By Jeremy Azevedo

When GTA: Vice City came out, it had an undeniable impact on the music industry. It’s soundtrack resurrected dozens of classic 80s songs that hadn’t been played on the radio in years. Within weeks, those very same songs were once again staples at every bar and club in America.

When Guitar Hero started catching on, hard rock and metal experienced a similar revival. It could be argued that there would be no Steel Panther, no Brutal Legend, no Avenged Sevenfold being played on the radio had it not been for the success of Guitar Hero. It is my belief that DJ Hero will similarly impact the hip-hop industry.

Before we get into the specifics of the gameplay, I need to impart to you that the mix of songs in DJ Hero goes far beyond the scope of what I would have expected. Largely as a result of working with superstar DJs like Z-Trip, DJ Shadow, DJ AM, Grandmaster Flash, DJ Jazzy Jeff and Daft Punk, the wealth of knowledge and the breadth of genre represented here are mind-blowing. For example, one song mixes Chuck Brown & The Soul Searchers “Bustin’ Loose” with The Zombies “Time of the Season”. That’s digging deep. What’s cool though, is although those two songs probably sound obscure to some of you, when you actually hear them, you will recognize them right away. Not only that, but they mix together amazingly.

DJ Jazzy Jeff FTW!

For every obscure music nerd track, there is an equally good pop mix, such as Kid Cudi “Day ‘N’ Nite” vs. Black Eyed Peas “Boom Boom Pow”. Even if you find those songs played out and intolerable, when you hear them together it’s like one of those weak Transformer toys that suck by themselves, but if you collect them all, they form into one giant, badass robot that’s actually super cool. This is exactly why mash-ups are becoming so popular as of late; they breathe new life into songs that may seem to have been bled dry. (Although I could have done with fewer repetitions of “Holla Back Girl” by Gwen Stefani. Seriously, that song is in this game like 100 times.) When you really interact with DJ Hero and truly experience the depth of production that goes into the songs, you can almost hear iPod DJs wilting into obscurity where they belong. This is what real what pretending to be a real DJ should sound like, people.

The actual gameplay of DJ Hero is pretty easy to get the hang of, but hard to master. Guitar Hero veterans will catch on pretty quickly, but will find the timing very difficult to nail every time at first. The crossfader doesn’t make things any easier, as it doesn’t really click into place in the middle and requires you to develop some finesse to effectively switch between tracks on some of the faster sections. However, if you take on the mixes in their proper order, there is a steady progression of new techniques and skills that are introduced, and it’s easier to learn the ropes than if you were to jump directly into one of the later, more difficult songs right from the start.

Customizable samples are dedicatd to the red center button.

The single player campaign of DJ Hero is a lot of fun, due in part to the newness of the peripheral and the steady progression of star collecting. The stars you earn in the gameplay unlock what seems like hundreds of characters, decks, skins, headphones, new setlists, and various other outfits and crap. You’re constantly kept playing just to see what’s going to open up next. It would have been nice to have all the songs unlocked right from the start for multiplayer, but that would sort of negate much of the fun in single player mode. It’s a slippery slope. There really isn’t any way that they could have implemented the excellent challenge system of Guitar Hero 5 because there’s only the one instrument for most of the game. So it is what it is.