KontrolFreek FPS Freek Call of Duty Heritage for PS4 – Accessory Review
It has been a while since we reviewed any accessory from KontrolFreek but all of their thumb grips – or stick extenders – had proven to do what they must; raise the player’s comfort levels during those countless hours of playtime while also providing a steady grip. With the upcoming Call of Duty WW II game being revealed, KontrolFreek has unleashed their newest grips in the Freek collection, namely the FPS Freek Call of Duty Heritage edition. Perfect for those who cannot wait for the game to release.
With over ten different designs, the Freek collection is already extensive but this will not stop KontrolFreek from adding more on a regular basis. Each thumb grip is unique in its colour range and pattern, allowing players to customize their controllers to the fullest. Although certain designs are created specifically for certain types of games, they can be used in other genres as well. This ensures that all of their thumb grips – or at least most of them – are a perfectly versatile.
The FPS Freek Call of Duty Heritage edition gets its design from the upcoming Call of Duty WW II video game, featuring the iconic star within a circle with tire-like ridges along the edge. Even the colour scheme is perfectly on par with the design. The army green-on-beige is a typical colour for that era and it doesn’t clash with the black PS4 controller. We can’t say for certain it fits the white controller but as far as we can see, it’s not a bad match. To quote KontrolFree, this design was “built to bring you back to your roots with a gritty, original design” and for those who have played Call of Duty 2, this is certainly rings true.
The pack comes with a mid-rise stick which raises the height of your analog stick with 6.27mm and a high-rise stick which raises the height with 10.10mm. While the mid-rise stick is significantly bigger than the FPS Freek Galaxy, the high-rise isn’t as high and you can feel the difference. People with small hands, such as myself, should really look out for the smaller high-rise sticks. The height of the mid-rise stick is for better control and increased comfort, while the high-rise stick increases the range of motion as well as precision and accuracy. KontrolFreek intends the player’s to use the mid-rise stick on the left analog stick and the high-rise on your right stick but this set-up can be changed depending on your own controller bindings. Remember, customization is key.
Both sticks have a concave surface and we love it for two reasons; the height does not increase even more and your thumbs can “lay” inside the surface causing less slippage. However this is a personal opinion and some of you might dread the concave surface. The star itself does not provide much friction. Aside from the concave surface, the tire-tread-like edges along the rim provides excellent grip if you don’t play “on top” of the stick.
Installing the thumb grips or stick extenders (tomato, tomato) is incredibly easy. The Heritage sticks “slide” over the original DualStock 4 sticks without causing any damage to the original sticks, prolonging the lifetime of your controller even further. Once installed, the sticks will not budge much despite the fact that there are only three clips holding it together. You can however twirl the sticks around, allowing you to align the star perfectly. We feared for this but noticed that when playing, the sticks wouldn’t twirl unless you really do try to get them to twirl. This was a plus for us.
The FPS Freek Call of Duty Heritage edition is designed to work well in first person shooter games such as Call of Duty, Battlefield, Ghost Recon Wildlands and even Overwatch but we like to test it out in other types of games as well and found out that these perform excellent in non-shooter games as well.
Conclusion
So far every stick extender we have tried that is created by KontrolFreek does what it is advertised for and the FPS Freek Call of Duty Heritage edition does not fall off the wagon. It is an excellent addition to your controller in terms of comfort and increased accuracy and in all fairness, the design may be simple but it looks great. The high-rise stick may take some time getting used to, especially for those with smaller hands, but once you get past that point it will be difficult playing any game without the thumb grips. These army-themed thumb grips come highly recommended for players wanting to boost their performance but also for those looking to extend their playtime in casual games.
KontrolFreek FPS Freek Call of Duty Heritage for PS4 – Accessory Review,
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