I don’t really get into the first person shooters, or the long story video games. What I do love, driving cars, and driving race-cars – virtually of course. But if I’m at an event, or someone’s house and they challenge me to a hot lap and then hand me a standard Playstation or XBox controller – my immediate response is: “I don’t drive with my thumbs”, give me a Steering Wheel any day, and the Logitech G29 is the new mother of them all.
I’ve been fortunate enough to have the Logitech G27 for some years now, hooked up to the PS3 it got me through many seasons of F1 racing. The G27 had great pedals, and a wheel the offered excellent feedback and a bunch of customisable buttons.
I’d never considered it to be dated, or lacking in features, until I received the Logitech G29 – out in September this thing makes the G27 look and feel like you’re driving a ten year old car.
The new wheel has the same basic features with the pedal stand, and wheel casing being the same size and configuration.
Down below the brake pedal has a different feel, which I think might be a new spring, because I had ordered an aftermarket spring replacement for the G27 on the advice of other users. The G29 feels harder and more realistic.
Up top the Wheel just looks more race-like. Importantly, instead of six buttons split three left and three right, the buttons all relate to the PS4 or 3 controller a lot better with your L1, L2 and R1 and R2 clearly labelled for us.
In addition there are new configurable buttons and dials for up and down, and a dial which I’ve used for brake-bias adjustments mid-race in Project Cars.
You’ve got the standard four-way toggle switch and four shape buttons accessible, as well as the share-option and Playstation buttons from the PS4.
What’s perfect about this is its compatibility for both PS3 and PS4 – but a tip for young players, if you’re wondering why it’s not working on your PS4 – look for the switch on the top of the wheel – flick that to PS4 and you’re off and running.
I played F12015 and Project Cars a lot during this review period. F1 has always been a favourite game of mine, but I felt it wouldn’t let me get the most from this wheel. I wanted to add more weight while the in-game settings pushed it up but not far enough.
The new buttons are not usable for functional things in F1 either. The red “Dial” on the wheel should be able to be set for almost anything, wing adjustment, brake adjustment etc. The game though is set to work best with any standard PS4 controller.
Project Cars on the other hand has some intense configuration options within the game, and excellent configurations for the wheel also. You’ll experience a super realism from car to car within Project Cars which is brought to life by a wheel like this.
As the wheel also works on PC games, you’ll find great customisations for the wheel on the PC – perhaps using the red dial for volume or other PC functions.
At $499 it’s an expensive addition to your games room, but for anyone even half-into their racing games, this is a must have.
With clamps for desk mounting, and screw-mounting points for the serious gaming rig, there really is nothing like driving a race car or car simulation with a wheel like the G29.
If you want to feel the grip of your tyres, the feedback from your car and set the fastest times possible, you simply have to own the Logitech G29.
Compatibility for PS3 and PS4 as well as PC make it a versatile unit. XBox users rejoice, a Logitech G920 will be released later in the year to meet your needs.
[schema type=”review” rev_name=”Logitech G29 Force Feedback Wheel” rev_body=”A huge leap forward from the previous generation, the G29 works on PC, PS3 and PS4 offering outstanding customisation and a realistic feel on the track” author=”Trevor Long” pubdate=”2015-08-06″ user_review=”5″ min_review=”5″ max_review=”0″ ]
