired the DJ Hero series and was made by the same company Activision) only let you do one song at a time. In DJ Hero, it's a little different. You have to play setlists which can have up to four to five mixes at a time. Another thing is that, you can come across a "guitar setlist" which for people who have the matching guitar controller, can jam along with your deejaying partner. I didn't like this feature. While it does allow a multiplayer option it shrinks the space in which you can see the buttons coming along the screen.

            Speaking of gameplay, here's how players become playas, so to speak. Gamers have to hit buttons accordingly to the screen to get "hits" as the game calls them. But, you also have to scratch. Scratching requires you to hold a button down and twist the platter in order to scratch, simple right? Well it gets harder as you proceed, having to scratch in sequences at times. You can also do things such as crossfade (moving a knob back and forth to isolate sound tracks) and freestyle which is a point I have to criticize. The freestyling objects are a little knob that you can use toe bring the sound in and out at certain gates and also select "freestyle samples" which you can interject at certain points. This feature was a tad confusing. While easy to use, you still have to look up in order to select what sample you want to interject. This takes your eyes away from the highway and makes you lose points on account of something that doesn't really sound that good in the mix anyways. To me, that whole idea was a waste of time. But, not to worry it gets better in the next game.

 

Ears (and Eyes) of Steel for the Wheels of Steel

           While the game is fun and gets you groovin', it still has some points that brings the game back down to ground. A point that I should make out to you is that the clubs that you perform in are guilty as charged of "mild suggestive themes". All venues in the DJ Hero games have dancers performing while you play the playlists. These dancers are sometimes men, however more often than not, women are the ones performing. And in most of the venues I've ventured in have dancers that either reveal cleavage, leg, midriff, back, or sometimes all of them at the same time. Dancers will wear short shorts, midriff and cleavage baring tops, at times. There is one venue that you have to unlock, via cheat code, called the "bedroom". I don't even wanna know what goes on in there. But, I've noticed that there are about three venues that seem age-appropriate. However, I still say proceed with extra caution. Even some of the DJs sport really short shorts and one has a dress that goes all the way down to the midriff area, revealing some cleavage and midriff. In a way, she looks like Rihanna at the Grammys except the dresses are either gold or white, I think. 
            Some of the songs they mix with are also suggestive in nature. Most of the ones I mention here are actually worthy of being called "sexual". These songs are Emienem's "My Name Is", Gwen Stefani's "Hollaback Girl", Young MC's "Bust a Move", and a song called "Lapdance". Sorry, I can't remember who the artist was. When I see these songs, I immediately skip that song in the setlist. I just don't even wanna hear a few bars of a song. Some songs also have language in their original forms however I haven't heard any straight out swearing and if I have it may have been so strange a tone, I may not have recognized it. Other times, like when I was once playing that Gwen Stefani song, I could hear the first part of the s-word, but immediately went into scratch, as if the makers were protecting us from the word. So, lemme just say, I appreciate Activision for doing that because, I don't care if it's a rated-M gorefest or a rated-E basketball game, foul language should be avoided at all times, except if the language is very mild and they don't use it all the time. Language really isn't necessary and (are you listening Emeneim?) ISN'T supposed to be repetitive! So my only warning is keep on your toes, and if you decide that these songs aren't such a big deal, then that's your decision to make, not mine. I'm here to inform you of what's out there not to wheel and deal your purchases in the video game market.

Daft Punk's Playing at My House

             I never did tell you who you can unlock in the game and play right away. I think you already guessed it though with the huge subheading up there. Yes, it's Daft Punk. The Frenchies who have been masters of the turntables with legendary songs such as "Robot Rock" and "Around the World". I can tell you this was the reason why I wanted this game in the first place. But, what can I say, I guess I'm "Human After All". Yes, the pun was intended. If you don't understand what I just said, don't go all "Fresh" on me and tell me to change the "Veridis Quo". Man am I on a roll!

Overall

              So here's the pros of the first DJ Hero game: It's fun to play, gets you jamming, and at times gets you singing along. Cons of DJ Hero: The dancers wear skimpy outfits, the freestyling is a little more difficult than freestyling should be, there are some suggestive songs, the multiplayer needs to go back to the drawing board, and the speediness could use some more work while playing the songs. If the song is real easy to play, the highway goes real slow, but if it's more difficult the highway speeds up a little even if your on the same difficulty level. For me, the speed of all the songs should be constant on each difficulty level. Easy should be slow, Medium a little faster, Hard, faster than medium, Expert should be faster than hard. That's the way it should work and that's the way it should stay. But, I still loved jamming and mixing with all the songs. Also, one more thing, big props to FSG for the hard work of mixing all these songs together. Plus, more big props to all the other DJs who participated in this game (i.e DJ Yoda, DJ Shadow, etc.). Nice job to all of you! I'll be back later to give you the scoop on DJ Hero 2. Until then, 3, 2, 1...GAME ON!