Max
Shooter Keyboard & Mouse Adapter
For PS2 & XBOX
by:
Jeromy
The third and latest XBOX/PS2
keyboard & mouse adapter to
hit the market is the Max Shooter.
Before this adapter was released
there was a good chance that the
guy destroying you in Halo 2 was
using a regular XBOX controller
and not one of the previously
released keyboard & mouse
adapters. Enter Max Shooter stage
right. Now you should be afraid,
very afraid, as the Max Shooter
basically turns the console FPS
into a PC FPS with all the accuracy
that that entails. After spending
a good few days playing Halo 2,
Socom II, and Unreal Championship
2 there is little doubt that FPS
games were mostly made to be played
with a mouse and keyboard.
What’s In The Package
The Max Shooter, both the XBOX
and PS2 versions, come in a small
package that holds the actual
hardware and an instruction manual.
The adapter only accepts PS/2
compatible keyboards and mice
so if you have USB peripherals
you’ll need to get an adapter
or head over to the old used PC
shop and pickup an old keyboard
and mouse combo.
The actual adapter is small in
size and doesn’t hog any serious
amount of extra space. The XBOX
version features an extra slot
on the backside of the adapter
for a memory card to plug in.
Features
The Max Shooter, both for XBOX
and PS2, is packed with a wide
array of functionality which can
be accessed by using certain keyboard
key combinations listed in the
manual. It is fully programmable
and also comes with game presets
for many titles. The XBOX and
PS2 presets are listed below.
XBOX Game Presets
- Halo
- Medal of Honor: Frontline
- The Chronicles of Riddick
- Counter Strike
- James Bond 007: Nightfire
- Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six 3
- Return to Castle Wolfenstein
- Unreal Championship
PS2 Game Presets
- Socom II
- Medal of Honor: Frontline
- Time Splitters 2
- James Bond 007: Nightfire
- Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six 3
- Ghost Recon: Jungle Storm
- Return to Castle Wolfenstein
- REZ
If your favorite shooter isn’t
listed above, the Max Shooter
also has three programmable controller
setups to fill your needs. The
variables that can be adjusted
include key assignment, deadzone
adjustment, mouse speed, and mouse
inversion. Most seasoned gamers
know about all these terms but
might not be familiar with the
deadzone. The manual describes
the deadzone as the zone within
an axis range that is interpreted
as being at rest.
Along with the game presets,
the factory default preset automatically
assigns keys in the following
way.
The selection of game presets
and programming for custom games
is all very straightforward, if
not time consuming, and is well
explained within the manual.
All these features are great
but what really matters is how
it holds up in the games. So without
further ado let us jump in to
our first game.
Halo 2
My first experience with the
Max Shooter and Halo 2 was less
than stellar, but that was completely
my fault. Like most gamers I know
I jumped in head first without
reading a single page of the instruction
manual which was a really bad
move. The factory default setup
is pretty much only suited for
menu navigation.
So I popped open the manual and
found out about the presets, sadly
no Halo 2, and decided to try
out the Halo 1 preset so I could
get a quick start. Everything
worked ok but it wasn’t better
than the XBOX controller I had
become so accustomed to. In fact,
it was much worse. The mouse sensitivity
was horrible and the keys were
mapped semi-incorrectly. But again
this was my entire fault and I
dove back into the manual to see
how to fix my problems.
An hour and a half later I had
finished tweaking one of the user
programmable presets included
in the Max Shooter and things
were starting to feel much much
better. The mouse responded close
to what I would expect from a
PC FPS and the keys were all mapped
to my liking, but I was still
sprawled out on the floor in an
awkward position. I wasn’t quite
in FPS bliss.
Another thirty minutes later
I had a table setup with the TV,
mouse, and keyboard in the regular
PC positions and things were feeling
even better. The Halo 2 bots didn’t
know what hit them, but the mouse
movement was still a bit off.
Then I noticed in the manual that
this is one of the biggest issues
that needs to be resolved when
setting up the Max Shooter and
that I should max out the sensitivity
settings within the game for optimal
“PC Like” results. So I did that
and it proved to be the one tweak
that turned Halo 2 into my first
PC FPS on a console. The controls
are that good.
I finally decided my setup was
ready for prime time and I headed
online to face the masses. I must
note that my ranking in Halo 2
was quite low before I got the
Max Shooter and that the PC FPS
setup has always been better for
me than any console controller.
So with that said, I jumped into
an online match and low and behold
I got my rear end handed to me
like always, but it was just the
first match so I pushed on.
I changed my weapon setup from
what I usually used to what I
thought would be great for accuracy
based shots and wow did that make
a difference. Now all I use is
the Battle Rifle. Four hours later
I emerged with a better ranking
and an awesome kill to death ratio.
My hit rate and shooting speed
went way up with my new found
accuracy and the competition was
destroyed because of it.
Once the Max Shooter is tweaked
to a gamers liking, it is an incredibly
deadly controller for Halo 2.
But Halo 2 is just one of the
FPS games out there so lets see
how it holds up with the others.Unreal
Championship 2
I confess this is my favorite
all time XBOX game, so I was extremely
excited to see how it would hold
up with a mouse and keyboard.
I once again tried out a preset
which didn’t hold up so well and
then went on to create my own
setup. Once the setup was done
I headed online for a FPS shocker.
I used the same mentality I had
in Halo 2; go for the accuracy
based weapons. I loaded up the
sniper rifle, headed to a dark
corner, and started sniping. My
TV echoed “Headshot” many times
before the match was over, but
that was mostly because no one
ever found me. The next match
was much different.
The rest of the matches I played
online with the Max Shooter were
populated with very good players.
They would find me sniping and
then destroy me. It seems the
problem with Unreal Championship
2 is that it was designed to only
be a console FPS. Much of the
gameplay really relies on the
button configuration on the controller.
Thus I couldn’t bounce around
the walls, dodge, and reflect
as well as I could with the controller.
This could be because I have spent
so much time with the controller
that I couldn’t break my habits,
but I believe this is one case
where the Max Shooter isn’t superior.
So one game is completely changed
by the adapter and one is built
too much around a standard controller
to benefit from it. Next up is
the PS2 and Socom II; let’s see
how the PS2 version of Max Shooter
fairs.
Socom II
Once again I connected the keyboard
and mouse to the adapter, plugged
it into the PS2, and immediately
got a good connection. I surfed
through the menus with ease and
entered an online game. This time
around there is a preset available
for the actual game I’m playing.
I loaded up the preset and was
pleasantly surprised to find the
preset layout to be perfect for
Socom gameplay.
It felt good and worked just
as well as it did in Halo 2. I
don’t play a lot of Socom but
I found myself playing quite a
bit in this setup as I could never
get into using the PS2 controller
for FPS gameplay.
With the large amount of customization,
the ease of use, and the low price
this adapter is really worth every
penny. If you really want an advantage
in games like Halo 2 or just want
to try a new controller setup
I would definitely recommend picking
the Max Shooter.
Pros
- Plug and Play
- Customization and presets
- Low price
Cons
- Lack of new title presets
Overall Score: 9.5
