Now I will be the first to admit that I was born and raised on the console. My father got the NES Power Set for Christmas less than a month after I was born, and ever since I can remember, I've been playing Mario. Recently however, due to the subject of my previous blog, I've switched to more indie games or older PC games almost exclusively save for a few major titles which I buy or borrow from a friend and then either purchase later or never pick up again.
Dragon Age Origins is one of those kinds of games that I've borrowed. Now you may be thinking how much time did my friend have on his hand in order to finish it so quickly. The answer is he didn't, but because he has the money to toss away, I got to play it early.
It's an interesting game, but I hate the console controls for it. My first though was why the hell did they not simply reuse the old Knights of the Old Republic Engine for the console version of it? I know it had its limitations, but it would have been better than this. For the consoles, anyways. The PC's controls are amazing for it. However, before I get into a review of a game that I still haven't had enough time with, this post is about the controls and it's only one example.
When Jared's review came out, a g1 made the comment that because he said that the controls were better on the PC, that ScrewAttack claimed all control is better on the PC. Even if it wasn't bad logic on the posters part, I'd still disagree with this. The PC has its limitations, just as the consoles have theirs.
So, to start off, a game that is amongst my favorites in Indie games: Cave Story. If you haven't played it, think Contra meets Metroid in an almost chibi Anime fashion. It's awesome, in other words. It was originally released on the PC in 2004, but this year, a demo was released for the DS of the game. This is a wonderful 2D platformer on the PC, but on the DS (and the Wii, eventually) this game harkens back to the days where we were the little kids staying up late trying to beat Metroid for the very first time. The D-pad and buttons change the game that much.
The second game of recent that's comprable is the Call of Duty series, specifically Modern Warfare. The game is awesome on both platforms, there is no doubt of that, but both versions have their own flaws and strenghts. For instance, on the computer, it is insanely easy to shoot with just a point and click. PC's rule at shooters because of this. However, they're horrible at moving around. I don't know about you, but using the arrow buttons or the WASD set up feels clunky as hell for me. If it came down to moving or shooting, I'd pick moving.
The third and fourth games are the final games in this list, and this is due to them being comparison pieces. Ensemble Studio has made some of the best RTS games to date. My favorite is Age of Mythology, however, compared with their swan song, Halo Wars, I'd still much rather play the older game. They both had the powers from above and god units, but the control greatly seperates the quality of the two games. Selecting units is next to impossible for a console RTS thus far, and will be except in mouse based gameplay.
So how to remedy this? The joystick was a big improvement for PC's in the mid-90's moving capability, but lost the ability to shoot with pin point accuracy every single time. A full set up of macro keys, a joystick, and mouse has been tried twice, first with the flight deck set up of Steel Batallion, which was horrible and clunky, and more recently the Wii Mote, which still doesn't have the accuracy necessary.
What would? A mouse and analog nunchuk with Macro keys built in? You'd lose the sheer number of computatable key patterns for macros, though, it would be ok for PC shooters. What about Dragon Age Origins though? Is there a really a hybrid that would work for it? I don't know...probably not, as it's a strategy RPG, however, those have worked in the past, just not in real time like Dragon Age seemed to be going for (Final Fantasy Tactics and Ogre Tactics series).
Let me know what you think.
-Sara
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