During the 1990s era of gaming, numerous companies were still trying to figure out what type of gameplay would appeal to fans. At some point, a good number managed to find success with titles played via tank controls, which opened the floodgates to popular names such as Tomb Raider, Alone in the Dark, Resident Evil, and more.
For those unaware, tank controls are a control scheme where a character's movement is relative to the direction they're facing. This led to camera angles that were fixed with no way to change them, and you had to deal with the awkwardness of not being able to go and look about freely in whatever environment you found yourself in.
For a time, it was considered fun and was responsible for the creation of many popular games and franchises. However, once controllers were provided with a dedicated camera stick, that control scheme became obsolete, and is now only used in certain indie games or implemented as options in some modern titles for nostalgic purposes.
Nowadays, people often look back at tank controls and wonder how everyone managed to enjoy the games that had them, considering that it made even the simplest tasks unnecessarily difficult. While it did make things harder, the control scheme is still very special in the sense that it incited a level of emotion from players that free camera movement can't.
To understand what that means, let's take a look back at the early Silent Hill games. Their premise basically revolved around trying to escape the titular area, which was inhabited by monsters that needed to be either defeated or avoided. If they had free camera and character movement, they would still be scary, but players could easily get through them with little tension.
However, because the games were made with tank controls, every decision of where to step is important. An encounter with a monster in any environment is terrifying, as the lack of free movement and fixed camera angles means even the simplest mistake can be the difference between surviving and seeing that game-over screen. It provides an additional fear factor and anxiety to gameplay, which is good for immersing people into what they're playing.
Know that tank controls weren't just useful for eliciting emotions in horror games, as they also did a fine job doing so in other genres as well. Take, for example, the original Croc: Legend of the Gobbos, a 3D platformer that utilized the control scheme.
Every successful landing made during platforming segments, both the easy and hard ones, felt extremely satisfying, and that's because of how precise you needed to be due to the awkward movement. It was like beating an invisible enemy, and doing so constantly was a great way of letting the player know how good they were, subsequently making them want to continue their journey.
Tank controls may be considered obsolete today, but there is still merit in using them to create a fun and exciting modern-day title. It won't be easy, but games like the previously mentioned have created the blueprint for how the control scheme can be used successfully. Hopefully, there are companies out there willing to give it a go, as it would be interesting to see how tank controls can be innovated in this day and age.
For more like this, stick with us here at Gfinityesports.com, the best website for gaming features and opinions.