Sony DUALSHOCK4 Back Button Attachment Review: Gimmick or Game Changer?

If you’re a PS4 gamer, you’ve probably noticed some of the buzz going around lately around Sony’s new controller attachment. Aptly named the Sony DUALSHOCK4 Back Button Attachment, this new gadget allows for two new buttons (attached to the back of the controller like paddles) to be added and mapped as the player sees fit to any existing button on the controller. While the name is very descriptive, it wasn’t very clear to a lot of people what the purpose of this new peripheral was and why they would need it. Let me try and break it down for anyone still in that boat because, at first glance, this can be a bit confusing for those not in the know.

First, it’s important to state what this thing isn’t. It does not add two new unique buttons to the controller (no L4/R4). It also does not allow for button combo or macro mapping (sorry fighting game fans). Instead, it does add two new buttons on the back of the controller that can be mapped to any existing button on the controller. For example, I often use it to map the X and O buttons, so when I’m playing a game, I can either press the face button for X or hit the paddle button on the back for the same result. In essence, that sounds pretty useless, but there’s more to it than meets the eye.  

The whole point for something like this is that gaming with a controller has a HUGE disadvantage over gaming with a keyboard/mouse. Console gamers, no need to get upset here, I love my PlayStation as much as the next guy, but controllers are a huge step back from keyboard/mouse and with more and more multiplayer games toying with crossplay between PC and console, you need to know what your competition is bringing to the table. One of the major disadvantages of the controller setup is that generally speaking, you have two thumbsticks (one for movement and one for aiming) and 4 face buttons (often jump, crouch, reload, swap). This works just fine except you’ve only got two thumbs, so every time you need to jump, you’re no longer able to be aiming or controlling your field of view, that thumb is off the stick and on that face button. With this attachment, you can do all this while constantly maintaining aim and control. This may not seem like a big deal, but it makes a much bigger difference than you might think with some games.

Pro gamers have been on to this trend for years, but until now, you’d have to shell out around $200 for a third-party pro controller from a company like Scuf to get the upper hand, and from the reviews online, these expensive controllers break constantly, so I’ve never dipped my toes in that water. Luckily, Sony has just released this attachment that gives you these advantages with their tried and true DUALSHOCK4 controllers and it runs a cool $30, which is pretty accessible for most people.  

I’ve spent some serious time with this new attachment and I figured I would share my experience with you guys so you can decide for yourself what you think and if you should be picking one up. To put this thing through the paces, I have logged about 20 hours in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare multiplayer and went through and completed a Platinum Trophy on DOOM 2016, all with this attachment. 

I started with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, and if I’m being honest, this thing almost went right back to the store. The first thing I noticed was that this attachment was changing the way I had to grip the controller and I didn’t like the way that it felt in the hands. Sony did a pretty good job of keeping this thing from being cumbersome, but there’s no way around it, adding two buttons to the back grip means no more “death grip”, you’re going to have to learn to play with a looser, more open grip style. While this didn’t result in many accidental button presses, it was definitely driving me crazy over the first several hours. Also, be warned, this thing has quite the learning curve on it and you’ll be playing like trash for a little while as you break years of motor reflexes. If you’ve been gaming for as long as I have, your brain instinctively knows to reach for that face button for every crouch/jump and getting it to pull a paddle instead takes lots of retraining. This led to a lot of second-guess moments, which in turn led to a lot of needless deaths. Ultimately, what I was finding was that this attachment that was supposed to be giving me a slight competitive advantage was actually putting me at a severe disadvantage, so I decided to stop ruining my hard-earned KD ratio and shift gears to something else before deciding on whether or not this attachment was going back to the store, but I was leaning pretty hard in that direction.

