Who hasn’t been lured by the vastness of the sky and unlimited freedom it promises? Very few of us can boast of having a personal plane, but why not immerse yourself into the atmosphere of flights in the evening, after work or studies? Get comfortable in your arm-chair, take a joystick, start IL-2 (by the way, World of Planes is also coming) – and fly!

An arm-chair doesn’t usually make a problem, games either. Yet it’s not so simple with joysticks, so let’s put in a word about them. Using a keyboard and a mouse, you won’t be able to show off in the sky the way you do with a joystick. Now we are holding a pretty intriguing model – Sven Aggressor. Though it’s quite inexpensive, it has all the main useful elements a decent joystick must have, all the four axes and even feedback – vibration. By the looks, the device hardly differs from more expensive models, and we were a bit puzzled with it and, what’s important, interested.

Packing

The joystick is packed into a white-blue middle-sized box with a convenient carry handle.

The package contents are standard: the joystick itself, an operation manual, a warranty card and a software CD. However, anything above this would be too much – the most important thing is for the device to turn out useful.

Exterior

The box is open, all the contents are out, and now let’s take a close view of the joystick. Sven Aggressor attracts attention due to its serious and a bit brutal appearance. The device is made of black plastic and metal, it consists of two parts: a flight control stick and a rectangular base. In appearance, the joystick is rugged, without any useless decorations – only what you need for work. In a word, the very name of the model reflects its design.

In our case, the base is a silvery round with four earlets, with a hole each. At the bottom, there are four rubber suction cups preventing the device from slipping along the table during the game. We won’t assert that the suction cups fix the device dead, but they are enough, taking into account the fact that the joystick is held with the left hand during the game. Beside this, the base is hiding a slide to switch on the vibration feedback. Let’s put it aside for now, yet this is a curious thing.

The stick of Sven Aggressor is pretty good. It’s directed straight up from the base, and the junction is covered with a small rubber hood. The remarkable thing about it is a very comfortable shape: all the fingers are in place, all the buttons are handily located; under the wrist, there is a special platform to rest your hand. To control the plane, the flight control stick can be turned forward- backward, left-right, and twisted. There are three axes available – X, Y, Z – which is excellent (and very seldom observed in entry-level models). It’s not bad so far; however, it’s just a half of the matter.

There are also some important buttons on the handle. Its top is flattened, and right under the thumb, there is a hat switch for changing the viewing angle and four extra buttons. On the other side, under the index finger, there is a trigger operating like a button. Another button is hidden in a deepening on the left side. All the elements are rationally located, so the abundance of buttons deserves a compliment.

The base, as we’ve already mentioned, is also used for controlling – it has six buttons and a sliding throttle for draft control. These elements appear under the left hand during the game.

The first survey has left controversial impression. The appearance and design of the device promise very rich functionality – it’s time to heap praises upon it if in addition you remember that it’s reasonably priced. Still there must be something that could explain why the device is so inexpensive. And plastic without rubberized coating is not the worst price for it. So let’s see what the device is like in operation. If the joystick is good in this, such trifles can be ignored.

Installation

The most zealous experimentalists can, of course, try the joystick in shooters, RPGs and races of all kinds. Still we don’t seek any new inexperienced sensations, but examine the suitability of the joystick to its main purpose – flight simulation, so we traditionally switch on IL-2 Shturmovik right away. (Actually, any starships, helicopters and boats would suit for the test, but we decided to settle upon classics. By the way, Sven Aggressor is connected via a USB port and easily identified by a computer even without installation of drivers, which is a plus – the joystick is ready to run on the spot (it only needs some setting in game options). Besides, the software on the included CD allows to calibrate the joystick according to the axes, program buttons, as well as set the vibration feedback force and frequency, so you can install it – it’s quite useful.

Testing

If you have played using only a keyboard or a mouse so far, be ready: it won’t be easy at once. It’ll take some time to get used to the new controls. Still, they are more convenient and natural, and flying on Sven Aggressor is pretty easy, so in a couple of hours it’ll work out.

What’s pleasant? Buttons and various controls are conveniently located, and everything you need in the game is at hand (if you‘ve preset it beforehand, of course). The flight control stick turned out to be tight enough and pretty accurate (it leans left-right and forward-backward just a little, about 30° only, but the pressing can be graded precisely, as analogue principle works), there are deadzones in extreme positions, but they are small and don’t affect your playing. The stick has ordinary 10° twist in both directions – nothing special, but the fact there is one is an important advantage. The stroke of the buttons is accurate and informative, draft control is excellent. What we especially like is that the hat switch at the top of the stick has not four, but eight positions – it’s much more useful for the game. So, we must admit that the major control elements are convenient in operation and not just edible, but quite good.

Generally, flying with this joystick was pleasant and interesting. Professionals can wrinkle their noses a little, but for an unpretentious pilot it’s OK. Moreover, we’ve mentioned that for decorating the game, the device has vibration feedback you can switch on and off at your wish. This is not to say it seems very natural, but this function will add new impressions to your flights, and this is another plus.

Conclusion

Speaking in a roundabout way, novice aviators have good and bad variants. So, Sven Aggressor is a good inexpensive and very functional variant for entry-level pilots and mid-level gamers. Here we can see a convenient 3D joystick having good ergonomics and quite a few buttons. The most important thing is that it has everything – let’s put the keyboard aside and enjoy the game.

After trying this model, someone might want to buy a joystick for hundreds of dollars or a cool device, not resistor-, but Hall-effect-based, with a pedal unit and a draft control lever. But this will be a completely different story. Though, if you have some $20, and your aim is to try playing with a joystick, this model is a perfect choice. Judge yourselves: the shape is comfortable, the device is functional, all the necessary controllers are available, as well as twist, draft and viewing angle switch. It’s a rarity. In general, this turned out to be a decent device, surely deserving a positive estimate.

Advantages:

• good and very convenient stick shape;
• lots of programmable buttons;
• excellent draft throttle, twist for prowling, eight-position hat switch for directing your eye;
• reasonable price for such functionality.