DJ Hero

During Hard and Expert modes, when you’re furiously combining effects and scratches, the peripheral takes quite a battering. Thankfully, both the Xbox and the PS3 decks (which are virtually identical, save the face buttons, D-pad and respective ‘home’ buttons, which are hidden away under a panel in the top left) are sturdy pieces of kit.

What impresses most about them is the solidity of the actual turntable, the chunky buttons mounted on it, and the ease with which you can spin it and scratch it. And unlike many other peripherals that come bundled with games, you feel as if you’re getting value for money from the decks.

In fact, the whole game – despite costing a significant wedge of cash - is actually well worth the initial investment. There are a lot of mixes in the game, over 100, and with downloadable content confirmed, that number will grow and grow. During an interview with the devs a couple of months ago we were told that during the final few months of development FreeStyle were inundated with new artists looking to work on the game. And we can see why they were attracted.

DJ Hero isn’t some tool for teaching you how to become a real life Disc Jockey. If you think that, you’ll be sorely disappointed. What it does is give you an appreciation for the music and culture of mixing, by cherry picking the very best tracks and professionals in each genre and implementing them into the game. That’s why the likes of DJ Shadow, Z-Trip and Jazzy Jeff are all on board, all digging out some of the most revered tracks from their respective disciplines. The presence of these professionals, combined with the obvious passion of the guys at FreeStyleGames is what gives DJ Hero its appeal – that effortless cool we mentioned earlier.