Since I didn’t want to ruin any more multiplayer records, I decided to play a game that I had loved on PC but had been unable to really breach on console due to controller limitations - DOOM 2016. DOOM was one of my favorites and I played it extensively on PC but when I picked it up for Playstation, I couldn’t stand it. This game is all about constant movement, aerial acrobatics, and jump shooting and as we know, the standard controller is just not the right tool for the job. Because you’re taking your thumbs off the stick so often for all the double jumping, you’re simply not able to effectively take on the brutal challenge this game throws your way, especially on higher difficulties. I thought the back buttons might make a difference and to make myself put it through the paces, I committed to snagging the Platinum Trophy with it, kicking and screaming if necessary. Luckily, this thing made all the difference in the world on this game. About a quarter of the way through the campaign, things were finally starting to click in my brain and the advantages this attachment promised were finally shining through all the original frustration. Ultimately, I breezed through the Platinum Trophy and started a second round on Ultra-Nightmare (which if you haven’t experienced, is one of the ultimate FPS gaming challenges out there today, bar none) and did almost as well as I had on PC, which is a huge testament to how much having the back buttons improved my play.

I have since started up again with Call of Duty, and if I’m being honest, I don’t see nearly the edge as I did with DOOM, but at least it’s finally not making things worse. After a couple more weeks of practice, I would expect to see a slight edge. Ultimately, this attachment works, but your mileage is going to vary wildly depending on the game and your playstyle. Any game with double jumps or jetpacks where you’re spending a lot of time on that X button (like DOOM or Titanfall) you’ll likely see a much greater improvement than games where you’re fairly grounded (like Battlefield or Modern Warfare).  To my mind, the only real sizeable advantage in Call of Duty would be the ability to aim slide around corners, which is highly effective when executed properly and can’t really be done right without the paddles (expect to hear a lot of shit talk about hacks in the chat once you master it).

Functionally, using the attachment is pretty easy. Aside from the two paddle buttons there is a middle display button that shows which of the 3 profiles is currently selected and which buttons the paddles are currently mapped to. A double press scrolls through profiles, a long press lets you remap buttons, which you do by scrolling through a list with the paddles - super intuitive, super easy. The display is OLED and is only on when you push the middle button so it draws relatively no power from the controller so you don’t need to worry about battery ramifications.

As a side note, there are a few inherent downsides to this attachment that are worth mentioning. First of all, it’s not the easiest thing to attach. The connector attaches to the 3mm jack and charging port at the bottom of the controller but to get the perfect, seamless fit (which they totally nailed), Sony had to put this connector on a hinge. Sometimes the attachment slides right on and sometimes you end up fighting it for 30 seconds and feeling like you’re going to break it before it finally goes in. Either way, I don’t think it’s a break-in factor because it’s not gotten any easier over time. This really wouldn’t be a big deal if you could just leave it on all the time, but if you’re using a controller charging dock like me, most of them use the bottom port so you’ll have to take it off when charging the controller back up or find a dock that uses the top port (there are a few out there). All in all, minor issues but inconvenient nonetheless.

In conclusion, this attachment allows you to follow the mantra ALWAYS BE AIMING. Whether you’re jetpacking through the sky or sliding around corners, you’ll have the ability to always be in control. While the learning curve is steep, the advantages are real and the price point has never been better, so if you’re looking to give yourself a little step up, I would highly recommend giving the DUALSHOCK4 Back Button Attachment a try. At $30, it’s almost a no brainer for a serious FPS gamer, just make sure you give yourself time to adjust your grip and reflexes before taking it into competitive play because you’re likely going to see a significant performance decrease until you get used to the new setup. Be patient and persistent and I think you’ll see some decent results. Is this going to magically make you a leet online multi-kill master? No, but if you practice, I think you’ll find a nice competitive edge that will turn the tables on the competition in the right situations and for me, that’s easily worth the time, practice, and price of entry.

Just for some starting ideas, here are some of the mappings that I have used with success. I’ll add more as I continue to use this with new games:

DOOM:  X (Left Paddle) Jump  / R3 (Right Paddle) Melee/Glory kill  

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare:  O (Left Paddle) Crouch/Slide  / X (Right Paddle) Jump/Mantle