If you play first person shooters on the Xbox 360, then you certainly have wished for a way to get an edge on your game. Microsoft’s original Xbox 360 controller is one of the best gamepads in the history of consoles, but some people still wish for some customization.
Some gamers prefer to switch out sticks, and others prefer individual buttons on the D-pad, in addition to the other advantages of a modded controller (*ahem* cheating).
If you’ve wanted to mod your own controller, and just don’t want to risk screwing things up, then why not buy a pre-modded controller? Evil Controllers mods brand-new Microsoft controllers, and guarantees their work.
In this review we also re-print the instructions on how to access all of the mod features, which have mysteriously disappeared from the internet.
The Master Mod Evil Controller comes in a snug customized box. The inside of the box has been die-cut to allow the stick and D-pad to show through, which further secures the controller during shipping. Also included in the box is an Evil Controllers sticker, a pamphlet on the Evil Sticks, which are pre-installed in the Master Mod, and an instruction sheet (which did not come in this review sample).
The sample we were given for review is a standard black controller, but Evil has a few other faces, such as red plasma and wood-grain. There are a few internal mod features to choose from, such as Adjustable Fast Reload, Stealth Fast Reload, Auto Burst, and Master Mod.
The controller looks like a standard Microsoft Xbox 360 controller, except for a for a few key points. The top of the controller has been completely replpaced to accomodate a new Evil D-pad button arrangement. The left and right thumbsticks have been replaced with Evil Sticks (which resemble PS3 sticks with a shorter posts). The new sticks are in fact manufacutred by Evil, and the posts are shorter, which shortens the range of motion. The new sticks also have a rubberized convex dome, and the base of each has the Evil Controllers logo, which can be seen then the stick is pushed in the “up” position. The default green LEDs have been replaced with slick new blue lights.
Everything else about the controller is standard. Other Evil controllers have an backside switch to instantly toggle the feature on and off. The Master Mod has so many features that you must enable each feature individually through button presses (more on that later). The controller does not come with a rechargable battery, but instead comes with an empty “AA” battery cartridge.
The internals of the mod are complety soldered and glued together, and look like a professional job. Everything appears very sturdy, so you can be sure that the new circuits won’t become mislodged or otherwise broken, even with a little abuse.
This modded controller does not like to play well with rechargable batteries. Perhaps the extra circuitry requires additional juice, I’m not quite certain. Weird things can happen during the game because the controller isn’t getting the necessary voltage, so Evil recommends using regular alkaline AA batteries.
The Rapid-Fire Feature of the controller are accessed by pressing down the right thumbstick and pushing the D-pad to the right, which toggles the mode. The bottom right LED of the home button turns on to indicate the mode change. Repeat to turn this feature off, in which the LED returns back to default.
Turning on Fast Reload is the exact oppopsite. You first press the right D-pad and THEN click down on the right thumbstick. The controller’s bottom left LED flicker on to indicate the mod change, and the “X” button now has fast reload enabled. Repeat the process to turn this mode off.
There are many other features, some of which can be adjusted. Toggling through these is either holding down the right or left trigger and pressing the left or right D-pad button, but all of the features are listed on the next page.
Some controllers come with a feature toggle button underside of the controller, which allow you to instantly toggle the mod on and off with a single switch. Since the Master Mod has so many features, this instant toggle switch is not present.
This controller has nine different modes and 19 different features:
- Rapid Fire
- Auto-Burst
- Fast Reload
- Rapid B (for chainsaw)
- Adjustable Rapid Fire
- Dual Rapid Fire
The controller works best in first person shooters, and the compatible games are:
- Call of Duty: World at War
- Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
- Call of Duty: Back Ops
- Gears of War
- Gears of War 2
- Grand Theft Auto IV
- Left 4 Dead 2
- Medal of Honor
- Halo 2
- Halo 3
- Halo 3 ODST
- Halo Reach
- Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas 2
The mod can get in the way sometimes, like when trying to zoom down the sight of a sniper rifle with auto-fire enabled. The auto-fire macro cancels out the zooming action because it is being repeated. One must turn off the auto-fire macro in order to zoom in.
