Life is funny. Sometimes you don’t know something’s broken until one day you get a contraption in the mail that looks like a gadget off of Batman’s utility belt and you snap it on to your controller. Even then, as you proceed to relearn everything you know, you wonder if what you knew was the right way to do things anyway. You savvy? Probably not.
Below is my review of The Avenger controller adaptor by N-Control. The opinions herein belong to me alone and do not reflect those of KontrolFreek.
The Avenger snaps easily to your standard Xbox 360 controller. All you have to do is open it like a clamshell, insert your controller and close until it snaps. The Avenger also comes with a couple foam stickers that you place on both bumpers and the “A” button. I wasn’t sure at first why these were even included (they made the whole package seem hokey) but after playing with them for a while I quickly understood that N-Control has their reasons. They add a subtle yet effective tactile-ness to the remaining “naked” buttons. Nice touch. You’ll then need to make a few small adjustments by experimenting with how you would like to position the levers/rockers. Once you’ve got everything where you want it, you’re mostly good to go. The “trigger skis” feel a tad awkward at first—especially because I normally let my index fingers do the shooting—and the intimidation aspect is certainly something to consider. I’d recommend staying offline until you get a feel for it.
After playing a few levels of Halo: Reach’s campaign, I started to adjust. I was able to reload and switch weapons without ever taking my thumb off the right stick—definitely a plus when tracking those pesky Elites. Actions felt intuitive and fast, however, sometimes during intense firefights my fingers would accidentally do something I didn’t want them to do, like switch weapons instead of melee. Obviously, with more practice and further adjustment of the lever-thingys this can probably be remedied. Even while using the Avenger not as intended (by ignoring the levers and just using it like you’d normally use a controller), the mechanism that engages the face buttons brings the buttons much closer to your Freek-raised right thumbstick and lets you make some ultra-fast actions. Goodnight Covees!
The many positives do come at a cost, though. Every headset will not be compatible. The SteelSeries 7XB that I’m currently using is not compatible; nor will most that use a “puck” style jack for voice chat. Bummer.
Overall, I really like the Avenger. It’s a cool looking attachment that functions well alongside some FPS Freeks. With some more practice, I think I could probably go online and be competitive—I won’t yet—but I think I could. The learning (or relearning) curve is a commitment. It will take some time and patience to get comfortable with it. I have no doubt, though, that in the right hands the Avenger could be a dangerous weapon.
Retail price: $49.99
http://www.avengercontroller.com/
