I have played many a first and third person shooter in my day. It began several years ago as I sat down and played Wolfenstein 3D. Since that time, I have watched shooters become more faster and better looking in Doom, Golden Eye, Halo and eventually, Call of Duty 4. There seems however to be one thing that has not universally adapted, aiming systems. If I can’t hit anything, what’s the use?
I guess it’s only fair to start out with the best, in my opinion anyway. The Call of Duty series has the best aiming system I have ever used. The ability to squeeze the left trigger for more accurate fire by bringing the gun up to you shoulder is unsurpassed. I used to think that clicking one of the thumb sticks to bring up this view was the way to go, but it slows down your time to fire accurately at your enemy in my opinion. It may be the opposite for other people, but when it comes down to me and you, I’m more worried about my kill to death ratio.
Also at the top of the list are Gears of War, Army of Two, and Rainbow 6 Vegas. Gears and Army of Two have almost the exact same style of play, are very arcade-like and are tons of fun. The cover mechanic is great, I did find it easier to detach from the cover in Army of Two. It was sometimes a chore in Gears. While in Gears, blind fire is very inaccurate, but in Army of 2 you can perform better “no looks” than Kobe Bryant. Once again, the right trigger is there to bring the gun to your shoulder, or have you look over or around your cover.
Rainbow 6 does not have the left trigger option that I love, but it has the cover mechanic. You use the left trigger for that little feature, and I remember tiring out my left trigger finger in some long RB6 matches. The reason it is acceptable not to have the before mentioned aiming mechanics was because this was a different kind of game. It’s slower and more tactical, especially in the attack and defend matches the Sarcastic Gamer crew loved so much. No need for the run and gun game play in the titles above.
Maybe Infinity Ward has a copyright on the CoD aiming system, but there are so many games that could have benefited from this. Frontlines: Fuel of War for example, I can’t hit anything in that game unless I’m in a vehicle, or wielding a sniper rifle. It frustrated me to tears trying to get the hang of that game. Maybe it’s because these great shooters have spoiled me, but I don’t care. I just want more like them. I know Gears 2 has been announced and RB6 Vegas 2 just came out, but I need more!
More, damnit…MORE!!!!
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
11 responses so far ↓
1 dougb45 // Mar 25, 2008 at 3:08 pm
All games on play station have always had the COD4 aiming system. It just got brought to XBOX
2 Lono // Mar 25, 2008 at 3:14 pm
@ dougb45: That’s a load of BS as the CoD 4 “aiming system” is just a product of Infinity Ward’s in-game engine. It’s not a “playstation” thing.
come on dude.
3 dougb45 // Mar 25, 2008 at 3:16 pm
well i mean the click on the analog stick to bring the gun up the rest is original.
4 RobLink // Mar 25, 2008 at 3:17 pm
I prefer the cover mechanic in GoW, it feels too loose in Ao2. And the behind-cover firing shouldn’t be as accurate as it is in Ao2, the blind fire option in Gears is more realistic - it means you’ve got to risk yourself to get off that killer shot. The risk-and-reward option makes it a bit tenser.
5 NoneOfYourBusiness // Mar 25, 2008 at 3:19 pm
Maybe they could advance it even farther.
Have each bullet have kind of its own A.I. so when it hits you it causes trauma to that section of the body. Kind of like a super-realisitc shooter.
It’d be interesting if some developer goes out of thier way to combine awesome graphics and audio, with real_to_life physics. Measuring things and minute as bullet speeds, gravity…and even the “Coriolis Effect”
(That was funny in CoD4….”Take into account wind speed, humidity and at this range, the Coriolis Effect…..All of which will not be explained or shown….GO”)
6 RK1 FaMiCuS // Mar 25, 2008 at 3:58 pm
@dougb45
How could the Playstation have the aiming system of CoD4 when it CoD4 came out 12 years after the Playstation. Are we using “Terminator rules” or “Back to the Future rules”, or “Timerider rules” which are just plain silly.
7 dwbronc // Mar 25, 2008 at 7:37 pm
@dougb45
i think you meant to say the thumb stick method came from the playstation, and in my opinion i think cover systems are overrated, they take away from the aiming mechanic, but maybe it could be that no one has been able to mesh the cover system with a good aiming mechanic
8 LJ // Mar 25, 2008 at 7:49 pm
Was I the only guy who like Turok’s aiming style??????
Just kidding.
9 Rich // Mar 25, 2008 at 9:10 pm
All games could benefit from a mouse and keyboard
okay i’ll shut up now
10 BlacKRaiN_666 // Mar 26, 2008 at 9:09 am
actually the “call of duty aiming system” is in several other titles so it is not “copyrighted” ort anything at all.
medal of honor had it first. in killzone u couldnt look through the ironsight but hopefully u can in killzone 2 and i think u can. and u have been able to do it in mgs since 3.
11 Crash // Mar 26, 2008 at 9:16 pm
Didn’t they do a special podcast on Mass Effect. Last time I checked it has the “Left Trigger Technology”. A lot of games do this.
Leave a Comment