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Our Verdict
Thrustmaster’s updated HOTAS Warthog MKII remains one of the best premium Hands on Throttle and Stick (HOTAS) devices money can buy, with versatility across combat flight sims, general aviation games, and space exploration titles. But, if you already own the original, there’s little reason to consider upgrading.
- Heavy stands keep the throttle and flight stick planted during intense dogfights
- Huge array of buttons and switches give you full control without resorting to a keyboard and mouse
- Exceptional build quality
- One of the most expensive HOTAS devices on the market
- You’ll need to drop even more cash on flight pedals if you want axis rudder control, due to the lack of a twisting Z-axis on the flight stick
Thrustmaster’s original HOTAS Warthog has long been one of the best PC joysticks you can buy, provided you’re willing to pay up its $400-plus price tag. Modelled and fully licensed from the flight controls of the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II, which has been nicknamed the Warthog (and is a jet still flown by the US Air Force today), it adds a level of realism to your flight sim experience that most rival devices can’t match, particularly when piloting the Warthog itself, which itself appears in a number of flying games.
However, the original has remained the same since it first went on sale back in 2010. That’s just changed, with Thrustmaster now launching the HOTAS Warthog MKII.
On the face of it, the motto here is clearly ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’. But underneath, there’s a few changes to make this A-10 Warthog replica an even better option for those looking for a versatile joystick setup, with enough programmable buttons that it’s equally at home in military titles like War Thunder and Digital Combat Simulator as it is in general flight sims such as Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024.
One of the most significant changes over the original HOTAS Warthog is a sturdier joystick base, which we found near-impossible to tip over no matter how roughly you are with the controls – a common complaint with lighter and cheaper flight sticks. The base also gets a new six-pin connector, letting you swap the included A-10C joystick for any other Thrustmaster grip, with support for a total of 128 buttons and 8 axes. Like the original, there’s aircraft-accurate green backlighting on the throttle unit too – useful for flying in a dark room, but also just for looking the part.
Setting up the HOTAS Warthog MKII is an easy affair, and the only assembly needed is to screw the flight stick into the heavy metal baseplate. That modular construction also means you can easily month both units to aftermarket products like chair mounts, if you’d like. The stick is recognised instantly in games like Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 and War Thunder with basic controls already mapped, but you’ll still want to spend a good while in the settings assigning every available button. With so many buttons and switches at your disposal, you shouldn’t need to fall back on your keyboard and mouse mid-flight for specific functions, a common problem with cheaper units that fall short when it comes to the total number of programmable buttons.
Thrustmaster’s included ‘T.A.R.G.E.T’ software lets you tweak the device further still with macros and scripts. By default, Windows recognises the throttle and flight stick as two separate devices, which is fine for most modern titles, but some older games can refuse to take input from more than one device at once. A handy option in the software lets you combine the two, along with any other Thrustmaster accessories you have such as rudder pedals, into a single virtual device to get around this.
Unsurprisingly, I’ve never piloted a real A-10C, so I can’t vouch for how closely the joystick and throttle match the real thing in operation. But Thrustmaster says the pressure needed to operate both is identical to the actual aircraft, so let’s give them the benefit of the doubt – and the heavy metal construction certainly makes it feel like it could’ve been lifted straight out of a multi-million dollar aircraft. The use of hall effect sensors should ensure that issues such as stick drift which occur on cheaper joysticks doesn’t happen over time, and while the original HOTAS Warthog already had these sensors, Thrustmaster claims smoother control movement over the original.
In game, the controls feel super smooth and accurate right out of the box without needing to mess around with deadzones, and the array of switches and buttons, a mix of metal and plastic, all have nice damping and a satisfying click in operation. The two throttle levers can stay locked or split into two, allowing you to finely control power to left and right engines.
One thing to flag is the replica Warthog flight stick in this HOTAS kit is clearly designed for right-handed users. If you’re left-handed, you’re in for a rougher time. You can of course swap in one of Thrustmaster’s add-on levers with a more ambidextrous design, but that rather undercuts the point of buying an expensive, faithful replica device in the first place.
The one-to-one replica is also a downfall for this device, as just like the real thing, the flight stick lacks a twistable Z-axis for rudder control. In this case, you can map rudder controls to one of the directional switches on the throttle or flight stick, but it won’t give you as fine control as a proper linear axis. A set of Thrustmaster’s own T-Flight rudder pedals is one way to get around this, but that adds even more cost to what is already an expensive control setup.
The HOTAS Warthog MKII is on sale now for $599.99 in the US and £449.99 in the UK, matching the original’s retail price. That feels fair, given the MKII’s changes are incremental rather than a radical redesign. If you already own the original, there’s little reason to upgrade. But as a first purchase, or as a step up from using a controller or cheaper flight stick, it remains one of the best premium joysticks you can buy.
