SOLID EXPERIENCE with NO MAJOR CHANGES TO FORUMLA
The song list is long with over 75 songs to dance to and includes unlockable songs through gameplay as well as purchaseable songs from XBOX LIVE marketplace.
I own all of the DDR games for Xbox360 and thus far, none of them have dissapointed me in terms of gameplay, simply because the gameplay never changes with the exception of offering new and ridiculous story modes where you basically move around a dance world accepting challenges to win money.
The money here will be used to buy custmizing options for your avatar which can be customized numerous ways from race to clothing designs.
But the real problem with DDR games on 360 in general is that the developers don't try hard to keep you playing the game. I believe high score should be used to unlock songs. This way you can keep players playing the game over months by forcing them to simply play more in order to unlock goodies, rather than by forcing them to hit performance goals that in many cases are difficult if not impossible depending on the person's physical conditions.
Furthermore, for my previous DDR games, I purchased song packs on Xbox Live twice, and each subsequent game does not allow you to access songs you've previously purchased. Wanna hear those songs? You've got to put that disk in. Considering the 360 has a HDD, this is ridiculous.
There are other core elements of gameplay that have gone unchanged from the previous games - namely - failing a match if you don't hit the goal, even if the song doesn't offer enough steps to meet that goal. Its poor game design at its worst.
The new "DJ MODE" allows you to remix songs and alter steps as well as background videos, but it doesn't offer us what we've been waiting for all these years...WE WANT TO BE ABLE TO ADD DANCE STEPS TO OUR OWN MP3's and Konami is never going to give that to us because it would jeopardize them selling new games. Furthermore, it makes no sense for Konami to simply repacke DDR sequels every single year with a brand new mat - and then release the game by itself months later. Why not simply release the game for download to our consoles? Konami would still get their money and they'd save on publishing cost. We have Hard Drives for a reason ya know !
Overall, DDR universe 3 is a sold DDR game but just like John McCain, its more of the same.