So, as you might have noticed, I’m not a particularly big Guitar Hero fan. That’s not to say I don’t enjoy playing the games; I love the gameplay, and I love being exposed to new music. What gets me is the absolute whoring of the franchise that Activision have done. Every month, a new Guitar Hero! When will it end? Well, hope is in sight, since DJ Hero is now a real thing in real shops.

Wait, I hear you cry, DJ Hero? Like, turntables and stuff? Why yes! DJ Hero focuses on mixes of popular songs, so you can expect a whole load of pop music, hip-hop, dance and rock mashed up in interesting ways to make brand new music. And boy, is it fun.

Gameplay is essentially the same as the Guitar Hero series, except now you’ve got a turntable to use instead of the guitar. You press one of the three buttons when the corresponding coloured dot passes over it on the screen, or move the “platter” back and forth to do “scratches”. You even have a slider thing that is used for “cross fades”. Wow, look at me being ghetto! The difficulty levels range from Beginner to Expert, like usual, but to be honest once you’ve done the tutorials you can just dive straight into Medium difficulty and five star everything no problem. So long as you have some sense of beat.

The graphics are the same as the Guitar Hero series as well; well presented people on stage and a crummy crowd who look all fuzzy around the edges. You can’t really blame them for the crowd, but I need to pick faults somewhere, so there you go. Some of the DJ’s you can choose look plain stupid, and it’s only the real life DJ’s that look normal, so you’ll probably spend your time playing as a DJ you’ve never heard of (or Daft Punk) rather then watch the other freaks dance around behind the turntable. You’ll spend most of the time looking at the highway anyway, and this is clearly presented for your score and Euphoria (basically Star Power) needs. The menus are cleanly presented, with some nice looking 2D artwork in there, and the opening cut-scene is pretty amazing to be frank. All in all, not bad.

As always, the sound produced by this game is fantastic. Some of the mixes on the soundtrack are inspired (Vanilla Ice vs MC Hammer? Hell yes!) and even the bad ones are acceptable to play along to. Obviously, if you’re not a fan of dance or hip-hop, you won’t find much in the soundtrack that appeals to you, but then again you’re probably unlikely to be picking up a game called “DJ Hero”, aren’t you? Aside from the soundtrack, there’s not much else to talk about otherwise. There are no screw up noises, and the audience has been turned down so you can appreciate the music. Oh maybe one thing. Grandmaster Flash is probably one of the most annoying things about this game, primarily because he feels the need to shout over all of his mixes. Be quiet, Flash. No one cares.

There are two other problems I have with DJ Hero. Firstly, the cost. Here in sunny old England the best you can get it for is £85 (approx. $137), which is a bit of a stretch for anything. And, when you pay this much, how long will it last? Sure, you can go through and five star every song on Expert if you’re that way inclined, but if you’re not completion hungry? Then what does that leave you with? Another large piece of plastic to add to your collection, and without money that could’ve gone elsewhere? I’m beginning to regret shelling out for it already.

But when all’s said and done, DJ Hero is immense fun. It adds a whole new take on the Hero franchise, and allows for more diverse games to be made. If you’ve got the cash to spend, I’d definitely recommend buying it. If not… well, maybe wait until you get a nice windfall, eh?

Score: 8/10

Also enjoyed scratching long into the night? A tad annoyed at the price range? Let us know in the comments!