Logitech have been around the electronic peripherals department for a long time now. The Swiss company are known and appreciated globally with their peripherals known to every gamer as some of the best peripherals around. From gaming keyboards such as the classic G15 to speakers like the Z906, each made with the enthusiast in mind. Their luxurious products have been sought after year in & year out.
Logitech have such been the leader when it comes to certain ranges like their keyboards and steering wheels. Each having a series on which as they advance they change ascetically and mechanically. Adding features and bringing them up to date whilst keeping the gamer in mind. Logitech’s steering wheels are no exception, their ‘G’ series steering wheels have been around for sometime now and all they do is keep getting better. To some, Logitech’s ‘G’ series steering wheels are thought to be the best when it comes to gaming wheels. The G29 adds to the already impressive list.
It’s clear from the off that this wheel is aimed at the Playstation 3/4 with support for the PC, with it’s counterpart the G920 aimed at the Xbox One. It looks great and stays true to the form of a real racing wheel. Visually, the leather on the wheel and the blue centre line make the wheel feel and look stunning but the crazy amount of buttons in the centre put me off big time. I wish they kept the look of the old G27 wheel, minimal but enough to operate. The steel centre is a nice touch too but I was disappointed by the two designs that Xbox One and PlayStation 4 each have the appropriate symbol in the middle leaving out PC. I feel like a simple Logitech logo would have sufficed here after all this is a Logitech device.
Some people have both consoles meaning that they are limited to what wheel they buy meaning I would need two wheels to play on both consoles. With the price tag of a lofty £200-300 these wheels are by no means cheap. PlayStation has the Gran Turismo franchise where as Xbox have Forza Motorsport 6. It’s a shame that we can’t just have a cross platform wheel. Maybe when cross-platform takes a bigger role Xbox and PlayStation may get on a bit better as friends? For now we are left with two wheels each and they are not cheap.
The wheel connected up really easy but I felt like I was having a bad hair day with all the wires that need feeding through. The wheel attached to my desk really easily with two knobs on the top which gripped or released the desk appropriately. Without an appropriate stand for the wheel a decent seating position is hard to come by and after about 10 minutes of playing my feet started to hurt and my hands numbed. Not only that, with hard flooring and a desk chair, I was pushing myself away from the peddles really easily when trying to brake.
The peddles are good quality. Stainless steel makes them feel and look nice but the mechanism in the clutch was annoying giving off a nasty squeak every time I pushed the clutch in. The peddles themselves were hard to master with a stretch trying to put the acceleration pedal all the way down, if the pedals had some sort of mechanism to put them on a better angle I feel this would have sufficed. The addition of a pop down grip for carpets is a nice touch though, and the rubber feet kept it from slipping too far.
Playing the G29 on Project CARS was extremely good fun. I simply connected the wheel to the PC with the supplied USB cable and viola. My PC installed the appropriate Logitech drivers and I launched Project CARS to find it had already picked up my wheel before I had to change anything. Project CARS even has multiple options to calibrate the wheel giving it a very personal feel and thus enjoying the experience even more.
Even when I spun out and damaged my suspension or something else on the car i felt it. At one point, I spun out and damaged my front right wheel. It caused my steering to be totally damaged and I was driving straight with the wheel on completely the opposite way. It just adds to the whole experience even if it ruined your lap time.
Shifting through gears was a breeze and felt nice but sometimes when on a tight corner I would loose which paddle was up and down. The gear peddles are nice to touch and have a satisfying click to them that almost make you want to keep shifting gear all the time. The LED shifter light is also a very nice touch giving you visual aid for when to shift up a gear. The duel motor force feedback is a nice touch and made me feel a lot more confident knowing the feedback from my wheel so I could adjust to compensate. This was also a pain sometimes. It almost felt like the wheel had a mind of it’s own as twisting that much I lost my position on the wheel and thus spinning out. Throughout my whole experience, the controls on the steering made it much easier to navigate the menus on track but I feel like the back buttons could have been left out to keep the wheel tidy but these wheels are aimed at console users and are helpful when sat in front of a console.
Whilst operating the G29 after some play time, I noticed just how hot my little room had become causing me to crack a window open. This little wheel gave off tremendous heat after a while. All I can think of is because of the duel motors for the feedback. There are vents on the steering wheel to keep it cool but it was far from it. The steering wheel has a 900 degree turning circle which sometimes made me feel lost as to which way it was turning. When I spun out, it was difficult to re-adjust trying to find the centre but this also adds a realistic touch to the wheel.
The G29 made my gaming experience so much more real and yet it was such fun I was spending hours in the same car doing the same track without realising. It adds to the whole race car experience and is certainly a must for grease monkeys.
Developer: Logitech
Publisher: Logitech
Platforms: Xbox One, PS4, PS3, PC
Release Date: 21st July 2015