Should I Buy… Logitech G29 Racing Wheel

How into racing games are you? If your pupils dilate looking at titles like Forza Horizon 4 or Need for Speed: Heat, and your heart skips a beat at the smell of hot asphalt, then you may want to splurge on something like the Logitech G29 Driving Force Race Wheel. This peripheral lets you get about as close as you can get to the real thing while playing games on your PC, PS4 or Xbox One. The wheel is a hand-stitched leather analogue to your regular controller but features true resistance and vibration to accurately mimic the control and feel of a car across a variety of driving surfaces, whether that's immaculately paved blacktop or untouched backroads.

Price vs. Performance

The G29 still retains all the basic functions of a traditional controller, featuring all of the face buttons and inputs you need to navigate menus, so you don't have to worry about hot-swapping between controllers. The base model of this peripheral also comes packaged with an adjustable trio of vibrating floor pedals. This whole system can be paired with an additional shifter that is available separately or as part of a bundle. The entire setup will run you around $400 or $450 with the added shifter, which is exorbitant to be sure. However, you can frequently find this MSRP slashed by 50% or more, and with Black Friday game deals on the way, you can be certain that we'll see even bigger discounts on these oft-overlooked peripherals.

Overall - should you buy it?

So, should you buy the Logitech G29? Well, that depends. For any racing fan, or anyone that obsesses over the minute details of their car, or anyone who thinks the "assisted driving" feature in Forza Motorsport is a "suggestion" - this is a must-have. However, if you're someone that has only a passing fascination with cars and thinks any peripheral beyond that of a standard controller is a frivolity, this is a bit of a hard sell. Your mileage may vary, and while I can't guarantee this will make you look cool, I can say with considerable certainty that using this peripheral will make you feel cool.

Alice is a freelance games critic and contributor for The Verge, who loves role-playing games and gaming tech. She also writes for Lifewire, and once upon a time wrote for GamesRadar too.