The Avenger Porked My Controller – Review

Mar 4, 2011

The Avenger Controller attachment for the Xbox 360 by N-Control was announced back in November 2010. Immediately, people were saying this thing looked like a “Borg-spider mating with a 360 controller.”  The Avenger promised a precision controller attachment with hair triggers, but came with a hefty price tag and a long wait for shipment.  So, was the almost three month wait worth it?  In short, for me, yes.

Let’s Get It On!

I finally received the attachment two weeks ago and it has taken nearly that entire time to get comfortable playing with it on the controller.  The first few days I spent tweaking and re-tweaking the three lever arms that control X, Y, and B and the bands for the hair triggers.  At first I had the levers tight and resting right up against my fingers.  That didn’t work to well as any tiny movement unintentionally activated the wrong buttons.

The same went for the hair triggers; at first I had the bands taught so that all I had to do was tap the band and I shot, which was unnatural.  I found that there had to be some play with the levers and the bands had to be loose to the point that my middle fingers were keeping the band tight just to the point of activation, see Fig A. Now that it is set up and I have played many hours of Black Ops with it I feel comfortable and it is very natural to play with.

This wasn’t just a learning curve, this was a relearning curve.

I feel that I had to completely relearn how I played, which for me was a good thing.  My stats probably don’t show it, as my KDR has only slightly improved, I do play better.  Having the levers “right there” and primed make it easier to reload without having to plan it.  I can change weapons on the fly while still being aware of my surroundings.  Crouching and proning has never been easier and quicker to transition between.   Fumbling between these buttons is completely gone.  The bands on the triggers have helped out a great deal as well.

While I do enjoy pulling that 360 trigger back with my index finger like a real gun the bands accommodate my playing style and lack of reaction time better. Mechanically, it is not a true hair trigger, the tension from the trigger band reduces the travel of the spring in the controller triggers and therefore the time it takes to pull the trigger back before it actually activates and fires a shot in-game. With the bands I win a lot more of the face-to-face battles with Timmie or when turning a corner right into someone.  Prior to using the Avenger, by the time I smashed the trigger back, I would have been dead and yelling, “I FIRED!” at the TV.  (Yes, my college years gave me the gift of slow reactions.)  The bands also let me group bursts of fire shots closer together as I am not pulling the trigger back, letting up and pulling all the way back again.  With the bands I just push up a little on the band with my middle finger to activate the trigger over and over again.  The same is true for quickly scoping in and out.

Take the pain away!

As a mature gamer, I deal with pain and stiffness in my hands after just an hour or so of play.  I was hoping that this attachment would alleviate this pain and I am not disappointed.  The way the Avenger makes me play helps the pain in my hands by not letting me tense up.  If I tense up I may fire by mistake.  This controller attachment forces me to open my hands up and relax while playing.  Before hand I would grasp the controller tightly waiting for the instant I had to pull on the trigger, which would cramp my hands and work against my hand issues.  I still get pains as this thing isn’t made of morphine but the pain is about 10% to 20% of what it used to be.  A vast improvement!

However…

The Avenger is great in many ways but there are some negatives.  First of all, when I received it I was stunned that it wasn’t exactly as what is pictured on their website.  As you can see from the pictures it is completely black with no identifying lever colors.  I am guessing that since the company was behind their shipping date and there were so many complaints out there that they had to skip the painting stage of production to get these things shipped out.  Also, if you are the type of player who changes classes many times during a match you will be horribly disappointed that your right thumb is blocked from hitting Start due to the X lever and the fact that the B lever gets in the way when rotating your hand upward to hit the start with you thumb.  I have been crossing over to start with my left thumb; it’s a stretch and takes longer.  I was also upset that my headset jack could not fit through the opening on the attachment into the controller.  Some ‘improvements’ to my headset jack had to be made, see Fig. B.

The Verdict

I give this attachment a solid 8.5 out of 10.  It is definitely not for everyone and the high price point is something to consider.  I could also see many players throwing it down after just an hour of play as the adjustment period is long and it’s hard to change how you react to certain situations.  It should however help most gamers with different kinds of hand pain especially if you grip the controller too tightly.  The Avenger gives players instant access to the X, Y, and B buttons while being prepared to use the bumpers all at once.  The hair trigger bands decrease reaction time, increase fire rates for semi-autos, and reduces the time between fire burst.  As for me, this attachment isn’t coming off the controller anytime soon and I can’t wait to further my skills with it while playing shooters.  Right now, the attachment is on Sale for $40 at the Avenger site until March 15^th, but there was a letter that came with the attachment that stated there would be an updated 360 version in two months so it may be worth waiting.  I will provide updated thoughts when it comes out.

-Happy Shooting!