When DJ Hero came out last year, the numerous iterations of guitar- and band-based rhythm games got many members of the gaming community and games press jaded. People were beginning to grow tired of their plastic guitars and drums. This is one reason some gamers were drawn to DJ Hero; it provided a fresh experience in the rhythm game genre. After all, many people have — at one point in their lives — picked up a guitar or sat behind a drum set, but not everyone has had a turn at spinning records at a turntable. It was the title for the truly adventurous rhythm game fans. DJ Hero allowed gamers to see what it was like to be a DJ, and it succeeded in doing so.
The original DJ Hero is a proof of concept as its successor has fleshed out the exprience with a bunch of important upgrades. The developers at Freestyle Games have designed DJ Hero 2 to be an improvement from its predecessor by addressing many areas of gameplay — from party play to track “linearity.” The resulting rhythm game is a more functional, party-friendly DJ Hero that fans of the genre will have to check out.
The first thing you’ll notice about DJ Hero 2 is that it’s more party-friendly than the original. Freestyle Games realized that the one thing that was missing from the DJ Hero experience last year was its ability to entertain at a party. With only one turntable and some songs being guitar-compatible, it was more of a game to be played on your own. They’ve remedied this by allowing DJ Hero 2 to be played with two turntables and a microphone. Thus, up to three people and as little as no people can be playing at once (more on the latter later). As the two DJs mix it up and battle one another, a third player can pick up the microphone and lay down vocals to the track. Vocalists will have to follow a certain beat as they are scored against the pitch and range detectors. At the same time, the two DJs will be able to face off against one another in different competitive modes such as DJ Battle, Quickplay, Pro-Faceoff, Acculumlator, Checkpoints and Streakers.
Unfortunately, DJ Hero 2 will not support any guitar peripherals as the original did. This was done so that the studio could focus more on the turntables and scratching. Besides, we’ve all had enough of that plastic guitar at this point. Right?
DJ Hero 2 is pretty inclusive with the addition of a microphone and an extra turntable. But is it party-friendly in terms of functionality? Players will now be able to drop in or drop out of a mix with a few button presses without stopping the action.
Additionally, the difficulty setting for either turntable can be changed from the pause menu without having to quit out of the song. This is extremely helpful if someone bites off more than they can chew. I got to experience this first-hand as the Freestyle Games asked for people to try the game out. I raised my hand to volunteer and asked for my mix to be set on hard. In short, I was embarassed. Fortunately, my bombing gave Freestyle Games’ Chris Lee a chance to show off another new feature. Everyone was asked to quit out, and the music continued playing — a choice feature during a party between people are mingling between mixes. We were told that up to thirty songs can be played back-to-back in one sitting with smooth transitions between songs.
DJ Hero 2 will also show up with some new additions to the gameplay. There will not be freestyle sections in which the player can cross-fade in between tracks and not be penalized. Unlike the original’s “linear” mixes, certain sections of each mix will allow the player to freely switch between each track — during this time, there is no right or wrong. And for your convenience, there are indicators (vertical lines) in each freestyle section that indicate key sections that you may want to cross-fade to. We were given an example in which Rihana’s voice in the chrous was shown with these indicators, so you know when to cross-fade to that track if you want to hear her. Players are not limited to cross-fading as the DJ can also sample and scratch whatever they want during certain freestyle sections.
The self-destructively fun rewinds are back as well. In multiplayer, if a player scores a rewind and uses it, their opponent will be frozen out of action until the record catches up to where it was when the rewind was activated. This way, you truly get to induldge in the rewind’s benefits while your friend watches your score increase.
The mixes and some of the artists in the original DJ Hero were arguable some of the things that set it back and deterred people from picking it up. This issue has also been addressed as DJ Hero 2 will be including tracks from more contemporary artists such as Dr. Dre, Rihanna, and Lady Gaga.
DJ Hero 2 will contain approximately 100 tracks (with 70-80 unique mixes) and will be released this coming Fall for the Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii. The disc will set you back $59.99, a disc and turntable pack will cost $99.99, and the party pack (which consists of two turntables, a microphone, and disc) will run at $149.99. Although these numbers are a little steep, gamers who picked up DJ Hero last year or are just now picking it up on the cheap are in luck as Freestyle Games has indicated that one of their goals is to make the songs from DJ Hero classic forward compatable and ready to import to DJ Hero 2.
It may be a wise decision to pick up a copy of DJ Hero now and get yourself oriented with the art of the scratch. Based on what I saw at E3, this title is really going to shine when you’re expecting company over and have two turntables at your disposal. Why not offer your friends a unique rhythm game experience with DJ Hero 2? Judging by the sales of the original and how much of an improvement was made, DJ Hero 2 will probably catch a lot of people by surprise.
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