DualShock 4 Back Button Attachment - Review
We’ve been asking for a long time (at least I have and my opinions and desires are way more important than anybody else’s) and Sony has finally delivered, better late than never I guess! Back buttons, something that in my opinion should be standard on any current console generation controller, something that is so useful they will completely change the way you play most games, especially first-person shooters.
Sure there are a myriad of choices out there as far as controllers are concerned with the PS4 system, companies such as Scuff and Evil offer a dazzling array of customisation options as far as competitive controllers are concerned but these tend to be on the expensive side of the pricing scale, there are even Sony Playstation endorsed offerings on the market from companies such as Razer and Nacon but once again these tend to be expensive and cater more to the hardcore or pro gamer who prefers to customise such things as stick and trigger sensitivity or stick travel range. With some of the aforementioned controllers breaking the $200 price barrier this can prove rather restrictive to the casual gamer who is just looking at getting the best out of their current Dual Shock controller. Sony has now offered a solution to gamers who want to experience controller customisation with the aptly if unimaginatively titled “DUALSHOCK 4 Back Button Attachment”, I prefer the name Hyper Magic Customisable Buttons of Doom, but hey since when have Sony ever listened to me.
So, what is this magic Dual Shock attachment? I am glad you asked! It is basically a small black plastic attachment that connects to your controller via the 3.5mm headphone jack and the Extension port, once attached (which can be a tad fiddly but nothing too challenging) it effectively gives you two extra buttons on the back of your Dual Shock controller. The two extra buttons can then be customised by the digital screen on the back of the controller, allowing you remap any of the buttons on the controller to the two buttons on the back of the controller. For instance, sick of having to click in the left stick to run in some FPS games? Map it to one of the back buttons and you can now run by clicking it, want to be able to jump and maintain your aim at the same time, remap the jump button to one of the back buttons, this way you can click the back button to jump and never have to move your hands from either of the controllers sticks. Sony has really excelled here by providing a screen on the back of the attachment that not only makes it super easy to customise the back buttons the way you like but to also switch between the 3 customisable profiles and check button assignments with a quick glance, they really have set the standard here as with some of the other more expensive pro controllers on the market button mapping can be a confusing affair that is not easily achieved on the fly.
The buttons themselves I found to be perfectly placed on the back of the controller (I have medium sized hands so your results and comfort level may vary depending on hand size) and are perfectly pronounced and easy to find in the middle of battle, the travel and click of the buttons are also some of the best I have experienced and this is coming from someone who has tried out their fare share of pro controllers. The only way Sony could’ve truly excelled with this product would’ve been to have included 4 back buttons for even more customisation rather than 2, I only ever find myself using 2 of the back buttons on all of the pro controllers I own so this was not a problem for me but may prove to be a drawback for those players who have gotten used to having 4 to remap.
If you use a wired headset the attachment provides a 3.5mm jack on the bottom to connect your headset to (due to the fact that the attachment itself takes up the 3.5mm jack on the controller itself) and I have heard that connecting headphones via this jack can cause issues such as static, hum and even problems with talking to your teammates via your headsets mic, I can neither confirm or deny that these issues exist because unfortunately all of my headsets are wireless and I did not have a wired headset to test the attachment with but this is certainly something you may want to keep in mind before purchasing if you use a wired headset.
I was quite surprised at the excellent design of this product and the quality feel of the buttons, they feel very robust and are more comfortable than a lot of the back buttons on some of the pro controllers on the market. For the lowly price of $49.95 I highly recommend this attachment for gamers who play a lot of FPS games, after you get used to the two extra buttons (however you decide to customise them) you will find yourself wondering how you ever played without them, at this low price they also provide a perfect entry point for someone who may be considering a pro controller but finds themselves baulking at the hefty price tag that a pro controller entails.
