I’ll make no bones about it, DJ Hero was one of my favorite games from last year. It blended old/new music together and brought about a symphony of pleasure to the ears. The turntable is certainly a huge draw, as you don’t simply sit down and push buttons on a plastic stick. You can scratch, rewind, fade and twist the sound up.
The team behind the original was dead set on improving the experience, which seemed like an impossible task in comparison to how good the game was originally.
What they brought is a more ‘freestyle’ experience to the game. There are certain points in the second game where you literally are given the opportunity to freestyle the music. Don’t get me wrong, there were moments in the original that allowed you to do this, but not as extensive as this one. So, when the music is curving around to you in the game you’ll run into moments where this giant empty, outlined gaps come up and ask you to basically do whatever you want. From scratching to fading, the freestyle allows you to get into the music quite easily.
It doesn’t stop there, though. The ‘freestyling’ becomes vital when you’re going head-to-head with someone. When both players arrive at the freestyle point in the music whoever gets to it first gets the opportunity to use it and to gain points. The other player is essentially locked out of that portion of the song. It’s very competitive and a great motivator when you’re playing against each other.
More features that have been updated, DJ Hero 2 now has a set meter in the middle of the screen when players are going head-to-head. The meter lets the players know who is in the lead. It’s neat, simple and fits in with the game perfectly.
Another cool feature is that you can allow the game to go into a ‘demo’ sort of mode and play the music available on the game. So, hypothetically, if you’re hosting a party of your geeky friends you can just turn the demo mode on and enjoy the music from the game (with DJs scratching on the tele) through your speaker setup.
Speaking of music, there are more artists in this edition then there are in the previous. You’ll certainly be happy with the results.
Can’t wait to try this sucker out!