The thought of a plastic turntable sitting on my lap echoed strong warnings; this could very well be Activision’s last ditch effort to bring some originality back into the rhythm/music genre. Guitar Hero 5 and Band Hero felt like simple cash-ins for Activision, conceptually safe sequels that would bring in some easy profit. DJ Hero fails to have the consistent quality of its refined band brethren, but does manage to engross the player with some fresh game play ideas.

During this review I played on the standard DJ Hero peripheral, although a more substantial ‘Renegade Edition’ is also available for those wanting a bit more weight and feedback to their mixing. The wireless turntable is very user friendly, sitting on your lap without being too large and cumbersome. It’s split into two parts (the deck itself and the cross fader hub) and can be alternated to support the lefties out there. The inclusion of stream buttons, an effects dial, euphoria button and concealed console controls concludes a great piece of hardware – going some way to justifying the rather hefty price tag.

An elaborate set of tutorials (voiced fantastically by the iconic Grandmaster Flash) will teach you all the necessary scratching and mixing skills. Three sets of coloured orbs will run down a path toward you, and at the beginner and easy difficulties players will simply need to press the corresponding stream buttons to succeed. At this level many newcomers will worry what all the fuss is about – it’s just Guitar Hero, but sat down right? However, venture into hard or expert and you’ll be forced to ‘scratch’ the turntable back and forth, simultaneously flipping the cross fader left and right to shut out certain elements of the track. It’s the equivalent of rubbing your stomach and patting your head at the same time, releasing an immediate sense of satisfaction when you nail it. 

The turntable can be span three hundred and sixty to ‘rewind’ the mix, giving you the opportunity to play a previous section again (and rack up more points for combo junkies). Samples can be played to add your own personality to the mash up, with an effect dial to serve as the equivalent of a whammy bar. Last but not least, ‘Euphoria’ is DJ’s Hero’s star power, doubling your combo when you’ve been particularly consistent. FreeStyle Games have worked hard to make it feel as realistic as possible, but it only shines when you have all of these skills at your disposal. Nailing a tricky section at Expert will really put you in the shoes of Daft Punk, but casual gamers will be bored to tears with the equivalent experience offered at Easy. Unlike Rock Band, DJ Hero can only be used as a party game for the elites.

What really makes this game misfire is the choice of soundtrack. The career is split into various smaller set lists, which are titled with little relevance to their song content. For every interesting mix that endorses the essence of DJ Shadow or Daft Punk, there’s some mediocre filler with Dizzee Rascal and Third Eye Blind. It can often be difficult to know what parts you’re playing to, instantly disconnecting you from the illusion of actually being a world class DJ. The career forces you to play through five tracks in one elongated sitting, regularly forcing you through mixes you would rather avoid. Why this was chosen instead of the ‘complete 4 of the 5 songs to proceed’ system is beyond me.

To its credit, DJ Hero encourages the player to attempt the harder difficulties with a permanent ‘no fail’ feature. This means that you’re always progressing through the campaign and unlocking various new songs, outfits and characters. Great for when you’re playing with friends, but an absolute nightmare for when you’re trying to achieve a five star rating. When you fail a track in Guitar Hero you instantly know the location of the problem and can rectify it in the elaborate practise section. In DJ hero you’re left with the task of self analysing your performance, trying to work out where you can improve as you play.

As far as a rhythm game can go, DJ Hero looks fantastic. The presentation is incredibly vibrant and urban inspired, with colourful graffiti logos and futuristic night club settings. If you can bear to look away from the notes you’ll be treated with impressive crowd animations, diverse camera angles and fluid DJ models. The pre-determined characters have a lot more personality than the generic band members in Guitar Hero: World Tour, with guest appearances from the likes of DJ Yoda and Grandmaster Flash to add some celebrity status. The menu system is a little crude in design, but offers everything you need to get stuck into Xbox Live or some custom set lists.

Unlike Rock Band, I simply can’t see this being a multiplayer hit. The likelihood of you finding someone else with a turntable is slim and even then your choices of modes are poor. Gamers both play the same part, in a straight up score battle. It’s a throwback to the birth of the first Guitar Hero, where selecting different duets, parts and difficulties were impossible. There’s the option to have a friend on guitar while you pay attention to the decks, but it’s only available on a handful of bland mixes.

For its large entry price-point, DJ Hero has a lot of work to do to find its way into our living rooms. There’s a concept for a great game here, but it’s lost in an abyss of average tracks. 80+ remixes are useless if only half of them are worth playing. Fans of sampling will be disappointed, but if you can’t afford real turntables DJ Hero isn’t a bad alternative. With enough support, a sequel could very easily change the franchise into a classic.