Thrustmaster Ferrari Motors Gamepad F430

Published: January 17, 2010

Editor: Amber Lupala

Provider: Thrustmaster

Gameplay/Conclusion

So, how did the F430 perform? Actually very well. To test it out, I tried the gamepad in multiple games including DiRT2, Team Fortress 2, Left 4 Dead 2, Bioshock, and others. Here’s where I noticed the first weakness of a gamepad, first person shooters. First person shooters on the PC were designed to play with the classic WASD and mouse combination, and trying to play them with a gamepad simply did not work. In Team Fortress 2, Left 4 Dead 1 and 2, and Bioshock I couldn’t successfully configure the controller, and ended up being unable to move the crosshairs up and down, or left and right. Though I need to clarify, the same problem should occur for all gamepads, and not the F430 individually.

However, when I opened DiRT2, boy was I pleasantly surprised. DiRT2 had automatically identified the gamepad, and customized the controls accordingly. I then started the first race, and got another pleasant surprise. As soon as the light turned green, and I hit the accelerator, the controller let out a very realistic, deep and throaty vibration to match the engine. Afterwards I compared the vibrations in the Dualshock 3, and found the F430′s to be much more realistic. Then I began to notice how fluid my turns were using the analog versus the keyboard’s WASD. I’ve never been very good with racing games, finishing most of my races with a car smashed beyond recognition, but with the F430 I rarely went skidding into any walls. Plus, with the handbrake set as the pressure sensitive ‘R2′, power sliding became incredibly easy, because you could half initiate the handbrake instead of being forced to either have it ON or OFF on the keyboard, raising the level of control.

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Even though I could only get the gamepad working properly on a single game, I must admit the new input system the gamepad offers vastly improved the racing experience. Though it is upsetting that the F430 and most gamepads are incompatible with first person shooters, most racing games should be 100% compatible. Plus, at a price-point $10 below Playstation’s DualShock 3 controller, and offering more comfort for larger hands, plus an extra axis of control, there’s not much reason to stray away from the F430 if you don’t mind wired set-ups.

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