Best Game Controls EVER?

[Kirkatronics]

When a game is released one of the first thing someone notices is wether it has good controlls or not, if it doesn't then the game play can't be enjoyed to the fullest.

 

I have come across a few different style of controlls in my gaming career, but there are a few which stand out.

 

The worst i have tried, in my oppinion, are from Perfect Dark*. I played the version on the XBOX 360 so i don't know if the original is the same.

It uses the left stick for walking forwards and back, and looking left and right. While the right stick is for walking left and right, and looking up and down.

 

 

I can't really think of that many good controlls, but heres a few i do like.

Assassins Creed - I love how fluidly you can move around and how easy it is to do so.

Halo 3 - It has generic FPS controlls, but the vehicles have the best controll system i have ever used.

Mass Effect - I love all the controlls here, apart from when you controll the Buggy. Its hard to steer and hard to drive whilst aiming. I remember getting stuck numerous times.

 

So what are your own experiences with this, and what do you t hink are the best?

 

*If you want to see these controlls, switch either CoD or Halo to the 'Legendary' setting in controlls.

[Dan_Dare]

Mario 64.

 

[/thread]

 

[Kirkatronics]

Mario 64.

 

[/thread]

 

Ive never actually played that, but i did find a lot of the N64's controlls to be horrible. then again it was years ago, and i was a sony fanboy.

[Goafer]

I remember Zone of the Enders being pretty good. Can't remember why though so I can't explain its merits.

 

Project Gotham Racing has the best handling in a racing game so far IMO. Although it's cloesely followed by Forza 3 with a wheel.

 

Warhawk on the PS3 should get an honorable mention for it's left handed options. Most games allow a southpaw option, but they almost always swap the sticks for everything (steering cars with the right stick? who would chose that?). Warhawk has seperate control options for each type of gameplay. So you could have southpaw for shooting and regular for flying/driving. I think you could even fully customise the controls for each IIRC.

[Kirkatronics]

I remember Zone of the Enders being pretty good. Can't remember why though so I can't explain its merits.

 

Project Gotham Racing has the best handling in a racing game so far IMO. Although it's cloesely followed by Forza 3 with a wheel.

 

Warhawk on the PS3 should get an honorable mention for it's left handed options. Most games allow a southpaw option, but they almost always swap the sticks for everything (steering cars with the right stick? who would chose that?). Warhawk has seperate control options for each type of gameplay. So you could have southpaw for shooting and regular for flying/driving. I think you could even fully customise the controls for each IIRC.

What exactly do you look for in south paw then? All i can think of is the sticks swapped around, and maybe the triggers.

 

Id also like to hear about games with bad controlls, if anyone has had any experiennce with them.

[Goafer]

What exactly do you look for in south paw then? All i can think of is the sticks swapped around, and maybe the triggers.

 

Id also like to hear about games with bad controlls, if anyone has had any experiennce with them.

 

For southpaw all I want is the sticks swapped (right moves, left shoots). I can cope with the triggers swapped, but I prefer that they arent. For vehicle sections in shooters, I'd prefer normal (left stick steer) since that's what all racing games are like, so that's what I'm used to. I can't think of a reason why any lefty would want swapped sticks for vehicle sections, although I suppose the option to have it wouldn't hurt.

 

People should swap to southpaw for a bit to feel how annoying it is for a lefty when shooters don't allow southpaw. I can cope with righty controls in games like GTA since the lockon means I don't need to precision aim, but in proper shooters it's a nightmare.

[Kirkatronics]

For southpaw all I want is the sticks swapped (right moves, left shoots). I can cope with the triggers swapped, but I prefer that they arent. For vehicle sections in shooters, I'd prefer normal (left stick steer) since that's what all racing games are like, so that's what I'm used to. I can't think of a reason why any lefty would want swapped sticks for vehicle sections, although I suppose the option to have it wouldn't hurt.

 

People should swap to southpaw for a bit to feel how annoying it is for a lefty when shooters don't allow southpaw. I can cope with righty controls in games like GTA since the lockon means I don't need to precision aim, but in proper shooters it's a nightmare.

