Mad Catz MCZ R.A.T.TE Mouse - White (PC DVD)

I am over the moon! This is the first wheel I have ever bought, however not the first one I have used. I love cars and driving but I have never truly got into a racing simulator on a games consol, why? Well that's the question I asked myself when admiring the next gen forza game for the xbox one. The answer.......control pad! Truly not the way to simulate a driving game. So I took one hell of a plunge and spent over £400 on this wheel and a stand to hook it onto....... and here's what I found.I put a lot of research into a product before parting with my hard earned cash but on this occasion finding customer reviews was hard, I don't think this wheel is fully available yet. Prior to this I had looked at the thrustmaster xbox one wheel but was put off by reading the wheel itself felt cheap and plastic, I wanted it to feel real in my hands. Madcatz had simular features to the thrustmaster but the wheel and Pedals looked far superior. So I went for it!Unboxing.......huge box this kit comes in! Lots of bits, bags of screws, card board! But once you find the instructions you notice that you don't need the majority of the bits, it's a relief, extra parts are to be used depending on your set up. I was hooking onto a stand I purchased so used the simple clamps and the rest of the kit went away in the cupboard. Set up took me about 20 mins.First run........ I'm booting up forza, sat behind the wheel, smiling. Pedals feel great, wheel in my hand is feeling awesome, very good quality and build all in all. Game loaded up I take to the track in a Dodge Challenger (holiday rental car) 3, 2, 1.......foot down, car doesn't move. Wheel moves on screen with the unit, gears change with the paddles but the accelerater isn't working. Checked wire, quit out and back in, still won't work........ switched xbox off whilst I searched for help online, found none. Switched back on for a second try and BOOM, it's working. Yes! No idea what the prob was. Anyway it instantly becomes apparent that using a wheel brings a huge amount of realism to the sim, I was all over the place. So I jumped in a clio to try it out on a car a bit slower and easier to drive. It was great, loved it.Overall....... This is exactly what I wanted. I love the racing game with this wheel. It makes the sim so realistic. The mechanics of the wheel are amazing, I read somewhere we have two force feedback motors inside the unit, this brings so much realism to the cars. You can really feel the difference in you hands between a Ferrari, Dodge, clio, range rover...... It's amazing, so impressive. You can feel the road, the bumps, the slips, everything! This bit of kit is awesome. Now I'm not new to this tech, my old housemate was a huge f1 fan and he had a force feedback wheel for the xbox 360 but it wasn't a patch on this, this wheel is next gen, designed for Xbox, with forza in mind with the ability to upgrade in the future. The wheel easily detaches from the unit so Madcatz can release future wheels, f1 etc.Lastly I'd like to mention a buddy of mine. He came round on Saturday and I mentioned the wheel. He didn't seem impressed as he doesn't like car games......... He tried it out, and spent the weekend playing forza! Loved it. So if you like cars and the idea of racing but have found it hard to get into consol racing games with a pad, buy this wheel, you will love it.To summarise, this has far exceeded my expectations. The force feedback is incredible, couldn't of imagined how realistic this could feel. Build quality is great and the kit looks brilliant. Pedals are big so bare in mind when you buy a stand. 5* easily wish I could give more.

Good Points.-The software is great no cd just download from their website.-loads of buttons with the modes. each mode has a different colour with a different led.-the dpi can be put up or down with a small button with 4 leds indicating the level-feels great in the hand can adjust the back of the mouse-cool style that doesn't interfere with the ergonomics of the mouse-software has presets for loads of games like battlefield and online mmo's and you can download more from there websiteBad-mode button slightly difficult to press but that doesn't bother to much as it doesn't need to be clicked that often-for the price of the mouse the finishes in some places are pretty poor. for example on the large left and right mouse buttons there are mould ends which haven't really been smoothed down.-bottom pads like so many mice pick up a lot of stuff off the desk in no time at all would of liked to see something else used that isn't so sticky and picks up dust-they say 9 programmable buttons but it is really only 7 as 2 off them are scroll up and scroll down which aren't really buttonsapart from the small bits it is a great mouse and easy to use and offers great shortcuts with all its extra buttons. the overbuild quality is quite good apart from small areas but feels solid considering its very light weight.

It a very nice mouse and suitable for a lot of gamers out there, it a has a wide range of DPI and very good sensors. The driver is easily recognizable and it very easy to download the system for the mouse. It the wires are quite long and sturdy: making the mouse quite durable. Cons: the wrist rest is quite uncomfortable as my hands aren't as big and it stands above the upper half of the mouse so you would feel a bump - it adjustable but I find it very weird and uncomfortable however once you get over that the mouse becomes a very good mouse for its price. Overall the mouse is very good and I would recommend it if you are looking around £30-£40 mouses.

Great mouse with fantastic tracking.Limited on the alteration front and there isn't any weights to alter the feel (this mouse is very light) but once you get used to it its a cracking mouse with briliant software. Macro's are as easy as drag and drop the icons, idiot proof.Great for long sessions on FPS games or mmo's (using mine for WoW) does what a mouse should without loads of unnecessary bells and whistles.

Coming from 2 failed attempts with Thrustmaster for Xbox One, I have a good impression on this one.When compared, it was easy to connect (we even can switch on the console from the wheel) and has been reliable without any disconnect so far (something I can't tell from the Thrustmaster ones).One thing I feel weak is the force feedback on Forza 5. Compared with the Thrustmaster wheels the feeling is much more soft and has not that punch, but we get used to it.Another thing I like less is the neutral position feeling... while driving it feels like a tooth is missing on the mechanism, like a gap in the mechanism internal wheels.Also we can hear this wheels working... at least at night when you lower the TV sound.But in overall... and again, after 2 bad experiences with Thrustmaster in couple months, I have to say I'm happy with the Mad Catz. I just hope it will work fine with Horizon 2 and with Cars Project.