Wonderful game though it was, the original DJ Hero suffered from poor sales. So it’s great that Activision has backed a second iteration. Perhaps it was dismissed as rhythm-action fodder for those who spend half their lives in clubs whereas those in the know will tell you it represents about as much fun as you can have while manipulating a bizarre input device attached to a console.
If the alternative country heads and jazz cats had a go on it, they might just have some
sort of revelation.
DJ Hero 2, like its predecessor, bears scant resemblance to any form of known deejaying, and adheres solidly to the blueprint set by its predecessor. But it shows plenty of evidence that serious thought has gone into how to improve it mainly by adding plenty of new features which make you feel much more in control of the proceedings.
This time around, the scratching, tapping, crossfading, spinbacks and so on have been augmented by sequences of freestyle scratching, cross-fading and rhythmic sample tapping, plus so-called “held taps”, which are longer, effected samples that you have to press and hold. Plus, if you’re that way inclined (and in a real club nothing makes the spirit sink more than seeing a DJ do this), you can grab a mic in order to sing or rap along. And you can now attach two turntables in order to battle a friend.
This time around, in other words, there’s more to do, and more periods in which you can do your own thing. It generally feels much slicker than its predecessor. The visuals give a great impression of the excitement found on the best dancefloors, the single-player game feels more coherent (you have to establish a superclub-style brand on the back of skills on the ones and twos) and the music is better. The original game’s bias towards bootleg-style hip-hop mixes has given way to a clubbier vibe (although the audacity of some of the mixes will still make you grin). Top DJs like Tiesto, the RZA and Deadmau5 have contributed, along with David Guetta, whose cringeworthy cheesiness really shouldn’t tally with his incredible popularity.
You can buy various bundles, with one, two or no turntable peripherals (the peripheral itself is unchanged), most of which come with a free copy of the original game. Even if you bought the original, it might be worth getting another turntable, as the battle mode will get any party started, while making a racket that non-participants will still appreciate. For our money, this is the best rhythm-action game money can buy. It would be a travesty if it failed to find an audience this time around. Much like the travesty which is David Guetta’s failure to attract universal hoots of derision.
