Do you prefer a controller, or a mouse for FPS games?

[Level 99]

Raised simultaneously on controllers and mouse/keyboard, and I honestly have to say that it depends on the game-style. In the case of FPS games, I have to go with mouse/keyboard hands-down. I've never been able to play FPSes well using a controller, I guess I'm just not as good with the slower general move speed and would rather use my hands for accuracy than just my thumb.

[Swann]

Keyboard + mouse all the way. I know I'm not exactly the best with a controller, but there are fundamental limits to the way the character is controlled with a console controller that simply don't exist using the mouse.

Having said that however, you also don't have to pick up and move the controller while turning like you must every once in a while with the mouse. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, although I was raised on the keyboard/mouse setup so I guess I'm a bit biased.

[Native Jovian]

Controller. I like actually being able to reach all the buttons at my disposal without having to look down at them, and I like having full 360 degree control over my movement instead of just forward/back/left/right. The only thing I like better about mouse/keyboard is that it's easier to spin around quickly -- and games that have a 180 turn button (like L4D) fix that problem quite nicely.

I cannot fathom why people prefer using an input setup designed for word processors and spreadsheets to one designed for playing games. But OCR has a huge preference for PC gaming over console gaming, so I shouldn't really be surprised.

[Graycascade]

I cannot fathom why people prefer using an input setup designed for word processors and spreadsheets to one designed for playing games. But OCR has a huge preference for PC gaming over console gaming, so I shouldn't really be surprised.

It's the tight control. I grew up on gampads and only got into PC gaming not too long ago. I tried playing l4d with some buddies on x-box and either wiped out my entire team by mistake or emptied whole clips shooting just over the zombies' heads or the ground at their feet.

So damn frustrating.

On the flip side, I can't do emulation on the keyboard. Platformers are a terror on a keyboard.

[Sinewav]

This is very true i actually get kind of mad that some console shooters do this

it kind of throws me off sometimes,it gets really bad in halo for me.

not all do this however.(the orange box anyone(however i do believe it does have the slowdown when you have an enemy in your sights i think)

some do have the option to turn auto aim off

the only time i think i have used it is in goldeneye/perfect dark and halo series though

but most do have some sort of auto aim.

aaaaaaaaaarrrrgggrggrggggg. Rant time.

Don't you just hate all those people who insist that they are the best halo player EVAR because they can snipe? The only reason you're such a good sniper in halo is because of Auto-aim, the fact that you only play Blood Gulch or whatever kids are calling it these days, and the fact that all characters move at 2 miles an hour in extremely predictable motions, no matter how good the player is. Halo 2 made it ever worse by upping the auto-aim, the damage of the rifle, and by getting rid of the halo 1 pistol... pretty much the only defense players had against the all-powerful sniper rifle. (I haven't yet been bothered with trying out Halo 3)

/rant

Raised simultaneously on controllers and mouse/keyboard, and I honestly have to say that it depends on the game-style. In the case of FPS games, I have to go with mouse/keyboard hands-down. I've never been able to play FPSes well using a controller, I guess I'm just not as good with the slower general move speed and would rather use my hands for accuracy than just my thumb.

While I still side with mouse and keyboard, this is a legitimate claim. One of the downsides to M&KB is that you essentially only have 8 directions you can move in without using your mouse. A console controller gives you a full 360. While I believe that the aiming precision you get from the mouse easily makes up for this, I've also found that a controller is preferable in games that are more about movement than shooting (like Mirror's Edge).

I wonder what it would be like if one could rig up a "Mouse and Joystick" set up, or maybe build a gaming keyboard with special pressure sensitive keys.

[Geeky Stoner]

aaaaaaaaaarrrrgggrggrggggg. Rant time.

Don't you just hate all those people who insist that they are the best halo player EVAR because they can snipe? The only reason you're such a good sniper in halo is because of Auto-aim, the fact that you only play Blood Gulch or whatever kids are calling it these days, and the fact that all characters move at 2 miles an hour in extremely predictable motions, no matter how good the player is. Halo 2 made it ever worse by upping the auto-aim, the damage of the rifle, and by getting rid of the halo 1 pistol... pretty much the only defense players had against the all-powerful sniper rifle. (I haven't yet been bothered with trying out Halo 3)

/rant

If this is a rant against me then you completely misread me wrong.

for one i hate snipers(unless you count the beam rifle) in halo I'm more of a run and gun with assault rifle/battle rifle kind of guy and most of the other automatic weapons.

and like i said in that post i usually turn auto aim OFF in halo games my cursor is moving a million miles an hour and then I am trying to aim for someones head in halo and the fucking thing starts moving towards their chest OWN ITS OWN.

