The Freedom V Wireless Guitar controller was developed by TAC (The Ant Commandos) for one of the biggest Playstation 2 hits ever, Guitar Hero. The game puts you on stage to rock out to classic tunes while strumming along and matching the on screen notes. The whole process is similar to Dance Dance Revolution, but a whole lot more fun (and a whole lot less homoerotic). In my opinion, Guitar Hero is best played as a social game, when you’ve got some drinks, a group of people and some room to have fun. The biggest drawback to the licensed guitar controller you get when you buy Guitar Hero is that it’s not wireless. Having a chord around and sitting close to your TV while you’re rocking out to Black Sabbath just takes away from the experience.
TAC sent me its new and improved Freedom V Wireless Guitar controller, and I quickly got a bunch of friends together and had a Guitar Hero party to test it out.
The first thing I noticed about the Freedom V Wireless Guitar is its coloring, this thing is pretty. I showed it off to some friends that were also guitar players and they agreed- the guitar looks great. Not only is the flying V one of my favorite guitar body designs, it also adds to the experience of being a hair metal rocker (edit: Raj definitely has the hair – Blake).
Just like the regular Guitar Hero controller, the Freedom V has five colored buttons, a strum bar, start and select buttons and a whammy bar. The colored buttons are a bit softer than the standard controller, which I initially suspected would be a problem. But as it turns out, the buttons actually helped my performance in the game. TAC has faced some problems getting the buttons down right with previous controllers, but this one does not disappoint.
Another problem TAC faced with previous controllers is its ability to use a special move in the game called Star Power. I remember having to shake my TAC Shredder to get the Star Power working. In the standard controller, all you had to do was tilt the guitar up and you were good to go. The Freedom V does not face the same problem as its predecessors. TAC actually implemented a bi-directional sensor into the controller so you can shake it, and tilt it up for Star Power. Both features worked on my controller wonderfully, the only problem I had was accidentally hitting the Star Power while I was rocking out.
With the little features performing perfectly, the biggest feature of the Freedom V came into play: its 2.4GHz wireless compatibility. Honestly, the wireless experience added tremendously to the game. My friends and I were running around trying to mimic our favorite rock gods, we tried to mess each other up, we even moved extremely far from the TV and there was still no lag in response time at all!
The only flaw the controller carries is its strap. I had to stop several times during play to reattach the strap back onto my controller. If the controller was any other shape than the V, I wouldn’t mind, but you can’t play a V sitting down. The shape does not allow you to set the guitar on your lap. But this flaw is really not that big of a deal compared to how well this guitar performs. You can pick the Freedom V Wireless Guitar controller for $49.99.
Freedom V Wireless Guitar Controller Review [product page]