Cyborg F.L.Y.9 Wireless Flight Stick Xbox 360 Review

I choose my games wisely for the F.L.Y.9, sticking mainly to Tom Clancy’s well proven title, HAWX 2.  Performance was exceptionally accurate throughout my tests, by which I mean I couldn’t flight straight for the first half an hour, reminding me that it had been a couple of years since I last held a flight stick, but I perservered and took things slowly.  Making the transition from a standard Xbox controller to a flight stick takes some getting used to, but once you get used to it, the accuracy you can archive is second to none, giving you absolute control over your jet that you just can’t appreciate with the dual thumb sticks of the standard controller.

The best moment I found was a part of HAWX 2 where you have to refule your jet mid flight, the final approach where balancing your throttle and making minor steering adjustments is vital and using the sticks twist controls was fantastic.  OK I found it extremely difficult, but I still had a lot of fun doing it. With a couple of hours extra practice though I was able to appreciate the subtleties of the stick and eventually my flying skills were much better than I could ever do on a standard controller.

Dog fights were by far improved also, the buttons are placed perfectly on this controller, after you’ve adjusted it of course, meaning that you don’t find your self glancing down at the stick to find buttons when you really need to be keeping your sights locked on your target.  Being able to pull back on the stick and accurately chase another jet in the clouds using this stick was an absolute blast.

I also gave this stick a run through on Ace Combat 6 and H.A.W.X 1 and performance throughout both these titles was just as great there as it was in HAWX 2.

The addition of being able to sit on my couch or at my desk while playing was also a welcome addition here, I sided with the couch for the most part though, but thanks to its handy detachable leg rests it wasn’t any trouble at all switching between the two when I had to.