Let’s be completely honest, the Xbox One Pro controller is a ridiculous controller which I will probably never be able to afford without hitting the lottery or forfeiting food for a solid month to meet its $250 price point. Bionik Gaming Accessories has come along with a much cheaper alternative for those like me who cannot afford the Lexus of controllers, but still wants the hair trigger feature, which for the most part delivers on everything it advertises. With the exception of “easy to install,” it has served me pretty well in my time with it. While some would call this peripheral cheating, I feel it’s more of something to level the playing field as I’m approaching the ripe age of thirty-three and my reflexes are not what they were back when Call of Duty: Modern Warfare was the best thing since sliced bread and I was able to consistently pull a positive kill/death ratio.
Upon opening the box, I found a vague instruction sheet, a tool to remove the back panels of the Xbox One controller, and the grips. As I previously mentioned, the system is touted as “easy to install.” I didn’t struggle much with the right trigger replacement, but the left would not come off without a fight. Literally. After successfully breaking the tip off of the tool they provide to remove the old controller casing, I carefully had to use a flathead screwdriver to complete the removal. Super easy, right? I haven’t even begun installing it.
As before, the right grip went on with little effort. The left, however, would not fit securely and I ended up bending the cheap plastic at the bottom part of the controller. Initially, I was going to say screw it, because who needs to pull up iron sights quickly, right? Upon playing Killing Floor 2, I did notice a pretty nice improvement to the fire rate of the pistol while using the grip. While this doesn’t give the option of auto fire, it comes pretty damn close when using a semi-automatic weapon with the optional slider to reduce the distance needed for a full trigger pull. After a few games of this, I decided I really, really needed to see how it would help with my aiming game, because headshots are the only way to go when playing Killing Floor 2.
After a few additional failed attempts to get the grip to attach using the clips molded into the device, I duct taped the device to my controller. While it’s not pretty, it works and works well. After adding the second hair trigger, I was able to more than double the normal amount of headshots in Killing Floor 2‘s version of bullet time. When this device is added to a FPS game that has a decent or better auto aim system, it really does feel like cheating. I was breezing through levels that previously gave me trouble.
After spending a fair amount of time in a co-operative setting, I took the Quickshot onto the biggest test I could think of: Call of Duty. I was one of those people in my 20’s that wasted entire years of their life playing Call of Duty, starting with COD 2 and running clear through Modern Warfare 2. With each iteration of the series I started sucking just a little bit more. I’m not sure if it was subtle changes to the game, my age, or less time being able to devote to the game, but I am to the point that I probably couldn’t get a positive kill to death ratio on a single game if you had a gun to my head. After not playing Infinite Warfare since its launch, I jumped into a match of Gun Game, and it felt like I was back on Modern Warfare during my prime. Within 2 matches, I was not only running with a positive K/DR, I was actually enjoying myself on a game that normally frustrated me.
While it won’t be for everyone, the Quickshot did help me improve my FPS game with little adjustment or time needing to be invested. For $19.99, it is a worthwhile purchase if you’re a casual player looking for a little help, as most competitive environments would likely ban the use of the item. Even if you have to duct tape it like I did.
9 out of 10
Pros
- Cuts the Time to Pull A Trigger in Half
- Improved My Response Time
- Comfortable If Installed Properly…
Cons
- I Had to Duct Tape It On
- Included Tool Breaks Easily
The Quickshot Custom Grips are manufactured by Bionik Gaming Accessories and available for $19.99 for the Xbox One as well as other consoles. The Quickshot used for review was acquired for free through a recent tournament prize pool. For more on the peripheral, please visit it’s official site here.
Here at GBG we use a rating method that you are more than likely familiar with – a scale of 1 to 10. For clarification, we intend on using the entire scale: 1-4 is something you should probably avoid paying for; 5-7 is something that is worth using, but probably not at full price; 8-10 is a great piece of hardware that you can feel confident about buying. If you have any questions or comments about how we rate a game, please let us know.
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