Lightning Shock » Video Games

Mass Effect 2 DOES have Southpaw controls! (Plus it’s Epic, too)

James Lewitzke — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 07:08:45 +0000

Awhile back, I wrote a post complaining about Bioware’s lack of inclusion of southpaw controls in their hit sci-fi series Mass Effect.

Everything about the game kicks ass, from the plot and music to the choices and controls (especially the controls). Many of the decisions you made in ME1 affect what happens in ME2, which in turn will carry over to ME3. This should all be common knowledge if you’ve ever played the series before.

One of my favorite new features is probably the interrupt system. Pushing a Merc out of a fifty-story building never gets old.

I also enjoyed the romantic sub-plot (you can choose a love interest, which is much more involved than the first game). Nobody could even come close to Miranda, IMO. (And the after-game love options were a nice touch too, although I was hoping you could rescue your LI from the Collectors in some capacity near the climax of the game. Didn’t quite happen though, maybe for ME3…)

I won’t go into many more details and spoil the game for those who haven’t played it yet, and I don’t have any major complaint’s about the game. Although I would’ve like to see more variety in the mineral collecting options than just scanning random planets, like defending a platnium-producing base from Eclipse Mercenaries or something.

A few more weapon options would’ve been nice too. Why’d we only get stuck with two types of SMG’s and Heavy Pistols? Maybe five or six options per weapon choice (similar to the heavy weapon options).

So anyway, they don’t detract from the game at all really, just get to playing it and enjoy the experience! (And with Southpaw control options, no less.)

What the Hell! No Southpaw Controls?!?

James Lewitzke — Tue, 27 May 2008 00:47:58 +0000

I was so happy last Christmas that I finally was able to play the next hyped up BioWare game, Mass Effect, after waiting over a year to get it. I was really looking forward to this game and now I can’t play it

Let me start by saying that I’m right handed, but I play all First Person Shooters (FPS) and adventure games left-handedly. I have been using southpaw control configuration ever since Rare released Goldeneye 007 for the Nintendo 64 (It was actually the game that got me interested in FPS’s).

After reading rave reviews for Mass Effect, and the thought of actually getting to fly a spaceship throughout the galaxy in a non-linear story fashion was a terrific concept. I thought I was going to have loads of fun, then I started my search through the game menus to adjust the settings to my liking, and guess what? That’s right, only four options pertaining to gameplay.

FOUR options? THAT’S IT?!?! What a joke. You’d think in the year 2008 with all the advanced gaming technology, computer programming capabilities, graphic designs, and hard drive space, that the developers could take an hour or two and assign some user-selectable control features; but nooooooo, you can’t even prioritize what is arguably the most important factor during gameplay, you know, controlling your character.

The Bigger Picture

These companies don’t take their customers very seriously. Take for example tech support. You spend days searching through and posting on company forums and FAQs, spend an hour on the phone only to be put on hold for another hour so that the tech rep can tell you he doesn’t have an answer for you, and you’ve just realized you’ve pissed away a week searching for an answer to which would result in pissing away even more time (having fun) playing the game.

Accountability?

I think it’s about time for arrogant game developers to stop discriminating against players while simultaneously getting their heads out of their asses to spend a few minutes programming the features in. Don’t they realize that there’s a whole demographic of other gamers that use alternative control schemes for just about every genre?

I was able to muster through Knights of the Old Republic with the default controls, barely. (Though this is only because it didn’t require quick reflexes and precision to aim and shoot and such.) Not offering personalized customization is a bad move BioWare, a BAD MOVE for everyone.

All I’m asking for here is a downloadable patch or something to accommodate control schemes that offer players the most comfortable experience possible. How can I possibly enjoy a game if it controls like shit?

Don’t you game developers realize there is a potential win-win situation for both of us here? Not only will there be:

Happy Customers who can play a game as comfortably as possible,
But you’ll also get more business and increased revenue in game sales

This doesn’t go for just BioWare though, there are other games I’ve played that have been ruined by crappy controls, like Splinter Cell and Bioshock for example. To be fair though, it isn’t just the game developers who are at fault, the publishers more than likely have a hand in this as well. With the constant schedule deadlines, financial expectations, and all the developmental timelines they set, it’s no wonder great games don’t come along very often.

At least Some Understand

How hard would it be to program a few custom control schemes into the game? Not very, I imagine. This is one of the features I LOVE about Quake 4 (and Doom 3), they offer a completely customizable control system. Any button can be used for reloading or shooting, hell I could even Left Trigger to Jump if I wanted to.

I can say the same thing about the Halo franchise (my favorite shooter genre of all time at the moment). While every button may not be programmed for any feature the player wishes, Bungie still included a plethora of options for both thumbstick AND button layouts. Let me tell you, if it didn’t I sure as hell wouldn’t have played Halo’s two sequels, and I doubt the series would have anywhere near the magnitude it currently holds without these specific control features.

