At first we would like to thank Razer for offering us a sample of their Wildcat Gaming Controller for testing and reviewing.

 

About Razer:

"Razer is more than just the world's leading brand in gaming.

We were founded in 1998 in San Diego, California by our CEO Min-Liang Tan and our President Robert “Razerguy” Krakoff in a tiny shared office with a couple other gamers. We have grown today to hundreds of employees worldwide with offices in seven cities, including San Francisco, Hamburg, Seoul, Shanghai and Singapore.

Our vision from the very beginning was to be the world's greatest gaming brand and we've set out to achieve that by designing the best gaming products that any gamer has ever seen.

We believe that truly great products are based on technology, designed with extensive human factors and user ergonomic studies and then tested by the top professional gamers. In simpler terms, our own world class scientists and engineers develop cutting edge technology in-house or with partners, design phenomenal products around core technologies – and test the hell out of them in the field with our pro-gamers before we launch them.

We are the only gaming hardware company in the world with dedicated gaming user interface research and development labs, and our technology and designs are incubated in three dedicated design centers located in facilities in California, Singapore and Shenzhen. No other company boasts of technology like we do – because we're the only guys who have what it takes under the hood.

We tell it like it is: some can pretend to co-develop products with professional gamers, but gamers don't develop technology: scientists and engineers do (and ours just happen to be gamers as well).

We develop and design our products in our own labs and then put them to the test with top professional gamers who use them in pro-level tournaments and then provide us with feedback. Then we iterate on the product, refining it with the feedback – over and over and over again. That's how it's done, that's how a Razer product is built from ground up. No marketing BS and no hype.

We pioneered the eSports movement with the world's first $100K tournament back in 2000 and we have continued to give back to the community by sponsoring top eSports athletes who give back to Razer by beta-testing our products. We remain one of the largest sponsors of eSports community sponsoring top global eSports teams worldwide.

The people that work here at Razer are gamers just like you – some amateur, some ex-professional gamers, some just play for fun, just ask our CEO who will lay the smack down on you in Quake Live or our President, who has over ten level 80's on his local server. Hell, he will even take you on a raid in the middle of the work day.

We are the same gamers who are told by the suits that we need adult supervision and we need a professional CEO or management team – and we're the same gamers who tell the suits exactly where to shove it because we like doing what we do – and we do it on our own terms.

We hope our passion for gaming speaks to you like it does to us, through our products and we hope you enjoy the competitive edge we bring to your game."

Product Features:

 

Experience true console gaming supremacy the way the pros do, with the Razer Wildcat for Xbox One™ Gaming Controller.

 

Made for tournament play and developed with feedback from the world’s best eSports athletes, this ultimate gaming controller packs four additional Multi-Function Buttons over the ordinary controller layout for unparalleled customizability.

 

The optimized weight, optional palm grips and reinforced wired connection are designed for long gaming sessions and gives you the unfair advantage over your foes whether it’s in training or in critical tournament moments.

 

With full customizability to create dedicated button layout profiles for each of your games or tweak your audio settings on the fly, the Razer Wildcat for Xbox One gives you absolute control without any distractions.

 

Four Additional Fully-Programmable Buttons For Personalized Control Layouts

 

Designed to be a cut above the rest, the Razer Wildcat has four additional buttons – two bumpers at the shoulders and two removable triggers on the underside. Positioned right at your fingertips, these Multi-Function Buttons can be individually set to remap any of the other controls found on the controller. With the ability to freestyle the configuration of your controller, you get to decide exactly how you pwn the competition.

 

Ergonomic Shape and Weight Favored By Top eSports Athletes

 

Engineered to give gamers the most comfortable gaming experience even during the most intense of battles, the Razer Wildcat is based on the same familiar weight as the standard Xbox One controller and features a refined ergonomic shape, complemented by the placement of the Multi-Function Buttons. Together with the tactile feel of the Hyperesponse ABXY buttons, this stellar controller is perfect for staying on top of your game during extended training sessions and critical tournament moments.

 

Quick Control Panel For Easy Profile And Audio Customizability

 

When a split second distraction could cost you the entire game, it’s crucial that you always concentrate on what’s important – the in-game action. The built in quick control panel gives you easy access to a variety of functions, from toggling between profiles, to adjusting as well as muting game and chat volume, so you never have to take your hands off the controller during a match.

 

Forged With Enhanced Materials For Complete Reliability On The Battlefield

 

With reinforced high carbon steel analog stick necks, removable aircraft grade aluminum triggers, and optional palm grips, the Razer Wildcat’s bespoke materials give you a greater edge over the competition with unrivaled durability regardless of how extreme your playstyle is.

 

 

Product Specifications:

 

2 shoulder Hyperesponse Multi-Function Bumpers

2 removable Hyperesponse Multi-Function Triggers

4 Hyperesponse ABXY action buttons

4 button Quick Control Panel

Optional trigger stops for rapid-fire

Zero slow-turn analog joysticks

3.5 mm audio port for stereo audio output and microphone input

Optional rubber palm grips

Quick-release cable feature

Carrying case

Detachable 3 m / 10 ft lightweight braided fiber cable with Micro-USB connector

Approximate size : 106 mm / 4.17” (Length) x 156 mm / 6.14” (Width) x 66 mm / 2.60” (Height)

Approximate weight (without cable) : 260 g / 0.57 lbs

 

