Victrix Pro BFG Wireless Controller
MSRP $180.00
“The Victrix Pro BFG goes above and beyond to create a truly innovative third-party PS5 controller.”
Pros
Three controllers in a single
Aesthetically pleasing design
On-controller quantity
Tons of components included
Brilliant modular design
Cons
Lacking DualSense options
Tricky set off locking
-Third-party controllers all the time have to work twice as arduous as common gamepads. Hardware producers want to seek out as some ways as potential to “sweeten the deal” for gamers, giving them a very good motive to shell out for one thing not constructed by a console creator itself. Sometimes it’s merely a matter of a low worth level to entice gamers who need an inexpensive substitute. Other instances, although, that battle results in true innovation that makes it arduous to return to your common previous controller.
The Victrix Pro BFG is a kind of moments.
Officially licensed by Sony, the third-party PlayStation 5 controller, which additionally works on PS4 and PC, takes {hardware} customization to a brand new degree. While gamepads just like the Xbox Series Elite 2 have lengthy dominated on that entrance because of swappable components, the Pro BFG goes even additional with a wildly distinctive module setup that permits gamers to totally rework their controller in seconds. It’s a dream come true for tech tinkerers who need to take a screwdriver to their gaming peripherals in a protected and sanctioned approach.
The Victrix Pro BFG is the very best PS5 controller you should buy proper now other than Sony’s personal DualSense. Its worth may appear excessive at first look, particularly contemplating that you just’re shedding key options like haptic suggestions, however you’re basically shopping for three controllers in a single — together with a full fightpad. You merely gained’t get what’s supplied right here from every other controller, and I hope producers are taking notes.
The fundamentals
At first look, the Pro BFG is a normal wi-fi controller with a definite visible aptitude. It sports activities a novel black-and-purple coloration palette and a few geometrical touches that immediately make it stand out in a crowd. Mileage will all the time range with designs like this, however I personally like the appear and feel of it. Its grips are snug in my palms and textured menu buttons make it straightforward to navigate by contact. A touchpad and PlayStation Home button ensure that it has every little thing it must work with a PS5.
The Pro BFG comes loaded with options that aren’t accessible on an everyday DualSense.
There are just a few “pro” touches that beef up the bottom worth. Its most intelligent trick permits gamers to show their headset quantity up or down by holding a button beneath the touchpad and urgent the D-pad up and down. Onboard audio management is one in every of my favourite options on third-party controllers just like the Turtle Beach Recon, so I’m glad to see that catching on with extra gamepads. It’s an space the place I hope to see first-party makers catch as much as.
There are some further bells and whistles on the bottom, that are good touches that aren’t completely applied. the controller options 4 mappable again buttons, which places it a step above the DualSense. I’ve discovered that these buttons are only a contact low, and in my most pure resting place, I discover myself by chance clicking the underside row. They might have been scooted up only a smidge, although consolation will range there.
Similarly, the Pro BFG contains a much-welcomed set off locking mechanism that’s only a slight bit off in execution. Each set off can both be used usually or locked to make for a lot shorter presses. I like having that choice, although locking a set off includes holding a set off down, flipping a swap to the facet, after which releasing the swap earlier than the set off. It’s simply tough sufficient to make me pause and give it some thought each time, which makes it tough to change on the fly in-game as I have to press the set off down to tug it off. Luckily, switching from a full press to a fast one is way simpler as flipping that very same again button immediately locks it in place.
There’s much more to the bundle within the type of a button that shops sound presets and a swap that allows you to toggle between PS4, PS5, and PC. While I’ve my nitpicks with sure options, that doesn’t change the truth that the Pro BFG comes loaded with options that aren’t accessible on an everyday DualSense. Those parts could be sufficient to make this a very good third-party choice. But that’s not even the thrilling half.
Tinkerer’s delight
The Pro BFG’s actually revolutionary promoting level is its modular design. Like different high-end controllers, it brings a complete lot of customization. For occasion, it comes with three totally different D-pad types: a standard four-direction cross, an eight-direction circle, and Victrix’s personal distinctive design that’s virtually somewhat between a D-pad and a stick. Each one is simple to pop off and change immediately with no problem.
