Works well when used in the right context
I'm a controller collector who has a massive and diverse collection of regular and sometimes downright weird controllers, like the Sidewinder Dual Strike, the ASCII Sphere, the Micomsoft XE-1AP, just to name a few. Retro and new. The Steam controller gets a bad rap for being convoluted and complicated to set up, or not working well with all games. Well, like a lot of the aforementioned controllers, it works well for what is designed to, not to replace everything. For example, the XE-1AP works well and it's excellent for playing After Burner or such shooters, but you won't be able to play Sonic comfortably, or at all with it. The same goes for the Steam controller. Some guy makes a video review of the controller after playing with it for five minutes and gives it 1 star. You need to invest a little more time in it and find the right games. Watch an in-depth review, search for the right games to play with it and keep an open mind. Then you will enjoy the Steam controller.
Personally, for first-person shooters, I enjoy using the Hori TAC Pro G1, the one that a half PS4 controller and half mouse. I watched some reviews of it and people didn't even know what some of the buttons did, for example, adjust mouse sensitivity, which was the cause of some of the few complaints. So yeah, watch some tutorials and be experimental. I'm pretty sure that Valve could have made a standard controller if they wanted to. What's the point? Plenty of those around. So I appreciate them taking risks to bring forth some exciting innovations.
I used Dead Island to test it because I'm familiar with the game's mechanics and controls very well. I just did a quick setup on Steam and it worked really well. The touchpad is great and worked very well, as did everything else. I also like how they went with regular batteries and not internal, as those are a lot easier to replace than internal ones. All in all, a great controller for its purposes and I had no complaints about it. I don't think it feels cheap, it feels light, that's all.
In short, if you want a controller that is a jack of all trades to use on everything, stick with Xbox One, PS4 and the like. If you want the precision of a mouse but the versatility of a thumbstick, I recommend the Hori TAC G1. If you want something that is in between those two without resorting to any mouse setup, the Steam controller might be the one for you. Get it with the dongle to avoid any setup nightmares, if you can.Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
