Summary
TheFPSgenreis famous for giving players hours of adrenaline-rushing combat as they fire their entire arsenal against area enemies and strong bosses who will stop at nothing to end their run early. FPSs have been around for more than three decades, and over the years, the game mechanics, graphics, and ideas for weapons have only continued to improve.
Playing an FPSwith a standard controller and using the right trigger to fire is fun, but sometimes, when developers insert unconventional, yet interesting control schemes into their games, something wonderful is created. Here are some of thebest FPS games with a unique control scheme.
Set 30 years after the events ofKillzone 3,Killzone: Shadow Fallpresents players with a story where two opposing factions (the Helghast, and the Vektans) cohabit a city that is divided by nothing but a very big wall. Players who completedKillzone 3will probably remember the Petrusite detonation that took place in that title, which inevitably, caused the destruction of the planet Helghan. This led to the inhabitants of Helghan relocating to the planet Vekta, and now it’s up to players to help maintain the balance on a planet where tensions are high.
Killzone: Shadow Fallfeatures an advanced combat drone known as OWL, which can be controlled by players in several ways. What gives this title a unique control scheme, is that players can use the DualShock 4’s touchpad to select OWL’s mode. Swiping right will activate Zip line Mode, while swiping down will engage Shield Mode, and so on.
Red Steel 2opens with the unnamed hero, who’s been captured by a criminal group of thugs known as the Jackals. In a surprising turn of events, the hero manages to escape and rescues his old swordmaster, thus unleashing a series of events that lead to the rest of the game. WhileRed Steel 2did not receive a standing ovation, its reviews were mostly positive, and it did a great job at redeeming its prequel, which many players weren’t happy with at the time. When the Nintendo Wii was first released, it innovated in terms of gameplay, allowing players to use their controllers as part of the experience, andRed Steel 2does so wonderfully.
While playing the game, players can make use of their controller to swing their katana, block incoming attacks, and fire their weapons to decimate their enemies. This makes for a very unique control scheme that, while not exclusive to this title, is, and was, very different to what other consoles were offering.
While theDOOMfranchise has been around for more than three decades, after the 90s, it seemed like its time in the mainstream spotlight was over—at least to the degree of success the 90s titles had enjoyed. However, all that changed with the 2016 rebootDOOM, and the sequel,DOOM Eternal. While the 2016 title was set on Mars, the sequel was literally Hell on Earth, as the demonic forces had taken over the planet.
AlthoughDOOM Eternaldoesn’t feature control schemes as unique as other entries on this list, the game allows for a complex combination of commands through buttons that make the experience amazing. While other FPSs would punish players for trying to switch between a wide variety of weapons in a split second,DOOM Eternalseems to reward it. A good example of this is the Ballista-Super Shotgun combo, which can dispatch even the most powerful enemies in seconds—all players have to do is perfect the skills required to switch between them quickly while dodging.
TheMetroid Prime Trilogyis a compilation of three of the franchise’s greatest games:Metroid Prime, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, andMetroid Prime 3: Corruption. This title features adrenaline-rushing encounters with a wide variety of enemies, including gargantuan bosses who will put even the most skilled players to the test. Similar toRed SteelandRed Steel 2, as well as several other Wii titles, theMetroid Prime Trilogyuses the Wii’s Nunchucks to aim, which makes the experience very entertaining, and adds an extra challenge for players who are not used to this mechanic.
While some games with similar features don’t quite nail the right motion configuration to give players a smooth experience, theMetroid Prime Trilogyexcels at this, with many players even agreeing that it’s easier and more responsive to aim with the Nunchuks than it is with a regular joystick.
GoldenEye 007is a game that most players who are old enough toremember the Nintendo 64will likely still cherish, even if they haven’t played the title in ages. Following the events of the movie of the same name very closely, this title offered players an extremely entertaining campaign, as well as a very complete multiplayer mode that helped make it a timeless classic. Since the Nintendo 64’s controllers were so unique in design, they allowed for some particular control schemes.
Walking around inGoldenEye 007was fairly simple, as it relied on the N64’s central joystick to do so. Looking up, down, and from side to side was a bit more complicated, as that required players to press the D-Pad on the left or the C-buttons on the right. However, what takes the cake is the button for firing James Bond’s weapon, as that was linked to the “Z” button, which was on the back side of the controller. This allowed for very entertaining gunplay that strays considerably from modern FPS controller layouts, and probably even from those available at the time.
