Game Accessory: HORI Horipad FPS Plus Wired Controller
Date: 16th July 2015
Developer: HORI
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Japanese Controller Manufacture HORI is known for creating dozens of unique controllers that are suited to their audiences whether it is making small controllers for kids or making steering wheel controllers and special fighting game type controllers. Then HORI of all things decided to create their own pro controller specifically for gamers who enjoy a lot of First Person Shooters with the HORI Horipad FPS Plus Wired Controller which is a cool controller for the PlayStation 3 & PlayStation 4 that has sadly never been released outside of Japan. Now when it comes to Japan in gaming, they enjoy their Anime games, their Visual Novels, dozens of Role-Playing Games and any game that involves a ton of fan-service content so not many Japanese gamers don't see much interest in First Person Shooters at all but they at least know it is a thing that people in the west actually like. Still, it is nice to see some Japanese Studios try their hand in creating something to try and get some Japanese players interested in the genre and the HORI Horipad FPS Plus Wired Controller is one of the most unique controllers that has the features that makes this controller different and unique when it comes to controllers suited to any serious console FPS gamer.
Unboxing the HORI Horipad FPS Plus Wired Controller the package that the device was placed in contains the device itself which is fully wired and you simply plug it to either one of the consoles' available USB slots and then you press the PS button to turn it on. Also included are the instructions to give you instructions on how to operate some of the controller features, however all of the text in the instructions is only Japanese text with no English what-so-ever, so you might want to get a Translator App to be able to read it.
The controller is compatible with the PlayStation 3 as well as the PlayStation 4 and it has a console slider located on the bottom side to put the controller in either PlayStation 3 Mode or PlayStation 4 Mode which if you are going to use the controller on either the PS3 or PS4 you need to use switch if you are going to use it on different consoles. It also has a 3 metre long cable which makes the controller great if you are playing far away from the TV.
The device itself is like the majority of the pro controllers released on the market and goes for the Xbox/Nintendo Switch control layout which makes it an Xbox/Nintendo Switch style controller on PlayStation similar to the HORI ONYX Wireless Controller. It has a Touch Pad, PlayStation style Face Buttons, two Analog Stick Thumbgrips that are the same as any other on the current gaming market, pretty sized L1/L2 & R1/R2 Bumper & Trigger Buttons and well-placed Share & Options Buttons. Also added is the Turbo Functionality where you hold down any button you desire and then press the Turbo Button to enable it, pressing it again enables AutoFire without you having to press the button and pressing the Turbo Button disables the Turbo Functionality.
There are two unique buttons that make the HORI Horipad 4 FPS Plus Wired Controller a standout from other controllers available. The first button is the Target Button located on the back of the controller; it is not a Back Button that acts as one of the controller's Face Buttons instead holding down the Target Button slows down the movement of the Right Analog Stick which is useful for long range sniping when you are going for that perfect headshot. It is handy if you are playing a game that has high sensitivity and don't have any sensitivity options. Located next to the console slider is the Target Button Sensitivity slider where it allows you to adjust the Right Analog Stick Sensitivity when you hold down the Target Button, you can either have the Target Button on the slowest setting or on the setting where it is only a little slow.
One of the other buttons added which makes this controller unique is the Assign Button which as implied allows you to assign any one of the Face Buttons, Bumper Buttons or Trigger Buttons to any of the buttons you desire. Yes, you can actually assign any one of the buttons on the controller to any other button which is what a similar thing that the Mad Catz MLG Pro Controller tried to do in its own way. To Assign any of the Buttons you want to change you hold down the Assign Button for a few seconds till the Light shown just below the Assign Button lights up and then you press what Button you want to change and lastly press any other Button that you want to move one of the Buttons to. With the controller being designed as an FPS focused game pad you can swap the Bumper & Trigger Buttons around for games that use L1/R1 for Aiming Down Sights and Firing instead of L2/R2 on PS3 games like the Battlefield games, Medal of Honor, Deus Ex Human Revolution, Time Crisis Razing Storm as well as PSOne & PS2 FPS games that use the L1/R1 Button commands for shooting and aiming to have them be at where you want them to be at.
