Nacon Pro Revolution Controller Review

The Nacon Revolution Pro Revolution was stress tested thoroughly on Wolfenstein 2, Warframe and Titanfall 2. You can check it out thoroughly on the official website. 

Ergonomics

Physically, the Nacon Pro Revolution is shaped like an Xbox One controller. Say what you will of that, I thought this was a great idea. While personally I have a preference for all things PlayStation, there’s no denying Microsoft’s Xbox controllers have always sat more comfortably in my hands. Yes, I am one of those people with big hands and if you are too, this first point is a plus for you.

Taking a look at the front face of the controller, we can see that input buttons on the right are large and closer together, again complimenting those with bigger hands. They are more convex that the Dualshock 4’s right input buttons. They have a defined click to them, adding assurance of input every time. The left input buttons (the D-Pad) have replaced the left stick, in favour of the Xbox style design. Nacon claims this D-Pad to be 8 directional and, well, it is. But have you ever wanted to press a “diagonal” directional button? Regardless, it feels great to use and the touchpad being situated over the D-Pad is certainly a nice thing to have.

 
The design of the triggers and shoulder buttons, however, make an assumption of you. Or rather, it makes an assumption of how you use your hands. It’s safe to say most of us hold our DualShock 4 with one index finger resting between trigger and shoulder button. The next finger down, the middle finger, for me, tends to rest very closely up towards the bottom of the triggers. The chunky design of the back of the Nacon Pro Revolution forces that middle finger further down the controller. This caused me a little discomfort to start with and I thought perhaps I’d just gotten too used to the Dualshock 4. Then again, it’s a safe bet most potential buyers of this product are too. Pianists and guitarists should be fine…

Aesthetics

The Nacon Pro Revolution controller is certainly nice to look at. The touch pad sports a grid of tiny PlayStation logos that adds a defined feel. The left thumbstick is dotted and concave and the right thumbstick is convex and grips equally well. For some reason, this worked out great when holding in one direction for a long time, covering those large distances in Warframe! No more thumb slipping! 

This controller can also be bought in several colours and skins.

Technicalities

Adjustable Weight

The Nacon Pro Revolution comes with differing weights that can be inserted in the bottom area of the palm grips. A key comes with the controller, allowing you to screw these little doorways tight, assuring security for later gaming. If the controller is too light, this is a great option that is easy to take advantage of.

Screw-In Cable

Connecting the Nacon Pro Revolution is done via an AUX cable. No matter how intense things get in those online matches, it’ll never fall out due to a screw-it in fitting. Normally this would mean we’d just go wireless for a bit. Here’s a big downfall with Nacon Pro Revolution. It cannot be used wirelessy. So, during those intense sessions, you’d better make sure your dog isn’t wandering around the living room…

Profile Settings

Making use of Nacon’s official website, owners can look a game in their library and download its official profile. What that means is sensitivity and button mapping has been pre-programmed for a selection of games. This is a great option but I found Nacon’s game library to be a little limited as, out the games I tested it with, only Titanfall 2 was available. Oddly, Nacon’s library is packed out with PC titles like League of Legends. Sure, it’s great that this controller can be used on your PC, if you have a gaming rig too. But it’s a little odd that PS4 branding is on the packaging, only to find a majority of game profiles are for PC games.

Nonetheless, these game profiles are a fantastic option if you can leverage them to work for you. Software will need to be downloaded on your PC and the profiles set up for the controller. More casual gamers will only be concerned with changing the sensitivity in their game settings. So it goes without saying – this is a product designed for the hardcore and for E-Sports.

Conclusion

After my time with the Nacon Pro Revolution, I could see that it was a high end piece of hardware. It can be leveraged to excellent advantage by those who can figure out how to use it. You see, everything I’ve explained here was the result of lots and lots of fiddling. Nowhere in the package did I find any instructions, nor did I see much explained on the official Nacon website. We’re left to mostly figure things out for ourselves.

So the real question is of value for money. If you figure out the profiles setting and how to activate them for the right game, the Nacon Pro Revolution is totally worth the asking price. It does things I’ve never seen a controller do with software before. If you don’t figure these things out or make use of them, you’ve spent just over $100 dollars just have a controller that feels nice. Nacon could certainly do with speaking to their community a little more openly.