Daft Punk forced me to buy this game...

For Christmas, I got a decent amount of gifts, but much like every year, the video games were always the ones that entice the most fun. So one of the gifts my wife got me was DJ Hero. Maybe you have heard of the game, it's published by Activision ( who is now the IP owner of the Guitar Hero series after acquiring it from Harmonix, who now makes the Rock Band series blah blah blah) and the game itself is made by Freestyle games. Now, question is if the game is good. The answer is a resounding yes and double yes.
In my personal opinion, I believe the Guitar Hero series as a whole has become as stale as the Dance Dance Revolution series (don't get me wrong, I loves me some DDR, but there has been no real innovation in the series in a while). The Guitar Hero series reached it's height with Guitar Hero 3, but then they just started making rehashes of GH3 with different band labels (Mettalica, Aerosmith, etc), and I think DDR has shown us that tactic can only last so long. So, Activision has made a whole new IP with a completely different rhythm game peripheral, which I might add is another genius game add-on by Red Octane. As a matter of fact let's talk a little about this required controller for the game:
The DJ Turntable has one "wheel of steel" (read:hard plastic, but durable) that can rotate 360 degrees with 3 multi-colored buttons. It also has a crossfader bar and an effects knob. Alright that sounds simple enough, so how does the game play? This is where the real innovation comes in, as you "tap" to the beat of the music, "scratch" the wheel to scratch up the mix, use the crossfader as a music gate for the mixes for fading and whatnot, and more time than not you will be doing these tactics at the same time. Also, much like in the Guitar Hero series, there is Star Power, called Euphoria Power in this game, that doubles you score and multiplier, plus it does automatic crossfades. It actually gets even more complex than this, but that's in the harder modes and I may cover them later.
On to the music, which is the best part of most rhythm games. I gotta stab at Guitar Hero with this, because not only are the overall controls actually more difficult than Guitar Hero's, but the game uses 120 original mixed up songs from over 90 songs. This is a breathe of fresh air compared to Guitar Hero and Rock Bands license cramming for all of their games. If you are a fan of the DJ scene, you will notice some favorites and greats maikng guest appearances in the game, from Grandmaster Flash to Daft Punk to DJ Shadow, all with their own original mixes added to the game.
I want to say the game is without flaw, but here they come. First,off, not all of the music is great, but I suppose that's going to happen wtih any rhythm game. Some of the tracks are awesome, while other mixes leave me glad I never have to play it again. Next is the failure system in the game, which is when you don't do so well in a song in a rhythm game and the game basically says "game over". So, that doesn't exist in DJ Hero, which is a good and bad thing. It's bad because it takes the credibility out of the difficulty of the game, but it's good because it lets casual players enjoy the game without being forced to become hardcore players just to play harder songs. Another bad deal is the sample effects zone that occasionally comes down on the red button side of the screen. I really wish there was a way to disable this feature, because the truth is it's pointless. It sounds cool throughing in a set of samples into the song, but it doesn't add to your score, multiplier, nothing. It really just kinda shows up as more of a distraction than anything else. Question to Activision or Freestyle Games: Why leave in a useless feature to a final product? Did the alpha testers actually agree to a useless feature being left in?
My last and final gripe is the actual price of the game. Now granted, I got the game as a Christmas present, but for everyone else that has to purchase it, you gotta pay up. The game comes with the DJ Turntable and costs $120, which equals out $60 for the game and another $60 for the controller. I have this contoller in front of me, and a $60 pricetag is maybe a bit high, but I must admit it is really durable and the button presses are spot on for accuracy. But truth is, even the gaming economy is in a bit of a recovery, so expensive games can stand the potential for not selling so well, hurting this game in the short run. Let's not get started on the Jay-Z & Eminem Special Edition pack, which may come with a stand plus some extra stuff, but $200 for a single-player game and controller (multiplayer if you buy more games and controllers)....didn't the industry try this already with both Steel Battalions, with minimal results. Truth is, average customers don't like to drop a system's worth of money on one game.
All complaints and kudos aside, it's a great game with a fresh concept. Consider this a review for the XBox 360 version, as I haven't touched the Wii or PS3 versions and have no intention to. As for those that need a numeric score for the game, just consider it an 8 or 9, 8.5 if you will, great but the price of admission, certain mixed songs and for those that like country music (btw, I hate country music), this may not be the correct game for them. I say give it a try and hope for a sequel. A Belated Happy Holidays to All!