Turtle Beach Rematch™ Core Wired Controller Review

Manufacturer: Turtle Beach
Where to Buy: Turtle Beach
RRP: £24.99 (or region equivalent)

Unlike when I were a lad, players today have a frankly obscene amount of choice when it comes to controller options on their console. From the excellent official pads to seriously stellar third party offerings, I can’t lie that I’d have killed for a choice this great when I was playing with wonky spare pads with my brothers and friends. This choice doesn’t have to be bank-busting though, and Turtle Beach have recently released the Rematch Core Wired controller at a frankly tremendous £24.99. What we get for that is a solidly built pad, albeit naturally lacking many of the more premium features available elsewhere. 

The pad itself is, as I said, solid in the hands. The plastic construction feels up to the task of even the most ‘passionate’ gamer,  with nicely clicky face buttons and triggers. I was sent the Black Camo/Yellow version and the bright colour really pops, especially on the sticks. It’s also very light thanks to being wired, and the included cable is a decent length at 2.5m, although for my own personal use case a 3m or longer would have been preferred. You can plug in any USB-C cable for what it’s worth though, so if you’ve already a long one kicking about then that should work just fine.

We get the standard fare of rumble features, as well as nifty on-board button that allows us to adjust the audio balance in game without the need for stopping and going into the Xbox menus. Pressing this in conjunction with various directions on the d-pad make it much simpler to turn someone up (or down if they’re being a bit overbearing) mid game. 

There’s also an app to fine tune aspect of the pad available, such as calibrating the sticks or motor sensitivity. I tried the PC one (this controller seamlessly works on both PC and Xbox) and it was a simple affair. 

For the price, there’s very little to complain about here. It may lack some staples in more premium pads (back buttons, swappable sticks and the like) but then again, this is a budget entry for those looking for something to just get on and play with. For younger players especially, this would be a great alternate pad choice. 

Although there are a few nitpicks I’ve found in my time with it this past week or so.

The d-pad feels a bit too spongy in use, making it hard to use for accurate control. I’ve been playing Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny with it and as that title uses tank controls, I’ve found Jubei to be prone to wandering off to the side instead of straight forward when playing with the tank control method. It’s something I was able to adjust to, but also still proved a tad frustrating at times when the action heated up.

And for as solidly as the controller feels in build quality, the lack of rubber grips – or indeed any sort of texture – on the handles lets it down. It’s very smooth, and while I never felt it was going to slip out of my hands in play, it never felt like I could get a truly comfortable grip without the need to adjust every so often. 

Conclusion

Now, take these criticisms knowing that I’ve been very fortunate to use some excellent – and expensive – controllers over the years and my daily use controller is on the opposite end of the price spectrum to the Rematch Core. So once again, for the price what you get here is frankly a great deal even with the nitpicks mentioned above. If you’re looking for a second pad or simply a spare one to fill in while your main one charges, then the Rematch Core will fit the bill nicely.

Hardware provided by the manufacturer for review purposes.

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