Playing any First Person Shooter with the Horipad FPS Plus Controller truly feels incredible, the controller is comfortable to hold and the Buttons and the Analog Sticks feel really good to press. All of the Buttons respond very well and during my playtest I experienced no latency issues or any form of input delay, even the Trigger Buttons are outstanding as they feel like the L2/R2 Trigger Buttons designed back on the PSOne or PS2 instead of the squishy Trigger Button setup and I really like that. Playing an FPS game that uses the L1/R1 for Aiming and Shooting allowed me to use the Controller's Assign feature to set the controls to how I want them to be and it is very handy to set the firing controls to the button setup that they should be making every shooter on the PS3 more comfortable to play. To be able to set the controls in those games to L2/R2 using the Assign Button Feature makes the controller the best way to play First Person Shooters on the PlayStation 3.
Outside of FPS games the Horipad FPS Plus Controller also works fine with other types of games, the Turbo Button is great for games that relies on a lot of mashing without you having to frequently button mash a lot. The D-Pad works well for 2D games and if you want to play fighting games with it the directional inputs read pretty well when doing special moves if you take the time to practice. The HORI Horipad FPS Plus Controller is truly amazing when it comes to playing First Person Shooters on the PlayStation 3 and the Turbo Functionality adds that Rapid Fire button mashing feeling that you don't get with Third Party Controllers today.
There are only minor things wrong with the controller which they had to make sacrifices in order to make the controller affordable which means that certain features of a normal controller are absent. These include no Headphone Jack so that means you can't communicate with other players in chat, the Horipad FPS Controller also lacks a Light Sensor as well as lacking Six-Axis features so if you were thinking of using the controller for games like Killzone 2 or any games that relay on Motion Controls you might want to be aware of that.
By far the biggest crime the HORI Horipad FPS Wired Controller commits is not having any Vibration Rumble Features like at all. Like seriously HORI you couldn't even have the Vibration Feature which lets off the feeling of the action happening on the game screen. I guess having the Headphone Jack, Light Bar, Six-Axis and Vibration Features included also would have made the controller more expensive but not having the Vibration Features especially at the PlayStation 4 Generation of gaming is inexcusable considering that controllers are a big part of gaming and keeps the player on edge when something is happening in game. These are only minor things holding this Wired Controller for being perfect but they are not a big deal if you are using this controller only for First Person Shooter games and have other methods of communicating through chat. If you are playing games like Call of Duty, Battlefield alongside other competitive First Person Shooters on PS3 and don't care about some of the minor controller features then you got plenty on the PS3 to use the controller for. The downside of using it on the PS3 is with some games that have different Analog Stick response behaviours and if you have played on the PS3 with different Third-Party Controllers you'll know what I'm talking about. The HORI Hori Pad FPS Plus works specially well on the PlayStation 4 console with no issues and it is designed well for the First-Person Shooter games on the console. Even though the PS4 console has the Accessibility Features that allow you to alter the controls to your liking still the controller is fun to use on the PS4.
When it comes to playing competitive First Person Shooters on both the PS3 & PS4 consoles the HORI Horipad FPS Plus Wired Controller delivers the goods for what every serious FPS player wants, being able to swap around the buttons to anywhere you want including L1/R1 and L2/R2 Buttons, Turbo Functionality and having great functionality & response overall. It will work with other types of games on the PS3 & PS4 as long as the controls support it and it works fine on all consoles outside of Japan as well which is what you need to know. If you are looking to pick this up online shop websites will have it in stock that will go for about £50 to £60 or £70 depending on the colour variants. If you are a serious First-Person Shooter player and want an Xbox Style Controller that allows you to play these types, the way they should be thanks to the Button Assign Features and don't mind the lack of Motion Control and Vibration features than the HORI Horipad FPS Plus Wired Controller is a must have for a PlayStation user who has full love for the genre.
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Review Score: 9.0/10
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The Goods
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Swap around any of the Buttons using the Assign Button to where you actually want them be at including swapping the L1/R1 & L2/R2 Buttons
Fantastic Turbo Functionality
Quick and Responsive Trigger Buttons
Target Button allows you to slowly control the Right Analog Stick for perfect sniper aiming
The Bads
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No Headphone Jack, Light Sensor, Six-Axis or Rumble Features
Instructions and Setup are in Japanese, No English Translation