Fantech World Shooter 3 & Nova Pro Controller Review

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Who doesn’t love fancy new controllers when they’re playing games? We got our hands on two new Fantech World multi-platform controllers and have been trying them out for the past few weeks. With a simple set up, the Nova Pro and the Shooter 3 controllers were easy to use straight out of the box  – a perfect plug and play pairing that works for any type of gamer.

After testing them out, there are pros and cons for both controllers so let’s get into it!

New additions to the Fantech Catalogue

A white gaming controller, USB dongle, cable, and documents on a pink surface.
What comes in the Shooter 3 box?

Design

The Nova Pro

The Nova Pro features a standard PlayStation controller layout with a responsive touchpad. Despite it’s relatively low price point in comparison to a standard PS controller, it feels like a high quality piece of equipment.

I received the Polaris variant of it and I have to admit I’m a little bit obsessed with the aesthetic. Fantech themselves describe Polaris as being blue, but I found it was a mixture of blue and purple depending on the lighting. But what is purple if not fancy blue? Either way, it’s super reminiscent of the 2000s transparent plastic vibe without actually being transparent. Flip the controller over and there’s also two additional rear paddles that you can map to whatever function you feel like as well as two trigger locks which allow you to customise the trigger press so it matches your typical play style.

It doesn’t end there though. When you finally power up the Nova Pro controller, it comes to life with 4 lighting and brightness modes. I’m a sucker for anything that lights up so it’s safe to say that this was a winner for me!

Hands holding the Fantech Nova Pro controller, featuring an illuminated handheld, wired body.

The Shooter 3

If you’re not a fan of bells and whistles like I am, then you might prefer the Shooter 3. With an Xbox button layout and a sleek black body, the Shooter 3 is a much less chaotic controller that has four options for vibration as well as ultra-precise triggers. Unlike the Nova Pro, this controller doesn’t have any rear paddles. It is a super bare bones piece of equipment which might be better for people (like me) who are fans of story led games rather than first person shooters.

It’s also a very light and rough controller. I’m used to playing with a PS5 controller which is considerably heavier than the Shooter 3 model, so having such a light controller wasn’t for me. This paired with the rough surface made me instinctively lean towards the Nova Pro.

Hands holding a black Fantech Nova 3 game controller with a glowing blue button to show connectivity
Getting hands on with the Shooter 3

Connectivity

Both controllers offer wired and wireless connectivity in different ways. When using the Nova Pro in Bluetooth mode, the controller has a 2 hours charging time and a 10 hour charge life. Meanwhile, the Shooter 3 outdoes the Nova Pro, as it boasts up to 20 hours of battery life using its wireless option. The input for the Shooter 3 did feel quicker than the Nova Pro when using the wireless mode. Sometimes it felt like the Nova Pro could get a bit caught up in itself and store inputs only to try and do all of them at the same time. For example, when playing Tomb Raider, Lara would try to roll, jump and dodge at the same time and my game would have a bit of a meltdown.

Honestly, I think the Nova Pro works better as wired controller than a Bluetooth one. It felt like it ran much smoother and reduced the input lag, which is to be expected with a direct connection to the PC.

Five colorful, transparent video game controllers with modern designs.
Available in a range of colours

Compatibility

Despite being labelled as multi-platform controllers, the actual platforms that they work with are limited.

The Nova Pro controller is only compatible up to the PS4 as well as the PC and Switch. This isn’t the end of the world for me as it was compatible with all of the PC games that I played like the Forest, Heavenly Bodies etc. and I still play a large number of PS4 games. That being said, if you’re going to buy a new controller, then chances are you aren’t buying it for the last generation of consoles.

The Shooter 3 has bigger issues. It is only compatible with Windows 7 or later, Switch, Android and PS3. For a brand new controller, it feels almost completely outdated. I don’t know anyone who still plays on a PS3, if they are playing PS3 games then they’re typically on a PS4 or PS5 making the Shooter 3 almost obsolete as a viable option.

Final Thoughts

If you are primarily a PC player and like Bluetooth controllers, then the Shooter 3 would definitely be a budget friendly option. This controller sells for around £31.50 but I have seen it as low as £18.90. If you like bells and whistles like I do then you’ll appreciate the Nova Pro controller a bit more for it’s style and light up body. The thing that ultimately limits these controllers is their lack of compatibility with the most up to date consoles.

This lack of current compatibility means that I have to give the Fantech Nova Pro & Shooter 3 controllers the Silver Thumb Culture Award. 

 

Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.

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