Thrustmaster FireStorm Dual Power Gamepad
FireStorm Dual Power Gamepad
Manufactured By: Thrustmaster
Retail Price: $29.99 (US)
Review Date: 02-11-01
The design and function of the Sony Dual Shock controller has been copied to the PC numerous times now. Fans of the console controller had been waiting for such a transition and the Thrustmaster Firestorm Dual Power Gamepad is possibly one of the best yet. From its simple, time tested design and the comfortable easy-grip surface the Dual Power looks, feels and plays great. And yes, the faceplates on the pad are real metal- another extra touch that makes the Dual Power shine.
Features-
- 2 built-in motors for force feedback effects
- 13 programmable buttons
- 2 analog controllers (4 separate axes)
- Mouse and keyboard emulation
- Digital and analog modes
- Rubber-textured
- USB Plug and Play connection
- Thrustmapper® 3 programming software
- No batteries required
- Powered by Immersion TouchSense™ technology
Appropriate For-
- Racing Games (Need For Speed series, Powerslide, Midtown Madness series, Re-Volt, Star Wars: Racer, etc.)
- Arcade Games (3rd person shooters, side scrollers, etc.)
- Space and Flight Sims (mech style, realistic and arcade flight games, free space and futuristic shooters)
System Requirements-
- Pentium® 133MHz or higher with USB port
- Windows® 98 or 2000
- 16MB of RAM
- 15MB of hard disk space
- 4x CD-ROM drive
- SVGA video card min. 256 colors - DirectX™ 7.0 compatible
Price-
At just under $30 the feature packed Dual Power is a good buy. The pad is comfortable and has some great features that make it a good, versatile controller..
Warranty-
1 year limited.
Performance-
The FireStorm Dual Power is a versatile little controller. With the right in-game setup or Thrustmapper profile and a little bit of imagination you can use the Dual Power for a wide variety of games. I even experimented using it with a first person shooter although a gamepad is not a good solution for FPS's. Still it provided decent control and would probably become effective with practice.
Space and flight sims took advantage of the dual stick controls. The d-pad was also used for sliding in space sims (Descent 3) or view switching in flight sims. The selection of buttons should keep you away from the keyboard in most games although I still found myself reaching for the keyboard in advanced flight sims where there are so many options to control. Another gaming style that rocked with the Dual Power were mech style games. Again, the array of axis controls and the button selection provided good control of my metal warrior.
Arcade and 3rd person shooter style games also played well with the FireStorm. Tomb Raider style games took a small effort to setup but in the end were worth the time. I used the d-pad for primary movement and one of the mini-sticks for sliding and strafing control. Button control was again more than sufficient. The face of the FireStorm holds a few buttons as does the shoulders of the pad and the backside of the pad. A total of 6 buttons are accessible off the face of the pad. The other control surfaces on the face keep your thumbs busy enough.
The rumble effects added to most games. The game needs to have support for the effects. I refer to the effects as rumble effects opposed to force feedback because because the forces shake the controller on either side of the pad and do not feedback through any of the control surfaces. Its a minor pet-peeve but the effects provided in a pad should not be considered feedback effects.
Games that have yet to add feedback support such as sports sims played well with the pad. Soccer, football, hockey and pro skating games don't offer much support for rumble effects yet. Despite that the pad was fully functional and provided good control in all of the games I tried.
Setup-
Setup of the FireStorm Dual Power is a standard plug-and-play operation. With Windows running attach the USB connector to a free USB port and your system should auto-detect the pad. Feed your CD drive the enclosed CD and be sure the CD is a selected location to search for the drivers and follow the on screen instructions to completion. Before attempting to use the pad assure the FireStorm is selected in the game controller applet (should be controller #1 for most games) and test the calibration and pad effects.
During setup you will be given the option to install the Thrustmapper utility that allows you to assign keyboard and mouse actions to the pad. The decision to install this app is entirely up to you. Most games support a multitude of controllers and you will not need to create any type of profile to take advantage of button and axis assignments- this can be done in game. You will also be asked if you want to install DirectX 7.0a. I opted not to install this version; I am running v. 8.0a.
** Software -
** The drivers contain a few features beyond the typical setup/calibration/test options. By accessing the "properties" of the pad a test page will be displayed. The graphical representation of the pad displays any d-pad or mini-stick movement and button presses. You can also access the button programming utility- Thrustmapper from your Start menu.
As mentioned earlier, the Thrustmapper utility allows you to adjust the axis parameters to your liking. This is especially useful in games where the sensitivity in not adjustable within the game itself. Button programming allows you to assign keystrokes to different buttons on the pad. Again, where this is not supported in the game its a useful utility. I still prefer to do this in game if an option though. The preset programming screen allows you to save multiple axis and button configurations for different users and games.
One option worth exploring is the keyboard emulation utility. This allows you to change the frequency of communication between the pad and the system. By lowering the frequency of this setting you can perform actions quicker due to the freeing of the system resources being allocated to the wheel reading. However, "your mileage may vary".
Documentation-
The FireStorm Dual Power ships with a 81 page users manual describing setup and programming of the pad. The manual is printed in 7 languages The users manual does a great job describing use of the pad's features. It does not cover the Thrustmapper programming utility in-depth- referring you to the on-line help files.
The Thrustmaster website offers good information on the pad and other products from the company. Drivers and useful utilities are available for download from the site and the site has FAQs for most of their products. The people at Thrustmaster have also setup "communities" for both flight and racing enthusiasts featuring game news, screenshots, add-ons, etc.
Overall Rating-
The Thrustmaster FireStorm Dual Power is the finest rumble effect gamepad available for the PC. The design is pretty, effective and comfortable. The price of the pad is well within reach and the versatility of the pad makes it a good choice for the multi-genre gamer.
Pros-
- USB connection
- Button programming option
- Many buttons and axis options
- Comfortable layout and easy grip surface
Cons-
- No throttle control.
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