Space Marine 2 is on the way from Focus Entertainment (Our review will be landing very soon) – and to commemorate the new game Warhammer Merch have a rather awesome looking limited edition PS5 controller available to purchase now! What’s the controller like, and is it worth the price? We’ll be checking that out in this full review!

Massive thanks to Warhammer Merch for sending us over a free sample for us to review – If you would like to support the site and pick up your own controller then you can get yours through our affiliate link to Warhammer Mech! Don’t forget you can also pick up Warhammer 40k goodies through our affiliate Element Games too!

So on with the review – What’s the Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine 2 PlayStation 5 Controller like, and how does it check out in the flesh?

I think it’s safe to say that there were a lot of raised eyebrows when this pad went up for pre order at £125. The RRP of an official pad in black is £64.99 – so that’s quite the jump in price for this limited edition pad to commemorate Space Marine 2 getting released. I had concerns looking at the images on the site that it looked a little washed out too, so was eager to get my hands on it and see what it looked like in the flesh.

Presentation wise, I was impressed when it turned up earlier this week. Displayed in a really attractive magnetically shutting box it certainly looked the part for a premium controller – had this just turned up in a tatty box I’d maybe have had a different first impression, but for Space Marine 2 collectors (And let’s face it, this is something that’s aimed at the hardcore fans) that box is certainly a good starting point.

Inside the magnetic box we have an inner box that contains the pad – and here we get a little info about what is inside. This is indeed an official PlayStation 5 pad (And a standard DuelSense Wireless Controller at that, if you come in to this expecting something like the DuelSense Edge then you might be a little disappointed) and it has been customised for Warhammer Merch by Custom Controllers

Custom Controllers are a website that do both nice limited edition controllers and also bespoke ones too – and these start at around £99.99 direct from them – It’s worth pointing out here that the Space Marine 2 pad is exclusive to the Warhammer Merch store, so you’ll not be able to pick up one directly from Custom Controllers. With this in mind, it’s not actually as big a mark up as I was expecting – Yes, you are paying a £25 premium here, but you are getting a pretty cool limited edition design and a really nice box for it. I know this isn’t going to be for everyone, but in the same way that not everyone has two titans sat in their display case, some people are going to really love the chance to get something that not everyone has and let’s them show off their love of Space Marine 2

While on the website pictures I felt the design looked a little washed out, it’s actually much more vivid on the actual pad, and there’s lots of cool little details I hadn’t seen originally. The design wraps around the front surfaces and curves of the pad, depicting Titus being attached by a horde of Tyranid nasties, with the Space Marine 2 emblazoned on the touch pad front and centre!

Rather than printed components that have been clicked onto the standard pad, it looks like the printed parts are precision cut vinyl that have then been attached to the pad. This has been done cleanly and there were no bits sticking out or overhanging which would have mad this feel uncomfortable to hold. In fact, the printed areas have more texture that a normal pad, that I found gave it a little more grip than a vanilla PS5 pad.

Now, it’s worth pointing out that I’ve only been using this for a few days so far – nothing as deteriorated or shifted, and it sill looks vibrant, but I still need to see how it holds up to a more extended gaming session. I’ve used it for a few full charges and it still looks as good as it did out of the box, and the box itself advises that it has a full 3 month design warranty, which I suspect is to capture any misalignment or incorrectly attached parts – I’ll update this article in a couple of months when it has more of a vigerous workout, but so far so good and I’ve got high hopes of this thing staying looking good. Looking online, Custom Controllers have had positive reviews for other designs, so I can’t see this being any different!

It synced to the console without any issues by using the USB cable that came with the PS5 – no cable comes in the box, but that is also true of any official PS5 pads. While I’ve not tried it yet, the pad can also be used via Bluetooth to Apple and Android devices, and can be used on PC via USB cable. The pad was also charged out of the box, meaning that I was ready to dive into Space Marine 2 straight away!

So the biggest question is “is it worth £125”? Honestly, that really depends on who you are and what your hobby is. For me, I’d grumble over buying a standard pad full price at £65 – but I’m a pretty casual gamer! Equally though, I’d think nothing of spending that much on a single figure, something that most people would be shocked at. There are many people who’s main passion is gaming and love to collect interesting and fun items that other people don’t have – And many would love nothing more than having a really cool looking pad depicting their favourite game that they can show off to their friends or streaming audience. With these kinds of things it all boils down to the bragging rights of having something that isn’t very common, and that itself sets part of the premium price.

Equally, if you are a fan of Space Marine 2, then adding this to your collection (alongside some of the other awesome merch that has been released for it) may be something that you want to do.

The pad is well put together and the design does look really cool – I do feel that the magnetic outer case also adds to the premium feel to the controller, and I know some people will be really excited to pick this up and show the world their love of Space Marine 2. Equally though, if you’re not looking for something a little more unique, then for the same price you could pick up the game itself along with a standard pad for around the same price.

The Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine 2 PlayStation 5 Custom Controller is available to order now from Warhammer Merch (An Xbox Series X pad is also available)

Massive thanks to Warhammer Merch for sending us over a free review copy.