Razer Onza Tournament Edition

It takes a brave soul to release an aftermarket controller for the Xbox 360. Microsoft’s original controller design has been hailed as one of the best gamepads for any console system, ever. Based on the popular ‘S’ controller for the original Xbox system, the ergonomics, performance and functionality are hard to beat.

Razer is the latest manufacturer to attempt a coup on this market. Better known in the PC arena, Razer have an established reputation for providing gamer-grade mice, keyboards, headsets and other accessories. Evidently they’ve seen potential profit in the console market, as they’ve thrown a good chunk of research and development behind their first console-focused product: the Onza Xbox 360 Controller.

Razer have released the Onza in two flavours: a standard issue version plus a Tournament Edition, aka the Onza TE, which is the model we received for review.

The Onza TE very much looks and feels like any decent Razer mouse, with a non-slip rubberised surface, long lightweight braided cable, and four Hyperesponse buttons (Hyperesponse being a Razer technology which basically gives the buttons some nice clicky tactile feedback). It also has four bumper buttons in comparison to the two which you normally get on a standard 360 controller.

The two extra bumper buttons are programmable, giving you quick access to other buttons that would normally require you to take your thumb away from the thumbstick – suicide in fast-paced FPS games.

The other big feature of the Onza TE is the adjustable tension on the analog sticks. Just twist the sticks left or right to increase or decrease the resistance – looser for quick, free thumbstick movement and tighter for slower, more accurate movement.

I’ve played Halo competitively on Xbox on and off for almost ten years now, so I have a fairly close relationship with my controllers. To give you the punch line first: I am sticking with my Microsoft controller. Why? Two words: slow turn.

The slow turn effect primarily affects FPS games on Xbox, and is so-called because sometimes (the frequency and severity differs wildly between controllers) when you’re trying to use one of the analog sticks to turn full speed in one direction, the controller will only register that you have turned it about 90% of the way in that direction.

Slow turn is the bane of every competitive console gamer’s existence, and the Onza TE suffered from it worse than any Microsoft controller I have used. Razer packed in a Hypersensitivity mode which removes slow turn, but you end up with crazy sensitivity on the vertical axis, which makes aiming impossible, for me at least.

Two smaller quibbles I have with this controller are the bumper buttons being too small and too close together, and the triggers being at an awkward angle, making them uncomfortable to use constantly.

This is all a real shame, because every other aspect of the Onza TE is nearly perfect. Ignoring the slow turn, aiming with the thumbsticks is amazingly accurate and responsive, and the rubberised grip is comfortable and perfect for all-night gaming sessions. If you can find an Onza TE that doesn’t suffer from slow turn, or you’re not affected by it, I can wholeheartedly recommend this controller.

Apparently a revised edition of the Onza TE is already in the works. If Razer can make a V2 with no slow turn, bigger bumper buttons, and more comfortable triggers, I will without hesitation introduce my Microsoft controller to the blender.