Audio FX Force Feedback Headset review

It would seem that in modern PC gaming, sound has been forgotten in a sea of publishers trying to make their games visually adept, but to me and many others I’m sure, audio quality holds equally as much value as video quality.

It had been about a year since I started using my Logitech gaming headset in conjunction with my Creative X-Fi and it had served me well, delivering excellent sound quality consistently. Unfortunately it had started to falter and loose electrical connections plagued the device.

Looking around online through various shopping sites I encountered many “gaming” headsets which all carried a heavy price tag and had no noticeable features that really made them specifically suitable for gaming. I finally came across the Audio FX Force Feedback. I was instantly extremely interested by the prospect a force feedback feature and the immersion that could be attained with it. The headphones also boasted the standard “high quality 5.1 audio”, which seemingly every other brand under the sun also had so later that day I ordered them along with a Zboard Merc. (Which you will also find on the site reviewed by Kuang).

When the device arrived there was very little documentation along with it and as stated on the packaging it would simply plug and play without the hassle of additional software.

I first tested the headset on Battlefield 2. As I began moving around through the grass and vegetation of the level, the headset remained still, only delivering the sound of a distant transport chopper and of my feet hitting the ground. As I approached the enemy forces, explosions started going of around me and in response, the headset started to vibrate, changing in force depending on how far away the events were from my in-game position. At first it was very odd. In games usually firing a gun or being killed by a grenade is a very third person experience. With the added level of feedback (and a decent sound card) you can actually start to imagine how it would feel to be in a specific situation. Driving a tank over a foe’s troop transport is so much more satisfying when you can actually feel the vehicle crush slowly below you. As is feeling the bolt of your sniper rifle jolt forwards as you get that final headshot of a game.

Next I tried the device out with World in Conflict. Of course WiC being an RTS game there isn’t really any way you can compare it to a real life, first person experience. I found that generally the vibration feature added a nice touch to the game. Not enough for me to say it was an unbelievable beneficial addition to the RTS gaming experience, but it was definitely a real improvement on a standard headset, especially when artillery is raining in over an enemy battalion.

Next I tested the headset with Guild Wars, just to please all you MMO fans out there, and I must say there way very little point in having the extra feature. As most MMOs go anyway sound isn’t exactly their strong point and this just went to prove that point. You can’t really make something immersive if it doesn’t intend to be in the first place.

Finally, the music test. I listened to a variety of pieces, from Ozzy Osbourne to Amadeus Mozart and found that overall the headset performs nicely. Providing you having internal hardware to back it up it can cope well with any genre of music, although in some situation you may want to disable the vibration feature as it can cause unwanted in response to distorted guitar or bass lines. The vibrating does work extremely well though on tracks with good isolated drum work and more, light melodic instrumentals. Trains by Porcupine Tree seemed to prove this point particularly well.

The in-build microphone is of expected high audio quality. It folds upwards out of the way for when it isn’t need which for me isn’t very often.

The headset also features a series of “traffic lights” on each side which light up according to the level of volume which is passing through them, looking particularly cool at late night LAN parties.

So, in conclusion: If you’re an FPS/RTS gamer, with a good sound card, this is a must have. It really does add a huge amount of depth to the realism of your games. However if you’re a major MMO player, I’d just stick to a standard sound system.