I get what you mean, its like a total flip rather than flipping the bits that are needed.

I dont understand what you mean by 'right moves, left shoots', though.

[Goafer]

I get what you mean, its like a total flip rather than flipping the bits that are needed.

I dont understand what you mean by 'right moves, left shoots', though.

 

Right stick moves the character, left stick aims.

 

 

And bad controls? Scribblenauts springs to mind.

[Kirkatronics]

Right stick moves the character, left stick aims.

 

 

And bad controls? Scribblenauts springs to mind.

Ah, that makes sense.

I played that today, it really is horrible.

I had no idea what i was supposed to be doing, the movement was good but the jumping was sillily hard to do.

 

On FPS, which do you prefer, by the way, Inverted or normal?

 

I can't cope with it being inverted, it just feels wrong to me.

[The Bard]

I find the Phoenix Wright series of games controls perfectly.

[Emasher]

My favorite controls, with a traditional pad would be those in the battlefield games, they feel perfect with the Dualshock anyway.

 

In terms of bad controls I'd say any PS3 game that uses the analog triggers for shooting, and zooming. It just shows that the developers are lazy.

[D_prOdigy]

Tales games done right feel great to play.

 

Zack and Wiki is an obvious one for those who've played it.

 

Original Half-Life was my first experience of PC mouse-aiming at its finest.

[dwarf]

For me it would be 2 psn games. You timed this thread well because I played Pixel Junk Shooter for the first time last week, and the first thing I properly noticed and enjoyed were the controls. Well, it was the controls coupled with the weight/feel of the ship. But it's probably been the only case in my videogame history where controls really need to be merited above other things.

 

The other psn game would be Wipeout HD. The pressure analogue turning just felt right.

 

Obviously SM64 did lead the way for third person control, in platform games anyway. That game was very liberating.

[Daft]

Project Gotham Racing

 

...and Soul Calibur on the Dreamcast (not the other crap versions).[/end thread]

 

Edit: And flower on the PS3.

Edited December 27, 2009 by Daft

[ViPeR]

When a game is released one of the first thing someone notices is wether it has good controlls or not, if it doesn't then the game play can't be enjoyed to the fullest.

 

I have come across a few different style of controlls in my gaming career, but there are a few which stand out.

 

The worst i have tried, in my oppinion, are from Perfect Dark*. I played the version on the XBOX 360 so i don't know if the original is the same.

It uses the left stick for walking forwards and back, and looking left and right. While the right stick is for walking left and right, and looking up and down.

 

 

I can't really think of that many good controlls, but heres a few i do like.

Assassins Creed - I love how fluidly you can move around and how easy it is to do so.

Halo 3 - It has generic FPS controlls, but the vehicles have the best controll system i have ever used.

Mass Effect - I love all the controlls here, apart from when you controll the Buggy. Its hard to steer and hard to drive whilst aiming. I remember getting stuck numerous times.

 

So what are your own experiences with this, and what do you t hink are the best?

 

*If you want to see these controlls, switch either CoD or Halo to the 'Legendary' setting in controlls.

 

Am I the only one wondering how the hell you've played a game that's not out?

[S.C.G]

Super Mario 64 - the obvious choice, at the time of its release there was no other platform title that could match the same level of precision that was pioneered in this title.

Sonic 2 - for its time this game in the now too-long-running 'series' controlled brilliantly, everything reacted as you expected it too, compare these controls to say the ones in Sonic Advance and you'll see that it just isn't the same.

Ikaruga - such a simple and fluid control setup for what can be a 'complex' game at times, you zip around the screen with the left stick, shoot with one button, change polarity with the other and unleash energy with the trigger buttons and that's it.

Assassin's Creed - I only literally got around to playing this recently but the fluidity of movement and the stylish way of fighting really shine through thanks to the excellent control scheme.

[Daft]

Alone in the Dark 4 has to have some of the worst controls ever. I actually had to stop playing the game because of them and I've never done that before.

 

Am I the only one wondering how the hell you've played a game that's not out?

 

What, this 360 launch title?

