PDP Rematch Wired Controller Review

While my preferred control method on the PC is keyboard & mouse, there are certain games that are better with a controller. Sometimes it’s because the keyboard controls were designed by a crazy person, but most often it’s because a keyboard doesn’t let you choose a movement speed the same way that tilting a stick does.

Of course, the PDP Rematch is a licensed controller, so that means it works perfectly well with the Xbox Series X (and likely other Xboxs) too, but I’ve mainly been using it for PC games. It has all of the same buttons as the official controllers, but it also has two paddles on the back which are customisable in the PDP Control Hub app. There is a microphone mute button at the bottom, so when taking screenshots don’t mix them up! You also get a long USB-C cable which attaches firmly to the controller.

The controller feels nice and solid, quite well constructed. The buttons feel a little stiffer than the official controller, but I wouldn’t say that’s a bad thing. Whereas official controllers have a coarse finish to the edges and thumb sticks, the finish on the Rematch is much finer and feels nicer in the hands. On the thumb sticks in particular it is very light, in fact it’s almost unnoticeable. Having used my official controller since the Xbox X|S released the coarse thumb stick grooves have worn away in places, so it’s nice to have something that I probably won’t miss once it wears away from use.

My only gripe with the Rematch is that the d-pad feels spongy when pressed. Not a lot of games require the d-pad, but if you need to press it in a hurry there’s a risk that whatever you wanted to happen won’t, because you didn’t press it hard enough.

Overall, the PDP Rematch is a great controller at about half the price of an official model. If you don’t mind cables (which I don’t) then it’s an ideal replacement and well worth a look.