• Philips Freak Berserker Gamepad Review

Hey folks, Valkor here with a post CES review. I know CES has long come and gone but there are many a gadgets out there we have yet to get our hands on that we want to review for this site. And as those items start to trickle in, we will get them to you asap we assure you. This item, obviously one for the oddie section, also gets kudos for not just being freakishly weird but also user friendly. Enter Gemini Freak Controller. Specifically the Beserker controller for the PS2.



My first experience with the Freak Controller was at CES. Call it a chance meeting but if I had not been looking at the right moment, I would have walked right on by. But just as I passed the Gemini section, which was near the Philips book, the Beserk controller caught my eye in an instant and immediately grabbed one. I loved the skull design, the big horns for the handles and how the eyes are used for the analog sticks. I looked and thought maybe there was a display with the controllers hooked up for actual testing, but no go. My next step was to acquire one, seeing as they had a wall full, maybe some can be bought on the show floor. No go there. However one of the guys running the booth did tell me where I can find them. So this past week, after going through some CES material and remembering I needed this controller, I hopped online to Circuit City and purchased one of these bad boys. So ultimately how does something this freakish control?

It controls quite well actually. My biggest gripe when buying new controllers is that sometimes some of the buttons are stiff or it just doesn’t feel right in my hands. In the case of the Berserker, even though it has a weird design, fits just right in my hands. I will admit it is not THE perfect controller (more in a bit), but as it stands, it gets the job done. At first the buttons did seem a bit stiff, but I blame it on the newness of the device. Once broken in, it did an amazing job. Leave us not forget it has Dual shock, so not only are you holding a scary piece of equipment, but when your playing something like Silent Hill 4 and this thing starts jolting, man does it add an extra eerie touch. on a down note the analog sticks might be a little too sensitive at times. Again using SH 4 as an example. When I'm in the room and looking around, at times the camera over shoots the area I wanna look at. It took some time but I was able to adjust.

In the end there is not much else to the Berserker. It’s standard issue controller with a fun design, definitely a great conversational piece. Nothing more, nothing less. You can also find other controllers to choose from like the Fleshy controller and even one for the X-box called the Alien controller which looks disgusting. (But hey if I had an X-box, I’d definitely get one). On the 5 star Val-meter I give this item 4 stars.