 

[Shorty]

The worst i have tried, in my oppinion, are from Perfect Dark*. I played the version on the XBOX 360 so i don't know if the original is the same.

It uses the left stick for walking forwards and back, and looking left and right. While the right stick is for walking left and right, and looking up and down.

Surely you can change that to a more standard dual analogue style.

 

The first dual analogue game I played was Timesplitters on the PS2, and I found it quite a task to get used to. Before that I was used to Perfect Dark style controls, which I guess was a bit like you described above, but with the right stick replaced by the N64's C Buttons. It worked well when you got used to it, mostly because you wanted to strafe everywhere anyway, since it was faster than running forwards. That said, aiming by holding the R-Button was hardly efficient.

[dwarf]

I played that Perfect Dark Zero when my cousin got a 360 on Christmas the first year it was out. Pile of cack.

[Kirkatronics]

Am I the only one wondering how the hell you've played a game that's not out?

Yea.

 

Super Mario 64 - the obvious choice, at the time of its release there was no other platform title that could match the same level of precision that was pioneered in this title.

Sonic 2 - for its time this game in the now too-long-running 'series' controlled brilliantly, everything reacted as you expected it too, compare these controls to say the ones in Sonic Advance and you'll see that it just isn't the same.

Ikaruga - such a simple and fluid control setup for what can be a 'complex' game at times, you zip around the screen with the left stick, shoot with one button, change polarity with the other and unleash energy with the trigger buttons and that's it.

Assassin's Creed - I only literally got around to playing this recently but the fluidity of movement and the stylish way of fighting really shine through thanks to the excellent control scheme.

I forgot to mention the sonic games, my favorites were the Sonic Advanced ones. All the rest feel wwrong to me now ive played that.

Surely you can change that to a more standard dual analogue style.

 

The first dual analogue game I played was Timesplitters on the PS2, and I found it quite a task to get used to. Before that I was used to Perfect Dark style controls, which I guess was a bit like you described above, but with the right stick replaced by the N64's C Buttons. It worked well when you got used to it, mostly because you wanted to strafe everywhere anyway, since it was faster than running forwards. That said, aiming by holding the R-Button was hardly efficient.

I dont think it had the option to change that, if i remember correctly is was inverted or non-inverted.

 

I played that Perfect Dark Zero when my cousin got a 360 on Christmas the first year it was out. Pile of cack.

Glad to see people agree.

[ViPeR]

Alone in the Dark 4 has to have some of the worst controls ever. I actually had to stop playing the game because of them and I've never done that before.

 

 

 

What, this 360 launch title?

 

Ahh that pile of trash. Forgot about that. Got PD XBLA on the brain.

[Cube]

The only control option I used on Perfect Dark Zero was left stick to move/strafe and right stick to look/turn, like virtually every shooter these days.

 

As for good controls, Burnout Paradise has perfect handling, but they messed up the controls a little by putting special abilities on the left stick click (the B button was unused and was fine for it). Assassin's Creed has great movement, but they messed up the fighting controls. Ninja Gaiden 2 is the opposite of Assassin's Creed. Super Mario 64 has incredibly fluid controls (especially if you go back to it after the messed up controls of Sunshine). Banjo-Tooie put a massive amount of moves on a pad and none of them were hard to use. Mirror's Edge's controls feel great for the first few levels. The vehicles in Halo 3 are done well and immensely fit the gamelplay. I also love it when games keep the controls simple and they work wonderfully (Sonic, 'Splosion Man and N+). Geometry Wars also has wonderful simple controls.

 

Alone in the Dark 4 has to have some of the worst controls ever. I actually had to stop playing the game because of them and I've never done that before.

 

I had to skip part of the demo because I couldn't figure out how to smash a door down. It told me to hit it with a fire extinguisher but no button seemed to make the guy hit the door with the darn thing.

[Wesley]

Mario 64.

Half-Life.

 

...

 

That's it for me.

[Caris]

Id probably have to say Halo 3, everything from the vehicles to reloading the with right bumper is perfection.

[ViPeR]

Super Smash Bros: Melee/Brawl. Such depth yet so simple.