The HORI TAC3 is a combo keypad and mouse, both wired, for use with the PS3 via USB.
The quality of construction is typical of HORI - excellent. The keys and buttons are responsive and the mouse tracks well. An optional palm rest for your left hand is comfortable but not plush. Keys are laid out well, though not quite ergonomically. Keys are backlit, but the backlighting doesn't illumintae the writing on the keys. While the layout mimics a PC keyboard, there are some major departures as you can see from the picture. The mouse pad that comes with the controller is cheap and far too small - in a word: useless.
The premise of the HORI TAC3 is to allow PC gamers to transition to the PS3 both their skills and comfort at keyboard and mouse inputs. Simply giving gamers access to keyboard and mouse hardware does not address the fact that ps3 game controls are programmed differently than PC game controls. In PC games your mouse is meant to move fluidly and quickly. In PS3 games your control pad relies on degrees of tilt to determine rates of movement and even the hardest tilt will result in a fairly slow movement compared to what you can do with a mouse on a PC. Additionally, some games assist the aim of the player subtly, though sometimes this option is defeatable. In short, the way motion is handled by PS3 games differs enough to confound the HORI TAC3. HORI tries to smooth over these problem areas with limited success.
The first game I tried out with the TAC3 was Bioshock. I went through Bioshock on a control pad on hard without much difficulty. Using the TAC3, medium was quite challenging. The main issues I encountered were poor panning and modest lag. As long as my field of view was where I wanted it, I had plenty of control over aiming my reticle, but to move my field of view 180° was far too cumbersome and time consuming. If I had been using a much larger mouse pad then it would have been more tolerable, but I still would have had to pick up my mouse and move it over to accomplish a full about face. The lag was not too bad, but was enough to cause me to slightly overshoot targets, which detracts from the purpose of this device. On the plus, I found the controls allowed me to move more freely and efficiently than using a control pad.
Overall, I enjoyed the TAC3, but found it impractical. Training myself to use the TAC3 would have improved my results considerably, but I'm confident it would not have given me a significant edge over the PS3 control pad in the end. The ability to customize your buttons (stickers included) easily and choose between three sensitivities helps round out a decent package. Despite its flaws, I'd still recommend the TAC3 to a select audience. If you are a seasoned PC gamer who's never learned how to handle a PS3 controller, the TAC3 should help you avoid going through the learning curve of switching to a completely different control scheme.
The quality of construction is typical of HORI - excellent. The keys and buttons are responsive and the mouse tracks well. An optional palm rest for your left hand is comfortable but not plush. Keys are laid out well, though not quite ergonomically. Keys are backlit, but the backlighting doesn't illumintae the writing on the keys. While the layout mimics a PC keyboard, there are some major departures as you can see from the picture. The mouse pad that comes with the controller is cheap and far too small - in a word: useless.
The premise of the HORI TAC3 is to allow PC gamers to transition to the PS3 both their skills and comfort at keyboard and mouse inputs. Simply giving gamers access to keyboard and mouse hardware does not address the fact that ps3 game controls are programmed differently than PC game controls. In PC games your mouse is meant to move fluidly and quickly. In PS3 games your control pad relies on degrees of tilt to determine rates of movement and even the hardest tilt will result in a fairly slow movement compared to what you can do with a mouse on a PC. Additionally, some games assist the aim of the player subtly, though sometimes this option is defeatable. In short, the way motion is handled by PS3 games differs enough to confound the HORI TAC3. HORI tries to smooth over these problem areas with limited success.
The first game I tried out with the TAC3 was Bioshock. I went through Bioshock on a control pad on hard without much difficulty. Using the TAC3, medium was quite challenging. The main issues I encountered were poor panning and modest lag. As long as my field of view was where I wanted it, I had plenty of control over aiming my reticle, but to move my field of view 180° was far too cumbersome and time consuming. If I had been using a much larger mouse pad then it would have been more tolerable, but I still would have had to pick up my mouse and move it over to accomplish a full about face. The lag was not too bad, but was enough to cause me to slightly overshoot targets, which detracts from the purpose of this device. On the plus, I found the controls allowed me to move more freely and efficiently than using a control pad.
Overall, I enjoyed the TAC3, but found it impractical. Training myself to use the TAC3 would have improved my results considerably, but I'm confident it would not have given me a significant edge over the PS3 control pad in the end. The ability to customize your buttons (stickers included) easily and choose between three sensitivities helps round out a decent package. Despite its flaws, I'd still recommend the TAC3 to a select audience. If you are a seasoned PC gamer who's never learned how to handle a PS3 controller, the TAC3 should help you avoid going through the learning curve of switching to a completely different control scheme.
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