Razer’s Wolverine V3 Pro wants to make gamepads more mouse-like

We’ve known for years that consoles have simply become preboxed PCs, and now look: we’re getting into their controllers as well. The Razer Wolverine V3 Pro (and its wired cousin, the Wolverine V3 Tournament Edition) has looked to desktop peripherals in search of superior button-bashing, cannibalising the rather good Razer Viper gaming mouse series for its switches. The result is a high-performing, satisfyingly clicky pad that, yes, works wonderfully on PC – albeit one that rinses you for four times(!) as much as a standard Xbox controller.

£200 / $200, to be exact, which makes it look like Razer included the cost of the Viper they ripped open to nick its clickers. But then, the Wolverine V3 Pro does have more in common with high-end upgrades like the Xbox Elite Series 2, plus more besides: four rear paddle switches, two added bumpers for claw grips, drift-resistant Hall effect joysticks, sensitivity and deadzone adjustment, and Razer’s low-latency HyperSpeed connection tech are among its feature list.

As far as PC usage goes, then, it clearly aims to be your daily driver, as opposed to a cupboard-dwelling controller that only occasionally gets dusted off because your keyboard sucks for driving games. And, if I’m honest, it does seem up to the task. The thumbsticks are fabulous, feeling slick yet firm, and grippy without being sticky. And while I’m not a big paddles guy – just ask the neglected back panel buttons on my Steam Deck – they do have a decisive and pleasantly tactile clickiness to them.

It’s these, and the shoulder triggers, that are the main beneficiaries of the time-proven mouse mechanisms. The triggers actually have two modes, toggled by small switches on the underside: the traditional analogue pull, and a faster, shallow press, for sweaty competitive purposes. Either way, they’re as solid and robust as any gamepad shoulder triggers I’ve used, including the fancy adaptive triggers on the PS5 DualSense. It’s just a very well-made pad in general, from the generously concaved thumbsticks to the subtle handgrip texturing, and I’ve never had any tiredness or cramping problems from hours-long sessions with it.

It's not just mice that the Wolverine V3 Pro shares qualities with, either. The tangible bottoming-out of buttons, and their crisp audial feedback, have more than a hint of mechanical keyboard to them. This won’t impress any poor soul who has to share a room with you as you play, at least judging from my wife’s recent side-eyeing, but having this sensory back-and-forth does remove any ambiguity about whether you successfully punched in the intended command. That comes with obvious benefits to, say, fighting games, but I’ve appreciated it in simple platformers and beyond. Weirdly, I’ve found it most helpful in Elden Ring; on my old official Xbox controller, I was prone to failing jumping puzzles, my last thoughts before pasting into a dark crypt floor being of whether I tapped the A button hard enough. Now, I only die when it’s entirely my fault.

I’m still not convinced to burn £200 on one, mind. Even next to Microsoft’s Xbox Elite Series 2, that’s hyper-enthusiast money, and not everything is best in class. Typical battery life, for instance, is a so-so 20 hours, and outside of two bundled stick grip replacements, the Wolverine V3 Pro lacks the modularity that you might expect from a premium gamepad.

I could, however, be tempted by the £100 / $100 Tournament Edition. It loses the rubberised grips and is wired, which feels a bit old hat in 2024, but otherwise it’s got all the same excellent buttons, switches, and triggers as the Wolverine V3 Pro, for half the price. Or! Maybe the mouse-switches-in-a-controller concept could be applied to a more affordable wireless model without the extra paddles and shoulder buttons. Razer, you can have that one for free.