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Guitar Hero Magic - Ant Commando Style
By Pete Sellers
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When it comes to rockin' like Dokken, Guitar Hero is the one game that has me covered. While I may be a keyboardist first and foremost, I still have a great love for the guitar and this is the one game that let's me take to the stage (my living room) and shred like a rock star (or guy in shorts and a t-shirt who really gets into the game). However, there's always been one minor facet that has always kept me from leaping off my amplifier (couch) and falling down to my knees on the stage floor (rug) in front of thousands of screaming fans (my daughter who thinks the game is a lot of fun) as I start tearing into a mad guitar solo – the actual controller for the game. While the controller does a great job in terms of allowing me to feel like a real rock legend, it is still connected to the Playstation 2 by an umbilical cord of sorts and this cord keeps up from really moving too far from the system, lest we either cause the system to fall to the ground or accidentally drop the guitar. This inability to move means I can't be the rocker I was meant to be and so I needed an alternative.
Thanks to the Ant Commandos, I've found something that just might change the face of rock history (increase my score in the game) and give me the chance to rock you like a hurricane (even if I hate the Scorpions). Their new guitar peripheral for Guitar Hero is the Freedom V Wireless guitar and it boasts a number of features that seem to make it more palatable than the one created by the folks at Red Octane. I'm always skeptical when it comes to third party peripherals, but this was one of the ones I was beyond excited about receiving and now that I have it and have played it extensively, I'd like to tell you more about it and what a life changing device it really is.
The Freedom V Wireless bases it design on Gibson's 1957 "Flying V" guitar, right down to the triangular head that rests atop its neck. This design, while not a personal favorite of mine, is certainly one that people remember (Clapton used a Flying V at one time, as did Hendrix and Yngvie Malmsteen ) and is a style that truly catches the eye. Like many songs in the game, the guitar design is almost legendary in status and thus was a great design for the Ant Commandos to use when creating a new device for the game – it really looks fantastic and captures the essence of instrument.
The box itself was big; even bigger than the original box for Guitar Hero. Inside the box was the guitar, the strap, the wireless adaptor and a plethora of stickers with which I could individualize my guitar. The first thing I noticed, incredibly enough, was the actual color of the instrument. I've seen more cherry red Gibson Flying V guitars in my life, so I was surprised to see that the one I had received was a nice, deep blue, not cherry red. Honestly, red seems so cliché, so blue was a pleasant change of pace and one that didn't bother me in the slightest. I picked it up and gazed lovingly at it, knowing that in just a few minutes time I would be rocking the suburbs with my latest video game peripheral…
I just needed four AA batteries.
Now, you'd think that living in a household where all of my controllers are wireless AND where I have a daughter whose toys are driven by battery power that I'd have an ample supply of batteries around the house. Normally, I do, but for some reason all I could fin were AAA. Like a bat out of hell I ran to a local food store and nabbed four batteries and some Jolt (hey, rock stars need their caffeine, too). After a few minutes in line, a crazy woman who lost a coupon for Cheerios and a cashier who changed my twenty as a ten, I was finally on my way home, a little angry, but no worse for wear.
Rushing back into the house, I grabbed my batteries, snagged my Jolt and made for the living room to install the batteries. I had to unscrew the back of the unit, but I have screwdrivers for every purpose known to mankind and quickly had the back of the unit off. I was under pressure, as I really wanted to play, but this was the only real step I needed to perform to get the guitar working.
Time to unscrew the back of the guitar, install batteries and reassemble the unit – less than one minute; I'm just that good.
Finally, I grabbed the strap, placed it on the guitar and adjusted it to fit my body. I wasn't going to mess with the stickers – I loved how it looked without them, so I plugged the adapter into the Playstation 2 and got ready to kick some ass. The system powered up and I knew it was the final countdown. In just a few minutes, I would be shredding like a madman, filling the house with a musical performance that would be unrivaled!
Now I was obviously exited over the fact that the unit was wireless, that part was a given, but the peripheral sported other features that made it even more alluring. The start button is recessed and the select button seems to jut out a bit further than Red Octane's Gibson SG, which meant I could "Star Power" without accidentally hitting start and pausing the game! That, to me, was always a problem, especially since my Red Octane Gibson SG wouldn't tilt to "Star Power" easily. It was like a dream come true! I also noted that the fret buttons felt different, somewhat touchier and more lightweight. This really wasn't a bad thing, as I found that I had to really hammer on the fret buttons on my Gibson SG. Of course, part of that was simply due to the fact that I played the game like a devil. Well, to hell with the devil, I wanted to play WIRELESSLY and the game was now ready – but the controller was not.
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