Novint Falcon Controller Review

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It’s not a secret that gaming on the PC and Mac are dominated by the mouse+keyboard combination, just as the joystick like controllers define console gaming. It’s been like this since the first video game consoles came out and computers evolved past the text based interface. Every couple of years though, someone comes along and tries to revolutionize the gaming world with some kind of unique type of controller. The latest contender to the market goes by the name of the Novint Falcon.

From the official website:

“The Novint Falcon is an entirely new type of game controller. Replacing your mouse or joystick, the Falcon is, essentially, a small robot that lets you experience true virtual touch unlike any controller in history.

The Novint Falcon lets you control a game in three dimensions, and also lets you feel high-fidelity three-dimensional force feedback. The Falcon controller moves right and left, forwards and backwards, like a mouse, but also moves up and down. When you hold the Falcon’s detachable Grip and move your cursor to interact with a virtual object, environment, or character, motors in the device turn on and are updated approximately 1000 times a second, letting you feel texture, shape, weight, dimension, and dynamics. The Falcon lets you control and interact with games in more realistic way, allowing you to develop real physical skill and muscle memory, adding a new dimension to gaming.”

Basically it’s a mouse that works in 3D space with force feedback and different types of grips. Currently there are only two types of grips available, the default one which looks like a Logitech ball webcam, and the pistol grip which is depicted in at the top of this review. Both of these grips have four digital buttons and no scroll wheel. The controller acts like a mouse when you keep it in the center area. If you pull it out to one of the sides, or up and down, you will pan around like you would on a console game using the joysticks to move. The result is better then expected even though the standard mouse still holds the record for best precision.

Unfortunately when I tried this I didn’t have a chance to try the pistol grip, only the default controller ball. I’m also a die hard PC gamer and could not play an FPS game with a console controller to save my life. I played Left 4 Dead as a test game, the number of games that support this is still pretty limited, but I think it served it’s purpose well in demonstrating the capabilities of the Novint Falcon.

I was surprised at how well this actually handled as an alternative to the mouse. It took me about 30 minutes to get used to it well enough to play the game at an acceptable level. After another hour I felt pretty confident with the new interface, despite the ball controller being extremely uncomfortable. The gun grip really is a must have if you plan on getting one of these, or if there are other custom grips by the time you read this.

The main reason as to why anyone would get this is the force feedback. The most obvious use of this in FPS games is recoil, which works fairly well. The problem is if you turn it up too high it’ll make it impossible to aim. It can also react to the player taking damage or environmental events such as bumping into walls, or in the case of Left 4 Dead when you get pinned down by a Smoker or a Hunter. In these events the machine will start dragging your arm around which is a good example of how the controller can be used to deepen immersion. The sense of losing control of your character is a lot more compelling when the game is actually fighting you back physically punching you in the face.

More often then not however, the force feedback only serves the purpose of making it harder to hit what you’re aiming at. Because of this the Falcon is not well suited for professional gaming. Even if you turn off the force completely, all you’re left with is a less accurate, awkward mouse which costs more then two or three of your regular mice combined and about as comfortable to use as a cucumber covered in sand and glass.

One of the biggest challenges facing the Falcon is getting developers to add support for their games. As all the things the controller reacts to has to be added in the code it will take time and luck for this to establish itself on the market. On the upside developers can get a lot more out of this thing if they learn how to use it in creative ways, instead of having it automatically detect events in games and try to react the best it can to them. If you plan on getting one of these there’s a list of games that supports it on the official website, be sure to check it before you buy!

If you have the money I would recommend this as long as you’re aware of the flaws. Most important is the previously mentioned short list of supported games, the fact that it’s a novelty item and probably not the next generation PC gaming controller you thought it would be. It also works out less comfortable then a mouse seeing as you don’t get the same support for your arm.

But after all this is most likely your best chance of feeling what it’s like to control one of those mechs from Avatar for the foreseeable future.

You can read more about the Novint Falcon and buy it here.