When Capcom showed survival horror game Resident Evil 5 being played with PS3 Move motion controls at last year's Tokyo Game Show, I quietly snickered to myself. No, actually, it may have been audible. Boy, was I ever wrong.
Let's be honest, it's easy to assume tacked on motion controls are a gimmick. Really easy.
Yet, I didn't get that feeling with the Move controls for Resident Evil 5. I was bracing myself for that feeling, but it wasn't there. In fact, in the hands on time I had with them at E3 last week, they actually felt better than the straight up controller — this coming from someone who generally prefers traditional game controls.
The controls are reminiscent of the ones for the Wii version of Resident Evil 4. Players aim and shoot with the Move controller. While aiming (holding down the Move controller's trigger), players can fire by pressing the Move button and reload by shaking the controller. Shaking the controller while out of aiming mode produces a melee attack. The Nave controller controls character movement.
Of course, the "standard" Resident Evil 5 controls offer more precise aiming, so I'd be hesitant to take them into a multiplayer situation, but for me, the Move controls really breathed life into the single player RE5. And it felt more than a fresh coat of paint, but instead like a new experience for that game.
Sony has taken a great deal of heat for its motion controller. Critics say it is too much like the Wii Remote, or it's an HD version of the Wii Remote. Actually, I don't think either are necessarily a bad thing! The Move controller itself feels great and plays well. And if it can offer not only wider, but more varied game experiences, more power to it.