X’10
Chapter 7 – Spin Me Another
By Jorge Figueiredo - August 25th, 2010
Music games and I have a love/hate relationship; due to the fact that I live in a relatively small house, I don’t really have a lot of space for games like Rock Band or Guitar Hero. My gaming area is also located right under my daughter’s room, so playing games that involve singing are usually a no-no; this may be about to change. DJ Hero allowed me to get a music game that was awesome to play and had a controller that could be easily stored away (although I did buy the Renegade Edition). As I burned through the whole game, I wondered how they could possibly make this game better; I wonder no more…
DJ Hero 2
Kudos to Activision, first of all, for keeping the same controller; when I heard the announcement of a sequel, I was a bit worried that I would have to drop more coin for a new controller – this is obviously not the case. Activision has managed to stuff twice the goodness into the game without causing a big dent to the wallet: props.
I walked up to the display and was greeted by Phillip Greenspan from Activision, who was very excited to tell me about the game, but then slowly backed away when he saw the fire of recognition in my eyes as they fell upon the turntable. I gave it a spin and stopped it, with my first three fingers ready on the buttons.
“I see you have played this before,” Phil commented, “Well then, let’s just skip past the tutorials.”
Phil gave me the update on the fly as I played through a Pussycat Dolls/Busta Rhymes mix; DJ Hero 2 has the same magic as the first game with some new twists: freestyle sections, microphone integration, more interesting single and multiplayer modes and flashier visuals.
Freestyling can occur with scratching, the sample track, and the crossfader; the big consideration with your score is how well you keep the rhythm. You can be creative and depart from the style of the song, but if you don’t keep the rhythm, you will not score as well as you would if you stick to the beat. Lower levels offer you a guide with the crossfader, displaying the dominant sounds so you can switch back and forth with some sort of clue; once you hit the higher levels, it’s all about your ear. One of my favourite things to doduring freestyle mode was to spin the platter completely around; a full 360 scratch just felt really cool. The notation for freestyle is pretty easy to understand, too: it’s a blank space that you have to fill with your creativity. Freestyle is also made a little easier on the ears by using samples that fit with the song, rather than random ones of your choosing.
Similar to the Rock Band series, DJ Hero 2 has a vocal track, where you sing or rap along with the song; whether it’s keeping pitch and beat with melodic vocals, or keeping the tone with the rapping, the fun factor has increased. There were some very brave souls who took the mic at X’10; most of them didn’t really score so well but you didn’t see any frowns.
Single player career mode has been tweaked to have more structure; it’s called “Empire Mode”. Startingas a lowly warehouse DJ, you make your way up the ladder to become head of your own music empire. The path is filled with unlockable perks to add a bit of extra incentive.
I found the multiplayer mode a lot more fun this time, as well; various types of challenges await you and your friends. There is a “checkpoint battle” where you play simultaneously, trying to get the best score in each segment of the song. There is also another mode that is more of a “call-and-respond” game; one DJ will play a short segment, followed by the other; the DJs alternate until the end of the challenge and the points will dictate who the best master musician is.
I am really looking forward to this game; with another great track list, and several packages (standalone game, game with turntable, and the party bundle – two turntables and a microphone), it’s going to be pretty easy for everyone to get in on the action. DJ Hero 2 enters the mix on October 19th.
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