We knew the version of 2 would be differentiated from the edition by the side of the forthcoming, guitar-rhythm game, with RedOctane plotting downloadable tracks and the like. What we perhaps didn't know was that the new game could actually a fully-fledged online mode over Live.

While the game will not ship with such an online play mode included, it emerges today that RedOctane are still keen to see the feature integrated into the title, and that it could be added as a downloadable patch from Live later. The key to whether this feature makes it into the game, or not, is apparently whether the developers can make the co-op mode function successfully via the information data freeway, the mode proving difficult to integrate.

A pro-tourney mode is already on the cards, as it is apparently fairly easy to make two players battle the computer AI... the interactive co-op mode therefore being a far more taxing prospect. The hope remains, then, that RedOctane can get a full online mode working even if it doesn't make it into the first release of the game.

Can the Xbox 360 version of Guitar Hero 2 sew up the online side of things despite the technicalities of it all? Let's just say we're hopeful....

By Luke Guttridge