In the war of “what controller is better” many will bicker between Microsoft’s Xbox One controller and Sony’s DualShock 4. For those that made the jump from the Xbox 360 to the PlayStation 4 some may find themselves missing the asymmetrical set up of the thumbsticks from the former.
Luckily Nacon seem aware that some gamers like their thumbsticks asymmetrical. Cue the Nacon Revolution Unlimited Pro for the PlayStation 4. There’s much more to this pro controller than thumbstick arrangements though.
It’s a bit larger than the DualShock 4 and its shape is much more similar to what you’d expect from Microsoft rather than Sony. It feels good in the hand and comes with a cable a bit different to the DualShock 4s. This is because the Nacon Revolution Unlimited Pro uses USB-C to charge itself and connect itself to your console or PC.
For those that want to play wireless there’s a Bluetooth wireless receiver included too. It’s a shame that the controller can’t connect to the PlayStation 4 without a receiver but it’s a small complaint. One that would be less of a complaint if Sony had more than 2 USB slots on the original PlayStation 4s and the Slims.
One of the most surprisingly useful things that the Nacon Revolution Unlimited Pro comes with is weights to put into the controller’s grip. These come as either 10g, 14g or 16g and really help add a bit more presence to the controller. It’s worth playing about to find the weight that you like but it’s a nice level of customisation to include. Especially as some people like a lighter or heavier controller.
The thumbsticks are also customisable. You can replace the concave caps with a convex one (although why would you?) and you can also change the shafts to thicker ones to add a bit more weight to them. It’s worth playing some of your favourite games and experimenting with what you like in terms of thumbsticks and grip weight before you start tinkering further.
Once you’ve figured out what weight you like in your controller you can then move onto some of the more intricate details. The back of the controller, by the grips, has 4 hot keys that you can programme to certain prompts. All you have to do is hold the profile button down on the back of the controller, followed by the hot key and then pressing the button you’d like it to mimic.
The hot keys themselves are located where your fingers rest on the grip. Although they’re easy to hit I personally found them a tiny bit too close together for my fingers. A bit more of a gap would be nice but, if it’s something you plan to use a lot, it will no doubt be something you’ll quickly grow used to.
If you’d like to go more in-depth in your controller customisation you can, thanks to a companion app that works on PC and Mac. It’s easy to set up and you can manipulate sensitivity, dead zones, trigger sensitivity and more whilst you try and fine tune the perfect controller for you. You can even test it in the app to see how it’s shaping up.
Keeping track of your profiles is also easy thanks to a light ring around the right stick changing colour depending which one you’re on. This means you can boot up your PlayStation with normal controls before starting up your favourite FPS and switching to the profile more suited to that.
It’s a premium controller and one that is most likely going to set you back over £120 depending on where you shop. That’s a fairly standard price for pro controllers though and there’s a lot of nice features included in the Nacon Revolution Unlimited Pro that make it worth while. It even includes a carry case and wipe for those that want to look after it even more. It also has a headphone jack with volume rockers built into the back of the controller.
It does lack some features that the DualShock 4 has though. There’s no light bar at the front of the controller and there’s no speaker in it either. Although both may be considered “gimmicky” elements of the DualShock 4 they are things that some games use (sometimes really well). I also couldn’t get the controller to turn on my console and had to turn it on manually instead. A small issue but something to keep in mind regardless.
Playing through a variety of games with the Nacon Revolution Unlimited Pro has been a delight and I’ve found it much more comfortable than the DualShock 4 when it comes to longer sessions. Although it’s a shame it has a few small problems it’s still a controller worth considering if you’re looking for a pro upgrade for your PlayStation 4. The fact it also works on PC is a nice bonus too.
Image credit: Nacon