Genius MetalStrike FF Joystick
The Genius MetalStrike FF delivers great performance and realistic feel in a force feedback joystick with the benefit of a cooling fan for your hand.
Ease of Use, Performance: 20/25
Look & Feel: 20/25
Features 23/25
How much I enjoy 22/25
Total: 85/100
Force Feedback joysticks may not be all the rage but there are still some great games that deliver great performance and that in game feeling when used with force feedback. Genius has some new offerings in joysticks with the MetalStrike line and the top of the line being their MetalStrike FF with force feedback.
The MetalStrike FF has thirteen base buttons with three thumb buttons on the joystick along with a trigger switch and a two position rocker switch. There is also an eight position hat switch for views or other uses on the joystick as well as a simple throttle slider on the base.
The Turbo button also on the base is used in conjunction with the trigger button so you can rapid fire using a triple shot instead of a single shot for intense gun fire. This makes a really nice feature playing in games that have limited ammunition so you can shoot a few bullets at a time and not run out of ammo too quickly.
The MetalStrike FF has some really nice additional features including the Turbo that works really well but the general use as a regular joystick works well to begin with. The MetalStrike is a nice comfortable hand grip with a nice projection for the base of your hand to rest on as well as the broad thumb area for gripping.
The thumb buttons are also nicely positioned with a button right under your thumb where the thumb rest is and an adjustable head piece with one button and the hat switch movable. Simply turn the top thumb screw and the button and hat switch rotate up and down on the joystick while the center rocker button remains in place.
The MetalStrike FF features full force feedback with additional hand cooling in the form of a small fan inside the joystick handle for a cool grip in the hottest gaming sessions. I have had cooling products where a fan delivers air flow to your hand and this works well for intense gaming sessions or just long flights.
The joystick handle has a two speed fan inside it that adjusts from the button on the front of the thumb rest with an off, half speed and full speed setting. The joystick has six holes that come out on the joystick against your hand and inlet vents under the hand rest at the bottom of the joystick handle.
The joystick uses the regular plug and play drivers that have the joystick working regularly when plugged in and the included CD has drivers for the force feedback vibration functions. I had no problems using the MetalStrike FF without loading any drivers, I just let Windows Vista install regular joystick drivers and it worked fine without force feedback.