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FPS Freek Legendary - a Mini-Review

A couple of weeks ago, a rep from KontrolFreek wrote and asked if we wanted to try out their FPS Freek Legendary controller enhancers. I'd heard good things about these, and hey - when you're as bad as I am, any edge is a good edge. They arrived in the mail, and I slapped 'em on.

FPS Freek Legendary, Boxed FPS Freek Legendary, Installed FPS Freek Legendary, Closeup

At first glance, they made my controller sticks look awfully tall; I worried that I'd get fatigued with long sessions. Stupid thing to worry about, it turns out. They felt a TINY bit unfamiliar when I first started - but that went away within minutes (I'd say seconds, but that implies just a few; I'd guess it was a minute or two before I didn't notce them at all).

The pattern on the top isn't just cool-looking - it gives your thumbs something to grip. even after a marathon session of play, my fingers didn't slip. (Unlike earlier KontrolFreek products, or indeed your original console thumbsticks, they have a convex shape, not a concave one; this also seems to help with grip.) And their primary function - to improve my accuracy - is quite solid.

Because you've increased the height of the sticks, your range of motion increases, as well - and your precision goes way up. Smaller on-screen movements now happen for a given thumbstick nudge - I found that my ability to target a small area, especially in the heat of battle when the movement of my fingers is more exaggerated than it should be, increased. (It also meant I could turn up my sensitivity without losing control; spinning around just got easier.)

I worried a little bit that these arrived JUST before Reach, because it meant that my first experience with them was on a new game. I wondered if the improved accuracy was due to the Freeks, or if I just fit Reach better than I fit Halo 3. To test this, I yanked the Freeks off and played a couple of games with the standard controller. It wasn't just my perception - I was better with the Freeks.

They're tiny, they snap on and off pretty easily (so you can take them with you, even if you're not carrying your controller), they have a cool design on the top that serves more than an aesthetic purpose, and they improve your gameplay - what's not to love? They run $13.99 at KontrolFreek's website - I give 'em two thumbs up. Er... on.



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