Panther XL Score: 100% Developer: Mad Catz Device Type: Controller

Function: Excellent, precise control is provided in the Panther XL by a user-friendly and ergonomically pleasing design. Fans of First Person Shooters (Quake, Unreal, Half-Life) will be wowed by the capabilities of this control system as it allows even the mediocre player to become a virtuoso of destruction. This is accomplished by the joystick providing side to side strafing movement while the control ball controls where you are looking. It was quite a treat to play Unreal and Half-Life with this rig. I probably would have gone insane on the last Half-Life level without it as it is very difficult the first time through. Aspiring pilots will like this one also, as the designers of the Panther XL have wisely provided flight simulator-style buttons similar to those on the CH F-16 Combatstick.

Performance: The Panther XL combat controller is definitely a FPS fan?s best ally. Ergonomic design, along with the ability to eliminate the distraction of having to take your eyes off the action to find the keyboard, makes playing combat games much more reflexive and -- fun!!! Until this product came along, I was sure the best way to operate FPS type games was with the tried and true mouse/keyboard combination. I?ve now cast this method aside and proclaim the Panther XL as my preferred fragmentation system. After a short time getting used to the new control medium (the left hand now does the aiming via the control ball), I found myself easily dispatching formerly difficult opponents. This system really did increase my enjoyment of these games.

Features: Very ergonomic design Many buttons and two hat sticks which can be configured in the ?Panther XL Control Center? -- a utility provided to custom design the button fu Large control ball (It?s lit and glows red!) Has a throttle and a flight style joystick which uses the side to side movement of the control ball as the rudder control Can be used with many of the most popular games in both Windows and DOS All this on one controller!

Drawbacks & Problems:: The buttons along the front and lower right of the control ball are flush with the top of the housing. This results in a low, tactile response from these buttons, causing some miscues in actuation (wrong button pushed). Also, setting up individual games requires a lot of patience as each game type has its own particular interface which must be properly accessed and configured. Example: Half-Life refused to operate properly until I, d0gsb0dy, discovered that to get it working, I had to rename the downloaded configuration file as ?joystick? and NOT as ?joystick.cfg? -- as the file suggested. Anyone who is less than a computer genius (myself included) will get to know the Mad Catz 800 Tech Support number.

-d0gsb0dy, GameVortex Communications AKA Kelly Key

Minimum System Requirements: Windows 95, Gameport, PC Compatible System, 6MB Free Hard Drive Space, 2X or Higher CD-ROM   Test System: PII 416mhz, 80MB Ram, Voodoo 3 3000 video card, 56k V90 modem