With the massive success of Guitar Hero 2 last fall, Red Octane’s series has transcended one-hit wonder status and became a full-fledged phenomenon. A few peripheral manufacturers have even come to light and created their own guitars for the game, a few of them even offering wireless solutions. Now, RedOctane have created their own official wireless guitar controller for the series, and the results are great. While the controller is not without a few minor flaws, Guitar Hero fanatics will find it to be a very solid wireless controller capable of handling their shredding needs.

The Guitar Hero Wireless Controller requires virtually no set-up. Simply plug the wireless base unit into your PS2 (which fits quite snuggly on the PS2 slim model, even when set horizontally), turn on the switch on the back of the controller, and you’re all set. The controller even allows for two wireless controllers to be plugged in at the same time for multiplayer without interfering with each other.

Aesthetically, the wireless guitar looks great, boasting a glossy white finish and smooth body design. It’s very lightweight, and actually feels slightly lighter than the wired controller. The included strap also has a bit more slack, allowing you to situate it much lower than the controller that ships with the game.

The controller performs just as well as the wired SG Controller. The unit had no signal delays, performing without a hitch even during faster and more intense songs from the Guitar Hero 2 track list. Even complex riffs from Misirlou and Freebird handled wonderfully on the controller, feeling even more natural without feeling tethered down by wires.

The controller works equally well with the first Guitar Hero as well as Guitar Hero 2, handling hammer-ons and offs from tracks like Frankenstein and Ready 2 Rokk with ease.

If there are problems with the wireless controller, then they would have to be attributed to the wired SG controller as well. Star power is still way too sensitive and easy to accidentally trigger, resulting in losing it before you need it far too often (however, that could be me getting way too into it). Also the buttons are still pretty slick, which can sometimes lead to frustrating finger-slippage.

While it was a long time coming, Red Octane’s official wireless version of their Guitar Hero 2 controller is a great controller, and one that should easily be considered the best way to play the highly addictive game. If you’re a fan of the game, you should grab one if you haven’t already.

Pros:
Very responsive with virtually no lag, smooth and attractive design, and even allows for two-player wireless rocking.

Cons:
The wireless controller still has some of the problems of the wired version, like overly sensitive motion sensing for star power and slick buttons.

Verdict: 9.5
An excellent wireless option for the Guitar Hero games. At 60 dollars, it’s 20 bucks more than the wired SG controller, but fans of the series will find it to be worth every penny.