Steam Controller Review after a week of use.

i've been a PC gamer since I was 6, but i've flip-flopped between PC gaming and Console gaming for a while, depending on the status of my income. I am currently using a gaming PC I built for myself a couple years ago, but before that I was a 360 gamer for about 5 years. Frankly, I don't think I ever got very good with a 360 controller vs Keyboard and Mouse, but since I have my computer plugged into my TV in the living room gaming from the couch with a keyboard and mouse tended to be a pain in the ass so I tended to use the 360 controller (with a wireless hack made from the tranceiver from an old "Red ring of death" 360) when playing shooters or arcade games that weren't multi-player. Unfortunately my 360 controller has seen better days, the rubber has been almost completely worn off the grips, the left stick drifts and the right stick moves faster one direction than the other. So; time for a new controller.

So I decided to give the steam controller a try. The greatest thing about the steam controller, in my opinion, is the customization. You can assign tons of different functions to the controller. In fact I'm not even that deep into exploring the configuration options but here are a few of the options that I especially like: The triggers, while not having as much travel as a 360 controller, have a distinct "click" at the end of travel, but you can use the haptic feedback to put a "click" further up on the trigger, so you can essentially have a long-draw trigger or a hair trigger that barely needs a pull to engage. This is especially nice on shooters since you can have that "sweet spot" sensation where just a tiny pull of the trigger will fire a bullet. Unfortunately, right now this is wasted on my since I'm still used to a 360 controller and habit has me fully pulling the trigger unless I think about it.

The touchpads are interesting. People compare using the touchpads to trying to use a laptop touchpad, but its considerably better than that. The haptics give you an interesting sensation, almost like a trackball (which i've never really liked using) but better. They seem more sensitive than a touchpad and it's not that difficult to line up decent shots just using the touchpad. They touchpads also are textured so you don't get much friction from them, resulting in fairly smooth motion. The only complaint I have about the touchpads is the D-pad, which is the left touchpad, and engaged by depressing the left touchpad in the direction you desire. This works perfectly fine when using the d-pad for navigating menus, inventory, and weapon selection but trying to use it in a game like streetfighter or sidescrollers might not be very intuitive.

if they left it at that, this controller would be "ok," and probably not a very good replacement for a 360 or ps4 controller, but the Gyroscope goes a long way to improve the controllers accuracy in shooters. It is pretty dang responsive with very little lag. I found that using the right touchpad for rough-aiming and the gyroscope for precision resulted in some pretty accurate shots. I found that I was able to make shots on moving targets more accurately than I could with the 360 controller, and line up headshots with more reliability. On that note though, I still suck at using this controller because coordinating the left stick to strafe, the right touchpad, and the gyroscope together requires considerably more practice on my part.

Another great thing about the steam controller is that you can use it from your couch to just navigate your computer without having to use a media keyboard, a click of the left stick brings up a virtual keyboard that you use both touchpads to select letters. It isn't faster than a keyboard, but it's nice relaxing on the recliner watching youtube videos or netflix and just using controller.

In conclusion, I'm awful at using this controller still but I can see the tentative possibilities of this controller being ALMOST as good as a mouse-and-keyboard, but it definitely has the possibility of replacing standard controllers. If you're a die-hard mouse-and-keyboard user sitting at a computer desk I wouldn't bother getting the steam controller, but if you're like I was and are using a console controller from your couch on your PC I strongly suggest grabbing a steam controller.

It looks awesome.

a reply to: Slanter

Thanks for the review Slanter , I've read other positive feedback on the controller for a year or so but it's good to see a view from a fellow member.
I am a die hard keyboard and mouse user but there are some games , like racing sims and sports , that the good old keyboard and mouse aren't so good at , I've been considering buying a 360 controller for a while now but a steam controller may be a more interesting option.

a reply to: gortex

I'd definitely go with a steam controller over a 360 controller if you're not already used to a 360 controller, especially for strategy games and racing games (The Gyroscope in the steam controller lets it act like a steering wheel)