UGH it pisses me off so much.

I'm not really a big halo player I haven't played halo 3 for about a year never really got into 1 or 2 that much aside from the campaign completions and mostly i wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

if you have ever been in one of those chats i have on xbox live the very moment halo 3 starts to come up i start to rant like crazy about it not about controls or anything anybody else would talk about, but about how much they dropped the ball on all the extra features.

I hate ranked matchmaking i never play it because i hate playing against randomers online especially in halo,

however i love the fucking custom games being able to make your own maps and modes I fucking love in fps's ,

but only being able to play it with your people who are invited to that game really limits the amount of people who you are going to get in a custom game WHY OH FUCKING WHY did bungie not make some sort of custom search/matchmaking

i would love some randomers in my custom games and with all the of the other features like being able to see a games settings before you enter it would of worked out great.

ugh now you made me go on a rant great.

and yes i know that pcs do all of this kind of stuff with modding but i lack a pc that really has those kind of capabilities, not everyone can afford upgrading a pc every couple of years with new expensive ass graphic cards and new processors.

its maybe about $300 for an xbox 360 or $500-$700 bucks for a nice gaming pc (and i think that's a low estimate)

oh great now you got me going all off topic I'm just gonna stop here.

[lazygecko]

You don't need to buy expensive state-of-the-art cards every time you upgrade. You can get a mid-range card for less than $100 that is perfectly capable of handling pretty much all games from 2009 and below. The overblown myth about PC upgrade costs, coupled with the fact that console games cost more and you need to pay a subscription fee for Xbox Live, makes me think the cost argument isn't as true as most people make it appear.

[Halt]

I like my mouse and keyboard. Faster reaction times imo. Then all my friends like to use a controler for FPS's why I don't know :\

[Esker]

Controller.

Mouse and keyboard are too much professional for my taste.

[Hy Bound]

Controllar! Mouse and keyboard is for chumps.

My problem with mouse and keyboard is that when i play fps's i play them with the sound cranked, so whenever there are jump-scares (STALKER, Half-Life 2, Crysis) i jump and get all turned around and aimed at the ground... No fun...

[Geeky Stoner]

You don't need to buy expensive state-of-the-art cards every time you upgrade. You can get a mid-range card for less than $100 that is perfectly capable of handling pretty much all games from 2009 and below. The overblown myth about PC upgrade costs, coupled with the fact that console games cost more and you need to pay a subscription fee for Xbox Live, makes me think the cost argument isn't as true as most people make it appear.

yes your very right about that ,but for me it would be alot at once I've been on the same pc since 2003 its not even really my pc its my dads.

although i do dislike paying a subscription fee for Xbox live ($50 a year isn't that bad though) the features are good too, being able to keep a friends list ,online chatting, video chat if you into that, something the other two consoles still have not quite caught up to

(they may basically be the same but they are so ass backwards designed)

while yes pc's are superior in many ways some people enjoy the convenience of a console.

upgrading can be inexpensive if you are savvy about it.

however not everyone is ,I wouldn't really know how to put together a pc myself

so people like me tend to buy prefabs which usually are a bit more pricey.

[Schwaltzvald]

Controllar! Mouse and keyboard is for chumps.

My problem with mouse and keyboard is that when i play fps's i play them with the sound cranked, so whenever there are jump-scares (STALKER, Half-Life 2, Crysis) i jump and get all turned around and aimed at the ground... No fun...

Man up

Go play some Fatal Frame 1/2/3, Silent Hill 1/2/3/maybe 4 even, Resident Evil Remake, Siren (original/remake), Deadspace (impossible mode plasma-cutter/melee only).

By then you ought to be desensitized by jump scares. To truly test yourself go play DOOM 3 to make sure as it utilizes that very heavily.

If you're super cheap, I can think of some doom mods/wads that use jump scares and do so effectively.

