DJ Hero is back with their sophomore effort and this year’s version is bigger and better. It seems that the development team took both the compliments and criticisms from last year’s version and really set out to improve on the DJ Hero formula. The turntable itself is a little better with a little more resistance on the crossfader so that you don’t overshoot the tracks so easily. It is not perfect but at least it is better than last year’s version. Additionally, there are now vocals so you can sing/rap while your friends are busy scratching on the turntables. It adds another layer of fun to an already fun title. While nothing is completely mind blowing, DJ Hero 2 is a really great game and the additions made to the overall title help keep DJ Hero relevant in a genre that is starting to get stale.

The career mode in DJ Hero 2 is a vast improvement over last year’s effort. This year you are working on building an empire from the ground up. You start out at the bottom and have to work your way up. As you progress and pass more songs you will be awarded with a variety of items. You’ll unlock new mixes, new gear for your DJ to wear and new locations to play in. In the Xbox360 version you can even play as your avatar and watch him scratch on the virtual stage. As you progress through Empire mode there will be some megamixes that you get to play. Once you perform these megamixes you can go back at any time to replay them and improve your score in the “Megamixes” mode. There is also the battle mode where you get to choose the stipulations for your impending battle. You can choose a star battle where you battle for the most stars, a checkpoint battle to see who wins the most checkpoints in a mix, a DJ battle to see who will win the most checkpoints in unique battle mixes and more.

If you are confident in your scratching skills you can always choose to take them online and battle other DJs from around the world. Before you go online you can customize your character, choose the venue and select the different criteria that you want to use to search for opponents. During my time spent with this game online I found the online experience to be very smooth with no lag at all. This is crucial for a game like DJ Hero where your timing has to be exact in order to hit all of the notes correctly. While you are in the main menu you are also given your current statistics such as how many times you have used Euphoria while playing DJ Hero 2, how long you have played the game and things of that nature. You also have the “Rep” section where you can instantly check on how you are doing regarding the game’s achievements, leaderboards, star chart and the Hero Feed. The track list in DJ Hero 2 was aimed at a broader audience than the original title. There will definitely be some people that appreciate this change, however, I also know some who prefer the track list from the original DJ Hero. I did notice that the calibration wasn’t synced correctly when I initially played the game so be sure to do that the first time you put the game in your system and you will get rewarded with an achievement.

Overall, DJ Hero 2 is a really fun title. It doesn’t reinvent the genre but it really doesn’t need to. Activision had a winning formula with the original title and simply refined it with the sequel. In addition there have been some additions such as Empire mode, the different types of battles and everything else that I mentioned above. If you were a fan of the original title then be sure to give this one a try. If you weren’t a fan of the original DJ Hero then you should still give this one a try because you might like the changes that did take place. It’s very refreshing to see a new take on a genre that has otherwise started to go stale.

Score: 9/10

Originally posted on Totally Gaming Network