Ratings: Ease of Use, Performance: 24/25, Look & Feel: 23/25, Features & Software 21/25, How much I enjoy 23/25 Total: 91/100
Saitek has just about perfected the joystick and come up with another winner with the Cyborg Evo Force. The Saitek Cyborg Evo Force is a great joystick with some very good handling but lacking a bit in the force feedback feel.
The Cyborg Evo Force is a great handling joystick with included throttle and rudder controls that handles very well. The force feedback just does not feel as good as it could though but I think this is more due to the games than the stick. Here are some main features of the Cyborg Evo Force from the Saitek website:
The world’s only fully adjustable Force Feedback stick
Customizable head and stick enables left- and right-handers to find their optimum gaming position
Advanced programming provided by Saitek Smart Technology (SST) software.
Rapid-fire trigger
5 fire buttons
8-way ‘point-of-view’ hat switch
3D twist for rudder control
Lever throttle
2 shift buttons
4 base buttons
Single spring gimbal mechanism
3 position handle adjustment to suit all hand sizes
Single spring action for use with non-Force Feedback games
The Saitek Cyborg Evo Force comes with the joystick, the power adapter and the drivers CD as well as the Microsoft Flight Sim X demo. Unpacking and setting up the Cyborg Evo Force is simple and takes a few minutes. Upon receiving the Cyborg Evo I also received the drivers on a CD but they were for Windows XP/XP 64 bit and not Windows Vista.
If you are using the Cyborg Evo for Windows XP you just need to install them from the CD but you should check the Saitek site for any updated drivers anyway. If you’re installing the Cyborg on a Vista system you do need to download the latest drivers from Saitek and install them. I had no problems with installing the joystick on a Vista system and all the games I tried it on worked fine.
Once up and running the regular joystick drivers are fine for most games, the calibration and testing works from the Windows Control Panel. You can check and change any control assignments easily in the games you play by just setting them in game or you can use the SST programming to save profiles for games you play often.
Currently with Windows Vista and the SST programming there are some problems and the Saitek company as well as several loyal Saitek fans are working to get the solutions to these fixed. There are no profiles or a converter for the SST profiles so you cannot use the Saitek profiles in Vista. You have to program your own and use the profiles you create or save for your Windows Vista based SST programming.
This does not mean that you cannot use the Cyborg Evo Force in Windows Vista or that you cannot use the SST programming to create profiles of saved controls that you just load before starting a game. It only means that you cannot use other saved profiles form the Saitek site until someone saves a profile and you get it from them or create your own. It is not hard to create your own profile as all you have to do is find out what controls in the game are used and input them in a chart on the SST programming profile page.
Using the SST programming is very easy and once a profile has been saved you can right click on the SST icon in the taskbar to quickly select a profile. Setting your own SST profile is also easy; you just open the SST program, select a new profile and assign keys. Input what Cyborg Evo controls you want to assign to what keyboard or mouse controls for the game your creating the profile. Using the games default key assignments you create the profile that works for that game without having to change any key assignments in game.
When playing a game and just installing the Cyborg Evo and using the in game control assignments the joysticks works very well. The force feedback also works pretty well but not quite as good as it should for some games. There are times that it does not quite feel realistic or accurate with what is happening in a game. I think this is more to do with the various games support or lack of support for force feedback.
In some games such as Flight Simulator X and Il-2 Sturmovik the force feedback works very well but in games like Battlestations Midway it does not seem like the game is putting out the correct signals to the joystick. I really don’t think this is any problem with the joystick or the drivers just a lack of both companies getting together to get on the same page in regards to the force feedback and forcing the game and the joystick to talk to each other.
Flight Sim X is a great game for using the Cyborg Evo Force and getting the feel of the force feedback. You can feel the vibrations of the engines and the bumbs and jolts as you roar down the runway. When the wheels lift off the pavement you suddenly get smooth and calm from the stick. The banks and turns give you the appropriate push back on your stick and you really feel the G forces when flying in faster aircraft.
The Cyborg Evo is also a great joystick for combat games such as Il-2 Sturmovik and Pacific Fighters with the five assignable buttons on the top of the stick. There is also a nice point of view hat switch for using with your views or whatever else you would like to assign it to.
The top portion of the Cyborg Evo is also adjustable in two ways that creates a nice customized fit for each user along with being ambidextrous. The top portion of the stick with the hat switch and other switches twists from side to side to adjust the angle your thumb is sitting at on the switches. The three buttons labeled 3-2-4 also adjusts up and down so they are closer or further away from your thumb for easier control.
For left and right handed set up the base where the side of your hand rests can be taken off and switched around for either orientation. The joystick is fully customizable for a wide variety of hand sizes and even the left and right handed players making the Cyborg Evo Force not only an ambidextrous but fully adjustable controller.
The base of the Cyborg Evo Force has four F buttons so you have four common buttons that are usually settings or other major assignments in games on the base. The buttons defaults are the F1 through F4 keys but you can also assign them to something else in game or in the SST programming. The base also has two shift buttons that are also fully assignable and the throttle in the center of the base behind the stick.
The throttle is probably my only contention with the actual design of the Cyborg Evo Force and its placement. I really don’t like where they placed it but I also could not figure out any other place to put it and still have the stick ambidextrous. It works out fine but it sometimes gets in the way while flying.
The rudder controls work superbly with the twist rudder control on the stick and also works great as a tail rotor control device for helicopters. Using the Cyborg Evo Force in helicopter simulators and other game types beyond the flight sim games also works very well. The controller is very customizable and nice to use for many game types such as Mech Warrior 4 and Battlestations Midway.
I played several games with several different types of vehicles just like in Battlestations Midway with the controls being used for the ships as well as the airplanes. The Cyborg Evo Force handled exceptionally in all the games I threw at it with precise and smooth handling. The force feedback works well in most games except when it is not fully supported by the games developer.
Using the wide variety of buttons and switches on the stick you have a good selection of vehicle controls and can often use the Cyborg Evo Force by itself in many games without the keyboard. The Cyborg Evo Force is an excellent joystick that is fully customizable not only in button assignments but in how the stick adjusts to your hand.
I highly recommend the Saitek Cyborg Evo Force as a great joystick for use in flight sim and many other games for controlling a wide variety of vehicles.