Another little caveat can occur in some games when respawning. Sometimes your character immediately respawns after dying without seeing the kill cam. If you are holding down the right trigger, then the console is receiving a bunch of “X” signals and causes the respawn. You must remember to release the trigger after your character has been killed.
There can be a few other little issues to deal with during games, such as weapon attachments (grenade launchers) to become unattached, switching weapons when throwing care packages, and other odd issues.
On the next page we reprint the instructions on how to enable every feature of the Evil Master Mod controller…
Reprinted here are the lost online instructions for the Evil Controller Master Mod Xbox 360 controller. These instructions should be included with your controller, but all online versions of this instruction sheet have been lost on the Internet (at the time of this writing). OCmodshop.com presents the re-birth of the Master Mod Instruction Sheet.
STEP 1 GAME MODES
- Use 1st mode for Adjustable Rapid Fire
- Use 2nd mode for Halo 3, Rainbow Six Vegas 2, Left 4 Dead 2, Left 4 Dead, and GTA IV
- Use 3rd mode for Call of Duty: World at War
- Use 4th mode for Gears of War 2
- Use 5th mode for Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
- Use 6th mode for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
STEP 2 SELECT GAME MODE
- Press and hold Right Trigger
- Tap Right on the Directional Pad the designated times to match your game
- Ex. For Gears of War 2 (mode 4), you would tap Right on the Directional Pad 4 times.
- LED Indicator
- The 4th quadrant on the face of your controller should now be illuminated. This indicates that you have selected a game mode and the mod is now ON.
STEP 3 OPERATING RAPID FIRE
- To use rapid fire, pull and hold Right Trigger
STEP 4 GAME MODE BREAKDOWN
MODE 1 (Adjustable Rapid Fire)
- Press and hold Right Trigger
- Tap Right on the Directional Pad 1 time for adjustable mode
Enter Adjustable Mode
- Pull and hold the Left Trigger
- Tap Right on the Directional Pad
- LED Indicator
- The 3rd and 4th quadrant LED will now blink repeatedly indicating you are in adjustable mode
Adjusting Speed
- Press and hold/tap Left Thumb-stick in to SLOW DOWN rapid fire
- Press and hold/tap Right Thumb-stick to SPEED UP rapid fire
- There are over 250 increments of speed allowing for precise and perfect rate of fire
- Once you have reached the minimum or maximum rate of fire, the LED will stop blinking and stay lit
- Test your speed
- Pull and hold the Right Trigger to test your rapid fire speed
- Save your speed
- Tap Right on the Directional Pad
- 4th quadrant LED will stop blinking and stay illuminated.
- Mode 1 is now your adjusted rapid fire speed!
MODE 2 (Dual Rapid Fire)
- To toggle rapid fire on/off at Left Trigger
- Hold in the Left Thumb-stick
- Tap Right on the Directional Pad
- LED Indicator
- The 3rd quadrant on the face of your controller should now be illuminated. This indicates that Left Trigger is now Rapid Fire.
MODE 3 (WAW FAST RELOAD)
- First turn Fast Reload ON/OFF
- Press and hold the Left Thumb-stick in.
- Tap Right on the Directional Pad
- LED Indicator
- LED will stay illuminated, indicating Fast Reload is ON.
- To Fast Reload
- Tap the X button
- To toggle rapid fire ON/OFF
- Press and hold the Right Thumb-stick in.
- Tap Right on the Directional Pad
World at War Fast Reload Weapon Compatibility – M1A1 Carbine, SVT-40 , Gewehr 43
MODE 4 (GOW2 ACTIVE RELOAD)
STEP 1 WEAPON MODE
- Use 1st for Sniper (Defaults to this weapon when mod is turned on)
- Use 2nd mode for Lancer/Hammerburst
- Use 3rd mode for Shotgun
- Use 4th mode for Pistol
STEP 2 SELECT WEAPON MODE
- Press and hold the Back Button
- Pull the Left Trigger designated times to match your game
- Ex. For the Shotgun, you would press and hold the Back button and pull the Left Trigger 3 times.
