Reviewed: December 18, 2003
Reviewed by: Mat Houghton
Publisher
Digital Leisure
Developer
Empire Interactive
Released: Summer, 2003
Genre: Music
Players: 1
ESRB: Everyone
6
5
10
10
8.0
System Requirements
So you’ve seen EJay Clubworld for the PS2 and not only did you realize that it was the game for you but after logging countless hours you see that you want more. Well ladies and gentlemen here’s your opportunity from the folks at Digital Leisure. Now unfortunately the three titles listed here are three separate games, so if you want all the diversity of action that Clubworld offered you it will run a little more than $20 but you pay for quality.
Rather than write three separate reviews for three very similar programs this all-encompassing review will cover Dance eJay 2, HipHop eJay 2 and Techno eJay 2, the three specific products sent to us for review. These are merely installments in an ongoing series. As of this writing Dance eJay 6 is available, as is HipHop 5 and Techno 4. While the programs are essential the same, each new version features more music - literally thousands of royalty-free samples per product. For an updated list of all eJay products including their new Audio Station 2004 and DJ Mix Station 2 check out http://www.ejay.com/
Each of these titles is like they took one of the themed music clubs from the PS2 version and blew it up into its own full sized title. You mix the pre-made samples into an appealing little tune, or create your own samples to use. The difference here is that there is a much larger library of samples to choose from originally, and there is a very well supported website to download new tracks and samples from other EJays.
There are no challenges or anything to complete, so there is really no game play to speak of. As far as control goes, though this is one of the simplest interfaces I’ve seen. Just browse through the sample selections at the bottom middle of the screen, or change the type of samples you’re looking at and then just pick them up and drop them on one of the fifteen tracks filling your screen. There are some issues with arranging samples, repeating the ones you want on the same track, and a few other minor issues, but I really can’t complain because I didn’t spend too much time with the tutorial, nor with the manuals and I got along just fine.
Creating your own samples is more than a little confusing, but I’m also not the most musically inclined of individuals (Tone deaf? Nooo! I just couldn’t hit the broad side of an A flat) so that could explain my trouble with that.
Dance eJay 2 Features:
- 16-track sound mixer in HIFI stereo quality
- More than 3,500 house and dance sounds
- Drum machine with drum matrix for creating your own beats
- Effects Studio - distort your voice into monster or comic voice and lots more
- Time Stretcher for adjusting sounds from other libraries
- Separate volume control for each track and sound
- Recording of samples via microphone (full duplex recording)
- Wave import/export
- Tutorials for a quick and easy introduction to the program
- A huge sounds archive with more than 3,000 first class Techno sounds
- The integrated Hyper Generator II
- Effect Studio and Time Stretching
- Scratch Generator II for your own scratch sounds
- Over 3,500 exclusive HipHop and R&B sounds
- 20 exclusive Rap samples from KDD
- Record your own samples via microphone (full duplex recording)
- Drum Machine with Drum Matrix - create some phat beats!
- 16 track Sound Mixer in hi-fi stereo quality
- Massive FX Studio for sound editing
- Time Stretching for tempo adjustment of sounds from other libraries
- Sound Import / Export
- Volume control for single tracks and sounds
Overall there isn’t really much negative to say about the control. There is very little to be had, but then again this is a make your computer a music creation device title, and the interface is built for that.
The graphics are also skimpy, but the game consists mostly of boxes representing music samples arranged on fifteen rows to represent music. Opportunities for flashy explosions and lens flares abound. I do like how they arranged everything, and especially how playback is integrated into a nice side scroll across the samples.
Overall this is about as graphically intense as your desktop with just a little more motion. I would blast it for that, but that was pretty much what it was designed to do.
Ordinarily this section of a review gets a little glossed over, but here this is the entire meat of the game. You have bass, vocal, guitar, drums, synths, scratches, snares, effects, keyboards, and so on as different categories to choose from depending on the title. Each of these then have at least twenty different sample rhythms to choose from just for starters. You can then customize your own or download new samples, or download samples other people have created.
All of this would ultimately be pointless if it were rendered out in poor quality, but I’ve been playing this on tiny laptop speakers (not speakers I bought for my laptop, but the actual speakers that are built in) and this still sounds fantastic. If you set this up on a premium system you’ve got your own studio or house party in a PC.
Also to be said for this game, I may not have liked or wanted to use every single solitary sample, they were almost universally catchy in some way. Everything about this title screams for you to pump out the tunes in a club somewhere while… well I would have had to have been to a club somewhere to complete that analogy, so just use your imagination.
You make your own music and you know that this is what it’s all about from the beginning. That in and of itself tells you how much time can be put into this title. It’s basically as much time as you’re willing to give, but with no goals or challenges to complete there is no limit. Also the supported web community and the fact that these are the second release of these titles, which are not the newest by the way, can only extend the amount of time you have with the title.
In short if this is a title you would like then you are going to get more than your money out of it, and maybe a little recognition too, much like the Delux guy you hear about so much at the movies.
This title is a must have for any closet DJ or aspiring musician. With an infinite number of samples and combinations of samples you can spin phat beats and kickin tracks (note the whiteness) to your parent’s chagrin all from the comfort of your PC.