The HexGaming Ultimate Controller bills itself as a high-performance customizable controller for eSports pros. I may have mentioned before that I’m certainly no eSports Pro. I used to be pretty decent at Battlefield and I get by in the hard mode of most games. I could use every little bit of help I can get though. Will it give me that edge?
Choose Your Controller
If you head over to the HexGaming website for one of these, you have two paths. The ‘Premium Edition’ or ‘Make Your Own’.
Premium Edition is choosing from set designs and features. At the time of writing, there are 52 different options, including plain black and white. I certainly found plenty here that looked great but ended up going with the Shadow of Blood with FlashShot & Rubberized Grips.
The other path is to Make Your Own. This gives you a wider variety of options around appearance, letting you choose the color and pattern of each component. These can include solid colors, patterns, chrome, or even clear casing and buttons. These can be mixed and matched as you please. Miss the days of clear electronics? You can build a controller just like it. Or want to build a flashy gold and purple chrome one to match as you play Saints Row? That’s an option too.
On top of this, you can choose whether to include modified triggers, which I’ll get to soon.
I was very impressed by the sheer amount of options, both in the ‘pre-built’ and the customization. The only thing I’d like to see more of would be buttons with the symbols on, as only a few options include this.
Pro Options
The HexGaming Ultimate Controller is a modified PlayStation 5 controller, rather than a completely separate product. As such, it shares the same strengths, while trying to improve the experience and performance. This also means that it can be used on the PlayStation 5 or PC by default. To be clear, you can buy many of the parts and a modify a controller to replicate the functionality of this yourself, but it’s risky if you don’t know what you’re doing.
As this is a customizable item, keep in mind that certain features will only be included if you choose them when buying or creating your controller. As mentioned before, I went with the Shadow of Blood with FlashShot & Rubberized Grips model.
FlashShot is a huge advantage when playing FPS games and helpful with anything which requires a quick bumper or trigger press. It reduces the depth of the bumper to 0.5mm and the depth of the trigger to 2mm. This makes them feel like a very ‘clicky’ button. Shooting is far quicker and it feels more responsive. I have noticed a difference in how many kills I get and how long I survive in FPS using this. On the downside, that does mean controllers with this function selected are not suitable for games where the full depth of the trigger is required, such as many racing games and it loses the haptic and adaptive trigger functions.
The Rubberized Grips are exactly as they sound. It covers part of the back of the controller handles in textured rubber. This feels more comfortable and makes it easier to grip as you’d expect. I imagine that it’ll particularly help if you sweat during those tense moments. Notably, they seem to be completely level with the controller, rather than applied on top. No bump can be felt between the controller and rubber grip. I’ve not noticed any wear after quite a lot of use too.
Always A Pro
While the other Pro features are optional, the HexGaming Ultimate controller always comes with a couple more features. The back has four extra ‘buttons’ and there are six interchangeable thumbsticks.
The four buttons on the back are more like two buttons, two paddles, and an extra ‘mapping button’ to set it all up. The four buttons can be mapped to any of the regular buttons, which is extremely convenient at times. It’s easy to do too.
To map a button, all you need to do is to hold down the mapping button for a few seconds, wait for the LED to turn red, then hold down the regular button and the paddle or button on the back. Then hold the mapping button down again.
For example, if there’s a game where guarding is very common, it’s possible to map the Triangle button to a paddle on the back. This is much quicker to press. If you bought a version of the HexGaming Ultimate controller without Flashshot, then it might be useful to map the right trigger to the right paddle for a quicker action. The one addition I’d love to see here would be a memory to switch between a few game profiles, which is present in some other controllers.
Interchangeable thumbsticks is fairly self-explanatory. It comes with four extra thumbsticks, with different heights and choices between concave and convex. The concave ones come with dots for extra grip and are said to be better for movement control. Convex ones are said to increase accuracy. They’re extremely easy to pull off and switch, but I’ve never done it without meaning to. I prefer the concave ones and certainly find the extra grip to be much more comfortable than the default PlayStation 5 controller.
Quality and Components
As a PlayStation 5 controller is used as the base, much of the build is fairly similar to the default. Buttons remain clicky, the weight is similar and it’s generally a good controller all around.
Looking specifically at the custom components, the new casing feels high-quality. The patterning on the design I chose is detailed and slightly reflective. Looking extremely closely at the edges, it appears to be a wrap around the controller components.
One minor complaint is that the Options and Share buttons are slightly smaller on the HexGaming Ultimate controller than the original PlayStation 5 controller. This does make them slightly more awkward to press. Unfortunately, they seem to be the exception as they can’t be remapped. It probably won’t be a huge issue unless you take hundreds of screenshots as I do. In exchange, the HexGaming circular Home button is easier to press than the default PlayStation 5 one.
One other thing I found a little surprising was the lack of included cable. There’s no debating that this is an expensive controller, even though it’s similar to comparable ones in price. I would’ve liked to see a nice braided cable included. Maybe even a case, as some other pro controllers include. On a related note, I can confirm it doesn’t fit into all charging units, but does work with the Numskull PlayStation 5 Fast Charge Twin Charging Dock and Gioteck AC2 Ammo Clip. The Gioteck Solo Charging Stand For PS5 is a no go due to the paddles on the back.
Switch Pro
Just as a brief aside, with the 8BitDo Wireless USB Adapter or another similar adapter, this can be a great Nintendo Switch controller. I used my original PlayStation 5 controller for this originally as I don’t own a Switch Pro controller at the time of writing, but the triggers felt too different. As the HexGaming Ultimate controller with the FlashShot essentially changes the triggers to buttons, this matches the Nintendo Switch’s controls much better. Despite not being suitable for many racing games, this is now my Mario Kart controller.
Verdict
The HexGaming Ultimate Controller is definitely one to help up your game. Between quick firing triggers, the mapped paddles on the back, and options around analogs, it just makes reactions much faster and more accurate. The customization options are amazing too, with tons of possibilities.
This is a pricey controller, but that’s nothing unusual for a pro controller. If you fancy yourself an aspiring eSports pro, enjoy entering tournaments, or even just want a controller in your own style, it might be for you.
HEXGAMING ULTIMATE CONTROLLER IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Purchase: HexGaming Website
Use Coupon Code NOOKGAMING for 5% discount
Looking for a Pro Controller for XBox and PC instead? Take a look at the Nacon Revolution X Pro.
Many thanks go to HexGaming for providing a review unit for this title.
A gamer since the days of Amstrad and DOS and someone who has dabbled in a variety of professions. He enjoys a wide variety of genres, but has been focusing on visual novels and virtual reality in recent years. Head Editor of NookGaming. Follow him and the website on @NookSite.