STEP 3 OPERATING ACTIVE RELOAD
- Tap the Right Bumper once for Active Reload
- Tap quickly, do not press and hold button.
- Sniper requires only a Right Trigger pull
STEP 4 OPERATING RAPID FIRE
- When in Mode 2 & 4 rapid fire is recommended
- Rapid fire needs to be off for Lancer
- LED Indicator
- When rapid fire is on, the 4th LED will stay illuminated
- To use rapid fire, pull and hold Right Trigger
- Rapid Fire only works with Hammerburst and Pistol
OPTIONAL STEP: RAPID FIRE OFF
- To toggle rapid fire off/on
- Press and hold the Right Thumb-stick in
- Tap the Back button
- To toggle active reload off/on
- Press and hold the Right Thumb-stick in
- Tap the Back button
STEP 5 OPERATING RAPID B FOR CHAINSAW BATTLES
- When in GOW2 mode, the left thumb-stick will always be Rapid ‘B’ button presses. This is ideal for chainsaw battles because the user must spam B button to win.
- To operate, simply press the B button to initiate the chainsaw battle with your opponent. Once engaged in battle simply press and hold the Left Thumb-stick in for rapid B and you will win!
MODE 5 (COD4 FAST RELOAD)
- First turn Fast Reload ON/OFF
- Press and hold the Left Thumb-stick in.
- Tap Right on the Directional Pad
- LED Indicator
- LED will stay illuminated, indicating Fast Reload is ON.
- To Fast Reload
- Tap the X button
- To toggle rapid fire ON/OFF
- Press and hold the Right Thumb-stick in.
- Tap Right on the Directional Pad
Call of Duty 4 Fast Reload Weapon Compatibility- M16A4, G36c, AK-47, M14, M4 Carbine, AK-74u, G3 M21, Dragunov
MODE 6 (MW2 FAST RELOAD)
- First turn Fast Reload ON/OFF
- Press and hold the Left Thumb-stick in.
- Tap Right on the Directional Pad
- LED Indicator
- LED will stay illuminated, indicating Fast Reload is ON.
- To Fast Reload
- Tap the X button
- To toggle rapid fire ON/OFF
- Press and hold the Right Thumb-stick in.
- Tap Right on the Directional Pad
Modern Warfare 2- M4A1, Scar, TAR-21, FAL,AK-47, M14, EBRMP5K, UMP45, Vector, P90, Intervention, Dragunov, G18, and RPG
Using a modded controller may not necessarially make you a better gamer, but it can make a single-player experience more enjoyable. I’m certain that using these mods in a live online game will certainly be detected and get you banned, so I would only recommend this for single-play or local LAN games.
The new sticks do feel comfortable and have a different shape and rubberized grip. experience tells me that this extra layer of rubber will eventually wear off, especially with heavy use. If you are really having a problem with thumb slippage, then I recommend using slip-on silicon GelTabz (reviewed here).
The new D-pad buttons are designed for FPS gamers, as there is absolutely no way to make an accidental diagonal movement. I would recommend switching to another controller for arcade games that use the D-pad for movement.
Enabling the mods is rather simple once you know how, but finding this information is near impossible, even on Evil Controller’s own website. The Google searches even pointed to dead pages on Evil’s old website. Thankfully we have re-printed these instructions in this review.
There are several flavors of Evil modded controllers, which vary in price depending on what you’re looking for. A basic wireless Evil D-pad controller (with no internal mods) costs about $20 more than a standard controller. A controller with the internal mods can cost between $100 to $200, and as mentioned before is not legal in online competition. It is a fun toy and does make single-player games much more enjoyable. If you’re a serious gamer then a modded controller is a no-brainer, and a solidly-built one like Evil Controllers should be at the top of your list.
The Good
- New no-slip thumbsticks
- Enanced accuracy
- D-pad buttons prevent diagonals
- Amazing enhancements in compatible FPS games
The Bad
- AA batteries required
- Expensive
- Enabled mods can hinder some actions (toggling snipe scope, respawn, etc.)
- Illegal in online games
- Limited game compatibility, future games may require patching
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