Despite a few strong efforts, PC gamepads have yet to quite equal the quality of some of their console counterparts. Either they're not comfortable enough, don't have responsive buttons or indeed enough buttons, and I've yet to use a single PC gamepad with a D-pad quite as good as the one on the SNES or Dreamcast controller. At this point I'm sure you're just waiting for me to say “Guess what, the Eliminator AfterShock is finally the perfect gamepad you've been waiting for.” Well, unfortunately, it isn't. Not quite. But almost…
The Eliminator AfterShock includes just about every feature you could possibly want in a joypad. It has four front mounted trigger buttons, six buttons on the top, two analogue sticks and a D-pad. It even has a force feedback (sorry “Rumble Feedback” as it is called, presumably to sidestep other people's trademarks) feature, as you might have guessed from the name of the pad. So, all good so far, but is it any good in use? In short, yes.
Installation, as I've come to expect from Gravis, is utterly trivial. Plug it into the USB port and it just works, although it's highly recommended that you also install the still superb Gravis Xperience software to let you tweak every conceivable aspect of how the joypad works. You can set d-pad directions to equate to keyboard buttons, tweak analogue stick null zones and acceleration and you can even set buttons and analogue sticks to work as mouse presses and mouse movements! Yes, this level of configuration is almost insane, but it's also very, very welcome, particularly as the Xperience software interface is a breeze to use.
During play, the pad itself performs particularly well indeed and takes next to no getting used to at all. The large rounded grips feel comfortable even after hours of frenzied play and most of the buttons and controls are easy to reach. The only exceptions are the top two trigger buttons – the front of the joypad slopes forward slightly so that it can be a touch uncomfortable to reach the top two buttons unless you shift your hands back, in which case some will find the analogue sticks a little hard to reach. In games that required use of all buttons it never bothered me too much as long as the top two trigger buttons weren't used much.
All the buttons are responsive and quite simply just feel right. The two buttons in the middle are a little strange, though. They're obviously not intended for regular use but rather as the start/select type buttons (think back to the old SNES and Genesis pads) but I'd have preferred two extra regular buttons like on the Gravis Xterminator. I was able to use the middle buttons in some games but they unfortunately weren't quite as comfortable to reach or as responsive as the other buttons.
The twin analogue sticks are, for want of a more eloquent term, bloody great. They're made of solid plastic but are topped with rubber for extra grip. Their range of movement is better that many analogue sticks I've tried (including the PlayStation 2 controller, I have to say) and the minimal resistance they offer is just enough to make sure that your movements are smooth and precise.