SCUF Elite Controller review
What’s your most important Xbox Accessory? For me it used to be my headset, with a young family, late night gaming meant I needed something to help me along with that. In the last year though my opinion has changed, thanks to the Xbox Elite Controller.
Simply put, the Elite Controller is the best piece of kit around if you own and Xbox. Yes, £120 for a controller seems like a lot of money (shop around, you’ll get one for £100) but they are worth it. I’m so accustomed to the quality of it then when I use a standard controller it just feels wrong.
The trouble is though, I do love the limited edition controllers, I already own the Titanfall controller and there are the Halo ones I want too, then there is the design lab. I rightly predicted last year that MS would release a limited edition Gears 4 controller, but the price was extortionate. But now thanks to a new partnership between SCUF and Microsoft, customising an Elite Controller is much more simple.
The are a huge amount of customisation options, nearly every component of the the Elite controller can be customised apart from the grips and sticks, although you can choose whch lengths you want on the controller. If you head over to the SCUF Elite website you can view a pre-built set of controllers or jump in customise your own version.
The website does an excellent job of making things very simple to understand and lays out the pricing so that you know exactly how much the customisation will cost you. We were sent a Red Camo version of the controller to play with and it looks really nice. My wife, who isn’t much of a gamer surprised me by commenting on how much she liked the look of it! The finish is superb and feels as comfortable as the original controller.
SCUF have also taken a look at the way Microsoft used the paddles on the back of the controller and given it their own twist instead of sitting horizontally along the grips the SCUF version fall down vertically from the battery hatch, having spent a year using the Microsoft version it took some getting used to, but as I’ve used them more they have become very comfortable to use. Like the original controller, you can choose as many or a few paddles as you prefer, they are much more secure too. The accessory pack also comes with a SCUF take on the D-pad, again at first I wasn’t sure this would suit my gaming style but I’m beginning to really like it.The pad is tilted to access a single direction bias quicker as well as reducing the distance when alternating from the thumbstick to D-pad. It’s a very sturdy pad and it’s easy to see why they have designed it they way they have, I often change round my configuration but I’m certainly using this more and more.
SCUF really have hit the nail on the head with their Elite controllers, the customisation options are excellent and the finish is superb, the redesigned D-Pads and paddles may not suit everyone but it clear a lot of thought went into their creation. If you don’t fancy paying out for the limited edition Gears Elite Controller then this is most certainly a viable option.
More information can be found on the SCUF Elite Controller website.