Unless you have been living under a rock for the past 10 years, you’ll know that the Quake series is one of the most revered and well respected game licenses out there. And for the most part, they have all been on the PC, in fact most top tier first person shooters have been on the PC until recently. HALO on the original Xbox showed what a console can do in the hands of someone who knows how to design a control schematic. Since then many of the FPS games have found refuge on the console (thank goodness for that).
Using a similar setup as HALO, Quake 4’s controls are as smooth as there is. The friendly, easy to use 360 controller uses both analog sticks to move and look. The trigger buttons control both the fire and alt fire functions while the face buttons handle all the other essentials while the top bumper buttons toggle through the weapons. It’s a really nice setup and I found that the game just clips along with a fluidity that I have rarely seen.
What’s nice too with the game, is that it does have you controlling turrets and vehicles but the game never suffers from any sort of control breakdown. There is the slightest auto-aim feature that helps you keep up the frenetic pace at which the game is moving at. Not enough so as you hit everything you “kinda” point at, but rather, moves the targeting icon ever so slightly so you hit those shots. Trust me, you need it with a game like this one where the action never lets up and forces you to have the trigger ready at all times.
What I found to be fairly neat in a way that helps move the story along, as you have those momentary breaks and are walking around human occupied areas, you can listen in on conversations and even try interjecting into them. Sometimes the Marines will engage you in conversation, other times they may shut up and act offended that you interupted them. I know that’s not really a control comment, but it is, since you control whether or not to interupt someone.
