Normally, when we talk about video games, certain elements spring to mind right away. The graphics, for example, usually come right near the top right alongside the plot. From there, there's the sound design and other such aesthetic matters to come into play, as well as that elusive "fun factor". Well, there's one issue that doesn't often come up, though it should, as I found out this weekend while playing a round of "Dark" for the Xbox 360.
"Dark," for those who are unfamiliar, is essentially a vampire simulator that gives players access to a set of otherworldly powers like teleportation and the like while at the same time demanding that the player slug down a little blood every so often taken as direct from the vein as is possible. This is of course a pretty clever idea that Realmforge, its developer, should derive some satisfaction from. Of course, the problem I had with the game wasn't the clever idea, but rather, the controls.
One of the very first things I was offered was a tutorial level, a development I'm usually happy with since I get a chance to take on the controls on a comparatively easy scale. It gives me an idea of what I'm in for with the larger game. This time, I'm especially glad I did because I got a good look at what may have been "Dark"'s biggest problem: its controls. Trying to manipulate my shadow leap power was especially cumbersome, as I could only actually activate it under certain conditions and then only to specific locations.
All I could think while I was playing this tutorial level was, being a vampire should not be this inconvenient. Seriously, if I'm given the power to teleport, then I don't see why teleporting isn't just a combination of look / press X. Why am I busily swinging the camera around to look for places where the universe will accept my shockingly limited ability to teleport? I'm already screwing around with the laws of physics hard enough; why is this game making it harder?
I think in this case a matter of perspective may have helped; instead of making me a zippy blur, why not just send me to whatever universe it is that I'm in when I'm not in the real one. Let me see, say, a world without humans, or a world where all humanity has frozen in time in that moment I changed universes. Take advantage of the multiverse theory and let me slide on out to another world, making a perfect explanation while reducing the shadow leap power to an on-off functionality.
The point here, of course, is that it's an issue of control. I've dealt with a lot of different control issues, and the key point is to keep it simple. "Dark" shows off as much as anything else how important it is to make the controls easy to work with. Most of the time, this isn't an issue, but when it is, it becomes an issue so important that it ends up overshadowing the rest of the work.
Keeping the controls straight is more important than virtually any part of the game, but when the controls are done right, it's not the kind of thing anyone thinks about. Controls are the unsung heroes of the gaming industry, and though they may never be noticed, when they don't work, it's impossible not to notice them.
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