On PC we have been gaming for quite some time now with the Mad Catz Cyborg V.5 Rumble Pad but after quite some time the rubber coating started to wear off and became really sticky, even if we did take care of keeping it clean and in top shape at all times. The main benefit of this controller was that it did allow you to swap between the D-pad and thumbstick so you practically had a 2-in-1 Xbox 360 and PS3 controller in the same product. We have then switched to RAZER Onza Tournament Edition which featured analog sticks with adjustable tension, backlighted buttons which were quite handy when gaming with little to no light inside the room, some extra programmable buttons and longer triggers. The new generation of consoles have arrived with their new controllers, and recognized gaming peripheral manufacturers have started to offer their own designs, incorporating new features to stand out from the crowd. One example is the Razer Wildcat which does offer two additional bumper buttons but also two aluminum triggers on the bottom which….can be removed with ease; an extra control panel will offer us more customization on-the-fly. Wildcat is advertised as a product compatible with both Xbox One and Windows 10 on its cardboard enclosure and in the front we will also get to see the main product highlights:

 

 

Razer does describe in more details the product features if we do look on the laterals:

 

 

 

 

We will also get a description of the main Wildcat components on the bottom area of the box:

 

 

 

As many of their other premium offerings, Razer has done a great deal providing a hard case for the Wildcat and we will also receive a “Thank you” note, representing the company signature:

 

 

 

Besides that, we will also get one Information Guide:

 

 

 

The guide does describe how to operate the controller but also how to work with the removable triggers:

 

 

 

After opening up the robust case, we will practically expose the main product along with its accessory pack and connectivity cables:

 

 

 

 

Some very cool sticky rubber grips are offered as bonus for the product and we will also receive two thumb stick covers with the same iconic Razer color; a small black screwdriver will assist us when removing the bottom triggers:

 

 

 

 

Two Razer logo stickers can be found here for us to apply on the gaming laptop, console or desktop PC:

 

 

 

Versus the regular Xbox One controller, we can spot quite a bit of changes regarding interfaces, while the ergonomic shape has stayed the same; a subtle black-on-black razer logo can be seen on the right side:

 

 

 

The control panel which we have mentioned before will help us with a remapping button, one profile toggle button, one microphone mute button but also a volume control button:

 

 

 

An audio jack resides under the said control panel:

 

 

 

Unlike the regular Xbox One controller and as we have seen with the Onza, the D-pad is split (Razer Hyperesponse):

 

 

 

The available analog sticks do feature a rough plastic texture on top; for additional grip we can always attach the provided green rubber covers; these also feature reinforced high carbon steel analog stick necks for increased durability:

 

 

 

 

Next we can take a closer look at the X/Y/A/B buttons which are quite sensitive and do not produce a lot of noise when actuated, only a subtle “click” as when pressing the mouse left/right buttons; these also feature a cooler design versus the original:

 

 

 

In the middle we’ve got the View button, Menu button, but also the Xbox button; a clear white LED is located between them and on the left and right sides of the Xbox button we do also have green LEDs representing profiles:

 

 

 

Besides the regular Xbox One controller triggers (LT,LB,RT,RB) we will also spot two middle M1, M2 buttons, which reside nearby the microUSB port:

 

 

 

 

The bottom area of the unit does show again the ergonomic shape of the product; on the top we will be able to spot some additional switches which do enable to change between full-range and hair-trigger modes (RT,LT):

 

 

 

In the middle we will get to see the removable aluminum triggers along with some locking switches:

 

 

 

We have used the provided screwdriver in order to remove these (which has proven a simple process):

 

 

 

 

After we have removed them, we can press on the remaining aluminum frames so they will get into the “locked” position; in order to attach the triggers again, we first have to unlock the frames by actuating the switches (these will simply pop up) and afterwards mount the triggers with the provided screws:

 

 

 

After we have attached the 3m-long braided cable to the controller, we are ready to go! This cable also includes a breakaway:

 

 

 

After connecting the controller to our Windows 10 PC it will be recognized right away, no extra drivers will be needed:

 

 

 

Since there is no software to back up the controller, we can do the programming right from the controller itself; we just have to hold the remapping button from the control panel, press a button and then tap the replacement key to set. We have multiple profiles available, one being the default, the second being represented by the green LED on the left side of the Xbox button and the third by the green LED on the right side of the Xbox button.

 

Razer Wildcat is a very solid product with added features like programmable buttons, extra removable triggers, well-built analog sticks, a control panel and multiple profiles to work with while in-game. The manufacturer does also ship some themed sticky rubber grips which can be attached to the controller quite easily but also a pair of rubber covers for the analog sticks.

 

While the product can be used straight away with the Xbox One console, we were surprised to say the exact same thing when plugged into a Windows 10 PC, since the product will be recognized right away. These being said, we have fired up Carmageddon Reincarnation, Bombshell, Street Fighter V, Mortal Kombat X but also Fallout 4. The responsive analog sticks impressed us positively along with the X/Y/A/B buttons which seem to actuate very quickly and produced less noise than we were used to with the previous Mad Catz Xbox 360 controller. As we have seen with the Onza TE, Razer prefers to have a split-design D-pad and this feature needs a bit of a learning curve, especially in fighting games such as SF V or MK X. The placement of the bottom triggers has proven as optimal considering that they are positioned exactly where our middle fingers would sit.

 

These being said, Wildcat is clearly more advanced than the stock Xbox One controller, fighting side-by-side with the Elite version, which does sport a noticeably higher price.

 

Talking about the price, Wildcat can be purchased online for about 116 Euros.

 

Razer Wildcat Gaming Controller is Recommended For:

 

 

 

We would like to thank again to Razer for making this review possible!