The world of competitive shooters is getting harder to enter every day, especially if you’ve been out of the loop for as long as I have. While my teenage years were spent playing countless hours of Call of Duty and Gears of War, I’ve since changed my speed to other genres. However, the Nacon Revolution X Pro Controller may be precisely what I need to get back into the shooter scene, but it may not be my complete replacement for other games.
Feel The Action Unfold
If you feel like you’ve seen this controller before, it’s because you likely have. The Revolution X Pro Controller has been available for quite some time and is available at many different retailers, but the newly released Camo version tidies up the design a little bit while making the overall theme a little more militarized. For players fully invested in earning every piece of camo available in Call of Duty, this may be the perfect style for you to wrap things up. But what makes this controller a great choice for you?
Well, the first thing to note is the overall shape of the controller. Compared to a standard Xbox One/Xbox Series controller, I found that the Nacon Revolution X was slightly wider, with thinner handles and a more extreme curve toward the triggers. It also features interchangeable thumbsticks, with the option to add weights to the controller to have it feel as light or as heavy as I would have liked it to be. The addition of a carrying case and a 3-meter (9-foot) cord made playing with the Nacon Revolution X Pro Controller easy, no matter where I was. If you’re hoping to play wirelessly with this controller, there is no option to play that way.
This helps reduce latency from your actions to what happens on screen. While the thumbsticks in the Revolution X may not be using Hall Effect technology, I found them to be just as smooth as their Revolution 5 Pro Controller for PlayStation 5. The thumbsticks in the Revolution X are ALPS, which use moving parts rather than magnets and are what you would find in your standard Xbox and PlayStation controllers, but in practice, they feel nicer than the standard sticks offered in these first-party controllers.
One thing that helps differentiate the Revolution X from its competitors is the sheer number of customization options you receive in the box. Alongside a nice carrying case that would allow me to take the controller anywhere I need without worrying about damage, I also found the following items within the packaging:
- x2 10g Weights
- x2 14g Weights
- x2 16g Weights
- x2 Convex Thumbsticks
- x2 Large Deadzone Adapters
- x2 Medium Deadzone Adapters
- x1 Cleaning Cloth
- x1 Removable Type C Cord
The controller itself feels great in the hands, but it seems primarily targeted toward shooters in particular. While playing games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, it genuinely felt as if I was performing better than I normally would on a standard Xbox Series controller, and my K/D at the end of the games would reflect that. I’m not sure if that was SBMM playing an effect and just perfectly placing me in lobbies that I could dominate, but I couldn’t replicate the same level of success with my standard controller. Paired with the excellent vibration motors inside the controller, I was on a hot streak, even out of the game for quite some time.
There are a few small gripes that I have with the overall design of the controller, which lie within the back paddles and a particular face button. The back paddles, much like the original Revolution X, could be considered too easy to press at times, resulting in some accidental touches when I least expect them. With how I hold a controller, the paddles resided directly beneath my middle fingers, with the second set beneath my ring and pinky fingers. During the heat of the moment, I found myself accidentally enabling these buttons, which I had thankfully not mapped yet. If I had, I may have found myself reloading in the middle of a firefight when it wasn’t needed.
My other gripes have to do with the placement and shape of the screenshot button. While this may be superficial and is more of a personal gripe than anything against the controller, searching for this particular button after nailing a perfect shot to capture the moment feels cumbersome since it is recessed into the body of the controller rather than slightly extruded. Others may love that, so they avoid accidentally hitting it when it isn’t needed, but I found it awkward sometimes.
Something Borrowed, Something New
Something about the way it feels in hand, especially with shooters, just feels right. Maybe it’s because of the extreme curve near the triggers that keep your fingers on the ready for whatever is coming your way, or maybe it’s the programmable back buttons that can be mapped to whichever keys you would like them to be. Maybe it’s the adjustability of the Deadzone with a physical object rather than a software measurement, but I can say if you’re a fan of shooters, this is exactly the controller for you.
However, I didn’t feel the same way when I tried to play other games like Hi-Fi Rush. I don’t have the longest fingers in the world, so using the LB/RB buttons constantly to keep in the beat of the music and dodge felt less than excellent, so I tended to map the back buttons to these particular keys for games like this. It feels as if it’s tuned exclusively for shooters and nearly perfect in that aspect, but it wasn’t my favorite to use when it came to other games.
You may also find that something is missing if you’re playing shooters: trigger stops. While plenty of Pro Controllers, even others Nacon offers, have this feature, it’s mysteriously missing here. While it’s not something that I use, it is a feature that plenty of players do enjoy having on their special controllers, so it feels like a bit of a swing and a miss not including those here, especially considering the demographic that this particular type of controller is aiming for.
However, when it comes to generally using the controller, everything feels smooth, and most importantly, incredibly responsive. The enlarged face buttons ensured I couldn’t miss a single input without feeling too close together and allowed me to hit a tactical reload whenever needed. For those using a compatible headset, a surprise feature is waiting for you: Dolby Atmos.
As long as your headset supports it, the Revolution X Pro Controller encourages the use of Dolby Atmos, enabling a larger, brighter, and better sound stage than ever before. I first experienced this with a wireless headset that I reviewed recently, and it completely changed the way I played games. I cannot go back to the standard experience any longer. The fact that this controller has this feature enabled out of the box is fantastic and broadens the soundscape of what players could expect from companies in the future.
If you love the idea of having multiple profiles set onboard that you can change on the fly, you’ll be glad that the Revolution X Pro Controller also features onboard memory that allows you to save four separate profiles, so you can always have your go-to ready to go. You can avoid using their slightly cumbersome PC software as often as possible. While their controllers feel great to use, I’m hoping for some improvements to the overall useability of their software soon.
Overall, if you’re looking for a solid controller perfect for your favorite shooter, consider giving the Nacon Revolution X a go. Its ergonomics fit perfectly for the genre, and these new colorways are an exciting way to match up with your favorite gun camos. While it may not be perfect for every game on the market, the overall improvement I saw while playing games like Call of Duty made me a believer.
While the lack of trigger stops may be disheartening for some players, the overall customization of this controller makes it a worthwhile addition to your console or PC collection. It feels fantastic to hold, the sticks and buttons are nice and responsive, and it offers a baffling amount of customization. It’s perfect for a niche but may not be for everyone in the end.
