Aim Controllers Customized DualSense – Design & Features
Since AimControllers is a modding house, not a manufacturer, the nature of its controller is a little bit malleable. When buying one of the company’s controllers, you start with a standard DualSense – buying a new one from Aim or sending in your own – and select changes piece by piece. You don’t need to customize every aspect of the controller’s look, and you don’t need to add all of the mechanical customizations. Like all custom work, the upside is that you get exactly what you want – nothing more, nothing less. The downside is that the bespoke work costs significantly more than the controller itself. Though it varies in price, a customized controller costs anywhere from $80 for a pair of new analog sticks to more than $400 for a complete overhaul with the most expensive options in every slot. [poilib element="poll" parameters="id=c19ec203-539b-4d78-a86b-4f2eed582503"] The controller I built, which would cost $274 to reproduce (including the cost of the DualSense), features all of Aim’s mechanical add-ons. First, it features remappable rear paddles. The hard plastic paddles reach out from a base in the center of the controller’s back faceplate, curving around the handles to reach your middle- and ring-fingers’ natural resting points. This puts them in the perfect positions under your fingers, which is great when you want to use them, but not so great if you want to ignore them, because you will press them by mistake from time to time.
The paddles have a quick press and deliver light tactile feedback: They aren’t as pleasing to press as face buttons, but with a little practice you can generally hit them faster and more precisely. Their one downside is durability: Made from a cheaper plastic than the faceplate and other components, the paddles will bend if you push or pull them the wrong way. I haven’t pushed them to the brink, but they seem prone to snap under duress, like if you slam the controller onto a messy desk or shove it into a bag full of pencils and other things that could wedge between the paddle and controller’s body. If you buy the remappable version, you can change the inputs to match any of the buttons except the triggers (L2 and R2) using an onboard programming tool. Changing buttons is easy, but there’s no indicator letting you know when a change has been made or what the change is. Though it never caused a problem, I generally prefer visual UI for customization tools – it helps me figure out what works best. 
The two other primary add-ons are low-profile “smart” triggers and bumpers, which shorten the top buttons to a very short press (1mm travel). If you’ve used trigger locks on a third-party controller, the smart buttons are essentially permanently locked for minimum travel and maximum efficiency. They do the job well: The button press is short, and it does lead to quicker actuation. I found the smart bumpers to be somewhat finicky. The L1 button sometimes sticks momentarily after a hard tap. It impacts comfort more than performance, but it’s a persistent annoyance. There are some serious downsides to the smart buttons, though – especially the smart triggers. Shortening the travel negates some of the haptic feedback functionality of the controller. Specifically, the controller no longer generates resistance that forces you to pull the triggers harder. In competitive play, this is a boon – though I believe most games let you turn it off – but the fact that you can’t use these features at all, a big part of what makes the DualSense special, is disappointing. Luckily, the restriction is limited to that one, specific feature: The triggers still rumble when they’re supposed to. 
If there’s one major issue across all of these extras, it’s that they’re all or nothing. Many third-party controllers would give the option to remove the paddles or unlock the low-profile buttons, but the Aim add-ons are locked in. I wouldn’t add them if you aren’t dead-set on using them day in and day out. (Or plan to keep an extra unmodded DualSense handy). There are a couple of other small gameplay-relevant changes. By default, Aim swaps out the analog sticks for their taller, third-party version. I also added a rubberized paint-splatter grip to the rear of the controller. I went for the smallest possible sticks (only 2mm higher than Sony’s) and didn’t notice a meaningful difference. The grip feels good and holds your fingers in place, but seems like a better fit for controllers without rear paddles, where your hands will make complete contact with the gamepad’s rear face. 
Lastly, there’s one gameplay-relevant change I passed on. Upon request, Aim will remove the motors that generate vibration in the body of the controller. I left the motors in for two reasons: 1) Tactile feedback is a key component of the DualSense and many modern games, so unless you’re only planning on using the controller for competitive Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, removing the motors means you’re missing out. 2) I wanted to see how the mechanical and visual changes impacted vibration. Removing motors cuts down on the controller’s weight and could impact battery life, but I’m fine with the DualSense’s standard specs. I was much more impressed with the cosmetic side of Aim’s custom work. My IGN-inspired red and white design features some, but not all of Aim’s cosmetic alterations. It has painted face and d-pad buttons, a new “trim” faceplate for the bottom half of the controller, and red-on-white rubberized grip faceplate for the back of the controller. The stems of the new analog sticks are also white instead of black. Across the board, the changes look great and didn’t affect the feel of the controller at all, except when they were supposed to. The buttons and d-pad feel identical to the standard DualSense, and the sticks don’t lose any range of motion or sensitivity. Unlike the paddles, the matte red faceplate added to the bottom of the controller feels just as durable as the molded plastic on the standard DualSense. 
In addition to all of the changes I made, you can change the color of the main faceplate, the analog stick rings, and the touchpad. You can also add custom text or images in a few places. Though the array of color options to choose from feels relatively limited compared to some other custom shops out there, Aim makes up for it with the sheer number of ways you can tweak the color scheme. 
Aim Controllers Customized DualSense – Gaming
Using a modded PlayStation controller instead of a third-party gamepad has its advantages. System level features like pairing and using the PS button to turn the console on work exactly as they’re supposed to. (On PS4, many third-party controllers could not, or required you to connect a DualShock 4 to achieve full functionality). As we’ve discussed at length in the original DualSense review, it’s also a great foundation to build from. The DualSense sits well in your hand, gets strong battery life, and has firm, tactile buttons. Aside from losing out on haptic resistance if you add the smart triggers, everything I loved about the DualSense remains true here. The add-ons are generally well-implemented as well. The paddles have a very light touch, which makes them very easy to tap quickly. Pressing up to hold a paddle is also less strenuous than reaching to hold down a face or top button. I found it especially helpful in games like Dead by Daylight, where you need to regularly press buttons for timed skill checks and hold them to repair generators.
Ultimately, the low-profile smart buttons felt like they did more harm than good. The travel on the smart bumpers, L1 and R1, is too short, to the point where it’s uncomfortable. While the very tight button-travel cuts down on actuation time as advertised, it feels like pressing your fingers into a flat surface. Also, as I mentioned earlier, they tended to stick and, though it was only for a instant, there was always a split-second of panic every time it happened after blocking or changing stances in Nioh and Nioh 2. The smart triggers are a little more forgiving. Their clicky feel doesn’t feel as stifled or uncomfortable, just very short and tight. While a competitive player who would already turn that haptic resistance off to enhance performance may not care as much, the fact they restrict the controller’s functionality is a non-starter for me, even in shooters where they are especially efficient. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-best-ps5-games&captions=true"]
from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/3sSa6oF
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