DJ Hero 2

When I first read about the original _DJ Hero_, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. Take your plastic drum kit and shove it. If you wanted to take the basis of _Guitar Hero_ further, DJ decks was an inspired direction to go in. FreeStyleGames were brave in doing this last year, but I suppose they figured that the soundtrack would be enough to fall back on if the game was rubbish. So that game wasn’t rubbish. You had the same simple mechanics that made
_Guitar Hero_ so fun but with a completely new spin (excuse me) on them. There wasn’t much
depth to the game but, as with all these games, there didn’t need to be. As you play through the songs, they get harder as you get better. So the big question now was ‘where to go from here’? The answer: _DJ Hero 2_.

This time round you have two options – purchase with or without the peripheral. If you have _DJ Hero_, you’ll be happy to know that the controller for this sequel is exactly the same. You’ve got too many plastic guitars cluttering up the living room to be flooding it with turntables as well. This doesn’t mean playing the game is exactly the same, but all the new gameplay elements are in the game itself, not in the hardware. The biggest of these new elements is freestyle sampling and cross-fading. The first of these gives you sections of free reign over the red button taps and the second lets you (again over some sections) freely swap between the two songs in the mix. Mostly, however, you’re still sticking to the pre-mixed tracks, so it’s still not anything like real DJing.

There isn’t really much to say about the single player ‘Empire’ mode – play through the songs and unlock stuff as your ‘career’ progresses. As with all of these games it’s just fun to work through and then up the difficulty and try again. Multiplayer has changed quite a bit. The ability to hook up your _Guitar Hero_ controller and use it in the first game is replaced with the ability to use a microphone to sing while you scratch (well, while someone else scratches, but get a mic stand if you feel inclined). This seems fun, but doesn’t work particularly well with the remixed versions of songs in the game. As for deck on deck, there are a few options. ‘Party Play’ is accessed instantly from the main menu and has no scoring to worry about. With the soundtrack playing and the ability to swap players at any difficulty (or leave the music playing) it makes the game perfect for, well, parties. For the more competitive among you there are more modes that can be played with two controllers or online. As well as the usual head-to-head, score-the-most style modes, there are a few interesting twists. ‘Streak’ and ‘Accumulator’ modes have you trying to bank the points (Weakest Link style) over perfect sections and ‘Checkpoint’ mode has you trying to win sections of the track rather than the whole thing. There are also ‘DJ Battles’ which have you taking it in turn to play increasingly tough sections in a very similar way to the Guitar Battles from way back in _Guitar Hero 3_.

Gameplay, multiplayer: check. That leaves the most important thing to mention – the soundtrack. This was the big selling point of _DJ Hero_, and exactly the same can be said here. The game contains 83 exclusive and original mixes from over 100 songs (some remixes and some mash-ups). There’s a lot more mainstream stuff in this game so expect to hear plenty of Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Flo Rida, etc. That isn’t to say it’s not without a few stranger mixes such as a mash-up of Kanye West and Metallica, and one I literally jumped in excitement at when I scrolled down the list: Major Lazer – Pon De Floor vs. Harold Faltermeyer – Axel F. If the included tracks aren’t enough, there’s also plenty of room for downloadable content and you can import songs you bought for the first game into this one, which is a bonus, as the packs remain expensive at about £6 for a three song pack.

So from _DJ Hero_ to _DJ Hero 2_ we don’t have that much difference; a few improved elements here and there definitely help, but if you got bored of the first game, you might get bored of this one. That being said, this is still a great and very fun game for new players and experts alike. If you (like me) didn’t get bored of the first game, you’ll get more of the same with the sequel and a brand new soundtrack to sink your teeth into.