Also GS, please post as if you're not some poorly programmed botspammer.

[Sinewav]

If this is a rant against me then you completely misread me wrong.

*Things and stuff I mostly agree with.*

Nah, it wasn't directed toward you. Mad props on out-ranting me btw. I thought I was the biggest Halo hater around here.

Also, you can turn off auto-aim in Halo? Is this something I've been completely missing, or i it just a feature in 3? That would make controlling the game much less aggravating... now if only you could turn it off for everyone else as well.

[Geeky Stoner]

Nah, it wasn't directed toward you. Mad props on out-ranting me btw. I thought I was the biggest Halo hater around here.

Also, you can turn off auto-aim in Halo? Is this something I've been completely missing, or i it just a feature in 3? That would make controlling the game much less aggravating... now if only you could turn it off for everyone else as well.

HaHa you could actually say I LIKE halo sometimes, I'm just highly critical of the series.

I'm pretty sure you can turn off auto aim I could be mistaken i believe it was in 2 as well.

[Ferret]

As far as I was aware auto-aim didn't exist in multiplayer, and it's not so much auto aim as it is nudging the reticle in the direction of the nearest target...

Anyway, I have to disagree, in that the Halo: Combat Evolved pistol was one of the most broken weapons in gaming ever. The sniper rifle is a close second but it's balanced by the fact that you can only carry 24+4 rounds and every time you take a shot there's a contrail announcing your position to everyone...

And then they gave you the fuel rod gun and flamethrower in the PC version. God I hate the fuel rod gun almost as much as I hate those jerks who do nothing but run people over. Sure, it can help you win but it doesn't make the game fun for other players WHICH IS PRECISELY WHY THEY CHANGED THE PISTOL IN THE LATER GAMES IN THE SERIES.

[LuIzA]

doesn't matter, I suck either way.but I think I'd go with a controller, despite it being harder to aim, just because keyboards for games give me the creeps.

[Schwaltzvald]

keyboards for games give me the creeps.

You've never touched a Commodore64, the Apple II or even emulators on the PC during the late 90's and early 2000's right?

[The Author]

For FPS games I go with Mouse/Keyboard, or the Wiimote.

[Triad Orion]

Mouse and a keyboard. I'm not great at most FPSes to begin with and using a controller just makes me stumble around like a bloody idiot in multiplayer. Give me a mouse and I do a lot better.

[MojoHamster]

There's some stuff you can pull off with M&K you simply just can't with a controller.

The whole thing is more fluid and immersive too, like 'you're pointing the gun'.

A pro M&K FPSer can easily have access to 5 mouse buttons plus using wsad to move you've got Q and E in easy access, a lot of people use R for reload. X,C Space, tab, ctrl, shift are all easy to get to without ever looking down really. So there's no button shortage.

It's a shame there aren't a lot of cross platform tourneys with their control styles listed. I get the feeling the old school counter strike junkies would rape console FPSers into the ground.

[Schwaltzvald]

It's a shame there aren't a lot of cross platform tourneys with their control styles listed. I get the feeling the old school counter strike junkies would rape console FPSers into the ground.

In more ways than one,

For goodness sakes, if this chick can play Dead Space on the PC why can't you controller advocates..?

[LuIzA]

You've never touched a Commodore64, the Apple II or even emulators on the PC during the late 90's and early 2000's right?

I don't want to.

[Schwaltzvald]

I don't want to.

So you never had.

It's okay if they were before your time.

Nonetheless there's no need to be afraid of the mouse and keyboard.

[BardicKnowledge]

I wonder what it would be like if one could rig up a "Mouse and Joystick" set up, or maybe build a gaming keyboard with special pressure sensitive keys.

Joystick + Mouse would be a totally viable combo for playing the Descent series. I'll give it a shot the next time I play it.

Incidentally, the last time I loaded up Descent 3, I had just gotten my 360 controller. It has two analog sticks and a lot of buttons...turns out that it is the absolute minimum number of switches and buttons you need to play the game. Still not ideal though as analog sticks feel a lot worse than big joysticks.

[Dhsu]

I actually got one of these things (talk to me about a discount ) and it's pretty neat for single-player FPSes. I stick to mouse for playing online though.

But yeah, I still don't understand how PC gamers have been happy with being able to move in only 8 directions this entire time.