Attach for MOAR ASS KIKIN'!

I hate gimmicks and I hate plastic crap (see my tirade here).

So when I was asked by Doc to review the KontrolFreek FPS Freek controller add on, I was under the impression that I was going to try whatever gadget came in the mail and then pass them on to the Sarcastic Gamer community in the form of some kind of contest.

Well, screw that, I’m keeping these.  And that’s saying something for me.

Here’s what they are and how they work.  I was expecting some big cumbersome piece of plastic junk to arrive, but they are merely a pair of raised plastic caps that fit snugly over the top of your control sticks.  I snapped them on, and at first, I rolled my eyes and couldn’t help but think, “What the hell good is this going to do me?”

I read the “directions”, which are the equivalent of something you’d find on a box of Pop-Tarts (i.e. take out of package, put Pop-Tarts in toaster, eat), but I did notice it read for the best way notice a difference, play a few hours of a first person shooter, then take the caps off and feel the difference.  I snorted to myself, thinking this whole experiment was dumb.

At first, there’s the awkward feeling that the buttons are too far away from your thumbs, and your controller is a little bigger in your hand with these extend-o-caps on the analog sticks.  Much like a new pair of running shoes though, it only took a few laps around the block before they felt broke in and I didn’t even notice them on the thumbsticks.

Next thing I know, I’m halfway through the single player campaign of Killzone 2.  Following the suggestion of trying to play without the caps, I stop, take the thumbcaps off, and son of a bitch if it didn’t feel like my damn controller was broken!  I felt like was having to really control the analog sticks; I kept overshooting my target and I was having problems making tight adjustments to my aiming.  It was amazing.  I really didn’t see this coming.

I went on to the website to try and get to the bottom of how this works.  Turns out there a little bit o’ science behind the concept of these caps.  Remember science class where they taught you about lever points and fulcrum, etc?  No, of course not, you were probably daydreaming about the girl whose thong you could see sneaking out from the back of her jeans.

FOCUS!

By artifically extending the length of the thumbstick, you are increasing the length of the “lever” (being the thumbstick), which in turn increases your range of motion on the thumbstick.  The closer the thumbstick is to the controller (or the fulcrum), the less motion it takes to move it in one direction.  The further away the thumbstick is to the base, the more motion it takes to move in the same direction, which means your crosshairs can be moved more precisely!  It freakin’ works!

Try to keep up.

I’m definitely enjoying these, and for $9.99, they are a steal.  It’s like that thing you didn’t know you needed, but now that you have it, you don’t know how you got by without them (see also: my iPhone).  I wholeheartedly recommend these to anyone who considers themselves a first person shooter fanatic, especially for your multiplayer matches, as I can imagine it would give a leg up on your fast twitch kiddies out there.

Check out the website at http://www.kontrolfreek.com/ for more information.