As we all know, Fortnite has become something of a gaming juggernaut, with World Championships being played for stupid amounts of money. Obviously the amounts of money are only stupid because I’m no good at the game! In fact, the spin offs these days are worth almost as much the game itself, with toys, lunchboxes and even Nerf guns all having the Fortnite logo plastered over them.
The latest in this long line is the PowerA Fortnite Midas Advantage Wired Controller, coming, believe it or not, from PowerA, purveyors of quality third party controllers for the Xbox. So, let’s have a look at the performance of this controller, shall we?
Upon unboxing the controller, the first thing that you notice is the weight of the controller – it feels a lot lighter than a standard Xbox controller. Obviously, this is down to the fact that the PowerA Fortnite Advantage Wired Controller is powered over the supplied USB cable and has no battery pack in it. That does mean it feels different – not necessarily bad, just different.
The next thing to strike you is the way the controller looks – with a striking black and gold design featuring the face of Midas (I had to ask my son who it was, I can’t lie!) and there are also some kind of “ghost” designs chased into the top of the controller, only visible from certain angles. The rear of the controller is a dark grey, with a very tactile diamond textured pattern on the grips, which feel nice in the hand. It is certainly a good looking bit of kit!
The cable that is provided with the controller is 10 feet long, running USB-A on the end that plugs into the Xbox and USB-C as it plugs into the controller, so the chances of getting things plugged in the wrong way is non-existent. Yet whilst 10 feet sounds like a lot, when playing across the width of the living room, the cable does lie across the floor, providing not only a bit of a trip hazard but also an object of extreme fascination for a cat; or in my case, two cats. And honestly, wired controllers feel a bit 1990s in this day and age, where everything seems to be wireless – controllers, headsets, even phone chargers. As someone who went fully wireless years ago, going back to the cable does feel a bit of a backward step.
None of this matters if the controller performs as you’d expect, and here the news is pretty good. The first thing I really like is that the controller has a proper, cross-shaped D-pad – none of that fancy disc nonsense I’ve seen on other controllers, so a tick there. The thumbsticks feel nicely weighted too, and during testing I’ve played everything from Another Crab’s Treasure all the way through to Forza Horizon 5, and I have had no issues with the feel of the sticks.
The buttons on the face of the controller all do exactly as they should, and again have a nice feel and rebound. Completing the face buttons are the obligatory share button, start and select as they almost certainly aren’t called today (you know, the ones that look like a burger and cheese slices) and the Xbox button. However, I have an issue with the Xbox button, as for some reason it will not turn my Xbox on. I’ve read the instructions and apparently, holding down the Xbox button should power the console up, but on my test unit, it refuses to do so. Having to get up to turn the Xbox on manually does make that long cable feel a bit unnecessary…
From there, we have a few fancy features with the PowerA Fortnite Advantage Wired Controller that I need to mention. The two triggers – RT and LT – have locks that can restrict the travel of the button, as you’d expect, and these can certainly make all the difference when playing fast paced shooters, a bit like Fortnite! Each trigger can be locked individually, so the left trigger could have more of a travel than the right one for instance, whilst each lock has three positions, which roughly translate to full range of movement, half range and about a quarter of the range. For shooters, these are great but for driving games, not so much. I did wonder why my car wouldn’t go very fast in Forza, and it was because I had left the locks on, so bear this in mind.
There are three extra buttons on the rear of the controller too; one of which allows you to program the other two. On the left and right grips there is an extra button, and this can be programmed to be any of the other buttons – so if you wanted a controller with two A buttons, this is the one for you. Obviously, this can be useful to have the clicked-in thumbstick buttons on a the rear of the controller, saving you having to click the stick in the middle of a fight (or to beep the horn in Forza when you are getting carved up, again). One thing to be careful of, with the way the buttons are situated, it is very easy to press them inadvertently when in the middle of a tense gaming situation, and depending on what you have programmed them to be, it can have a disastrous consequence – jumping into an attack when playing as a little crab, for example.
All in all, the PowerA Fortnite Advantage Wired Controller for Xbox is a quality bit of kit, with a few little niggles. I don’t like the weight of it, even now, and not being able to turn the Xbox on with the controller is annoying. Other than that, this is a competent controller with some interesting features, helped along by the fact that it is a good looking thing as well.
If you want an alternative to the OEM Xbox controllers, the PowerA Fortnite Midas Advantage Wired Controller is a good choice.
Huge thanks go out to PowerA for providing us with the Fortnite Midas Advantage Wired Controller for Xbox for review. Hit up PowerA direct to purchase one for yourself. Expect to pay $39.99.