It’s an engineering marvel that’s straightforward to advocate for gamers who soar round plenty of totally different recreation genres.
On high of that, it comes with further stick caps, permitting gamers to change to a convex form or a tall “sniper stick.” Unfortunately, solely one in every of every is included, so you possibly can’t make each of your sticks convex directly — this was disappointing as I discovered that to be my form of selection when enjoying round. Two octagonal stick gates spherical out the bundle, letting gamers simply change the usual spherical ones. All of the choices give gamers loads of instruments to combine and match.
Here’s the kicker, although: The buttons themselves exist on rectangular modules that may be simply popped out of the controller with a tiny screwdriver device. That finally ends up including a degree of utility and customization I’ve by no means seen in a controller earlier than. For occasion, the left joystick and D-pad stay on one module. If you pop it out and flip it over, you immediately change the controller from a normal PlayStation structure to an Xbox one the place each sticks are subsequent to one another on the backside of the pad. It’s additionally the way you’re in a position to change these stick gates, popping the spherical ones off the module and locking within the octagonal ones in a snap.
That ingenious design culminates in its grandest function, one which justifies its $180 price ticket. The bundle comes with a six-button module that immediately transforms the usual PS5 structure right into a fightpad. That means you’re getting two controllers in a single — or 4 in case you think about which you could flip each the bottom model and fightpad into Xbox type.
Tinkering is believing right here, however right here’s how that every one comes collectively in a sensible use case. I began one in every of my check periods enjoying Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II. I locked my triggers for shorter presses, snapped on the diamond-shaped D-pad, and popped on a convex follow a spherical gate. When I used to be accomplished, I went into my PS Plus library and opened up Mortal Kombat 11. While it was loading, I screwed within the fightpad module, switched to an octagonal gate, unlocked the triggers, and slapped on a normal D-pad. I used to be in a position to do all that immediately, earlier than the sport had even totally booted up. I used to be utilizing a wholly totally different controller in lower than a minute.
For these causes, the Pro BFG is an engineering marvel that’s straightforward to advocate for gamers who soar round plenty of totally different recreation genres. The customization potential right here is groundbreaking, making a particular controller with utility that’s at the moment unmatched.
The trade-off
Those improvements are crucial as a result of all third-party PS5 controllers have a really tough controller to contend in opposition to. No controller apart from Sony’s DualSense provides you with its haptic suggestions or adaptive triggers. That makes it a much less splendid choice with regards to Sony’s large exclusives which can be constructed across the PS5’s distinctive tech (Returnal, as an example, is amplified by these options). In reality, the Pro BFG doesn’t embody any type of rumble interval, which all the time feels somewhat awkward at this stage of controller performance. It doesn’t have the DualSense’s built-in speaker both, which is much less noticeable, however nonetheless a tradeoff.
The bundle additionally has some surprising competitors as a result of Sony’s upcoming DualSense Edge, which is its personal model of the Elite Series 2. That gamepad will embody a number of the swappable parts accessible right here, however with all the DualSense’s core options intact. It even consists of swappable again buttons, which the BFG might have used (although the latter has 4 versus Sony’s two). If you’re not a lot of a preventing recreation participant, you could be inclined to simply wait it out so that you don’t must make any compromises for personalization.
Even if the Edge finally ends up being a critical contender, the Pro BFG continues to be in a league of its personal. It doesn’t simply go the additional mile with its modules both; it’s really $20 cheaper than Sony’s upcoming professional mannequin. That’s spectacular contemplating how a lot comes with the bundle. In addition to every little thing talked about, it additionally features a lengthy mesh cable for wired play, a dongle to attach it wirelessly, a devoted app to tweak settings, and a neatly designed carrying case that holds all of its components completely.
Though some imperfections (a few of that are past its management) maintain it again from changing my DualSense, the Pro BFG isn’t going to be simply one other third-party controller I instantly pack away after testing it. Its fightpad module ensures that I’ll have loads of causes to interrupt it out as titles like Tekken 8 and Street Fighter 6 strategy. Whenever I do, I do know that I’ll have a sturdy, snug choice that I can tweak to suit my wants.
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