Allow me to give a big thanks to ID software for RECOGNIZING that there are southpaw (and legacy) players out there, and it makes sense to offer these choices because over 10% of the population are left-handed by default, not to mention the rest of us who chose to learn to play FPS’s with southpaw layouts.

Microsoft did take a step in the right direction though, by adding the universal game control feature to the Xbox 360 dashboard. However this can be easily overridden by the game’s programming, which means most, if not all, game developers can ignore it if they wish. (Thank God The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion was affected by this feature, or else that game would have been shipped back to the stores too; and guess what, playing the game with southpaw controls made it that much more ENJOYABLE.)

At least Southpaw Legacy (formerly altcntrlgmr.com) gets the situation, and was a great resource of information available for use to find out which games support different controls and which don’t. Should we follow in Southpaw Legacy’s footsteps, and hold game developers and publishers to industry quality standards? I say yes.

I was thinking about purchasing a rewired game controller from Llama due to the fact I find it nearly impossible to play with the default controls. And I sure as hell knew I couldn’t solder the damn thing myself using their hardware guide, even if I tried. Besides this would violate the 360 controller’s warranty, if something were to go wrong (which definitely would in this situation, given my hot-wiring skills). But unfortunately they have been discontinued due to their high demand (gee, I wonder why?). However even if they were available, I probably wouldn’t purchase one anyway, given the high price tag these things had.

Just do the fact that a company like Llama exists should tell the video game industry something (Hint: It has to do with the horrible gamers have to choose from). Maybe if the devs put a little more thought into the economics of the industry, and just how many gamers are left behind in the dust, they wouldn’t have such a bad reputation (from my point of view, that is).

Until companies like BioWare start taking their customers more seriously, I won’t be purchasing any future video game titles from them. It’s too bad too, you could’ve earned another $50 bucks from me purchasing your game, unfortunately you chose to ignore people that have different playing styles.

Thanks for nothing, Game Developers.

(UPDATE = 6/19/2009)
OK, I really need to update this post. Despite the initially clumsy controls, I still desperately wanted to play the game, so I spent a few weeks honing my skills with the game.

I learned that Mass Effect’s layout is a lot like Splinter Cell’s control scheme in that respect, which I already WAS familiar with.

I’m already on my third playthrough, and overall it’s a damn fine game. If BioWare would just give more freedom through control options, coupled with the vastly intriguing storytelling and large, quantitative replay value, they would have a Gaming Masterpiece.

Halo 3 Soundtrack: Greatest Musical Album Ever?

James Lewitzke — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 17:37:36 +0000

These are some lesser-known musical arrangements out there from the halo trilogy that I just can’t stop listening to. Some of these songs have over 100 play-throughs on my iTunes counter, and I still can’t get enough of them!

I’ve thrown in some bonus Halo 1 tracks here too, some of them even inspired a few of the Halo 3 songs.

The Halo Soundtrack collection (specifically tracks from Halo 1 and Halo 3):

Martin O’Donnell has composed some fantastic musical pieces over the course of the games. Even if you absolutely HATE video games, these are my top picks you must listen to:

Sierra 117, Part 1 (Released) – (Halo 3) = The very first track once you start playing the game (second off the 31 track album), and like the game, the music makes you imagine that you are in the jungle, preparing for war.

Crow’s Nest, Part 3 (Brutes) – (Halo 3) = It begins energy filled and transitions into a fantastic sneak-around-and-silently-kill-your-enemy sort of mood.

The Covenant (Black Tower) – (Halo 3) = This track starts off dark and mysterious, then 3/5 the way through, the song gives a beautiful and depressing, melodramatic type of feeling. Probably my most favorite off Halo 3.

Library Suite – (Halo 1) = A very dark and ominous sounding piece, you’ll think you were sent on a spy mission and now you are at the peak of your mission, with guards waiting just in the other room, before you make your escape.

Under Cover of Night – (Halo 1) = My absolute favorite track off the first album, words just can’t describe it.

Floodgate, Part 2 (Follow Our Brothers) – (Halo 3) = Wow! That’s all I can say about this track. It mixes “Under Cover of Night” and “Brothers in Arms” from the first album together beautifully.

The Storm, Part 1 (This Is Our Land) – (Halo 3) = Also borrowing from” Brothers in Arms”, this song starts off with a marching anthem, then transitions nicely into an aerial, in-the-clouds battle feeling, this one’s somewhat difficult to explain.

Ending (Roll Call) – (Halo 3) = Another great piece, this song gives you that I-want-to-be-a-hero-and-do-something-with-my-life sort of feeling.

I liked virtually all the tracks on the album, but I wasn’t going to give all of them a detailed explanation on their complexity. I urge everyone to listen to these tracks, melodies, etc. (more than ONCE) and give me your feedback on them