Sitting in your sofa clutching a controller is a horrible option to play PUBG, however solely as a result of what you’re enjoying is a PC recreation at the start.
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds isn’t a straightforward recreation to play. PC gamers discovered this out the laborious approach when the sport entered Steam Early Access earlier this yr.
PUBG can be not designed to be common. I’ve talked earlier than about its ARMA-lite controls, concentrate on ability, and the bundle of rough edges and fuck you mechanics that may by no means make sense in any recreation making an attempt to enchantment to a mass viewers. But none of this mattered to PUBG’s makers, as a result of they have been out to make one thing fascinating, not essentially common.
Despite this, PUBG turned a breakout hit, the likes of which we see each ten years, and by no means at this scale. I’m bringing all of this as much as level out that despite the fact that all of its quirks ended up working in its favour to date on PC, the identical could not occur on console. If the launch Xbox One Game Preview model is any indication, issues are in dire want of change if PUBG is to discover a stable footing.
And sure, it’s completely high-quality to criticise an early entry recreation, not solely as a result of they’re charging cash for it, but additionally as a result of it’s on the market for anybody to strive – inevitably inviting opinions and critique. If you’ll be able to’t recover from this truth, cease studying and go on together with your day.
My time with PUBG on Xbox One has been dreadful. The recreation can’t preserve a stable frame-rate to save lots of its life, and testing has proven the many performance issues it has. There’s a selected drawback that occurs too usually in cities: aiming down sights introduces a stutter and a few dropped frames.
The controls, the best way they presently are, don’t make any sense on a controller, providing poor options to issues shooters solved years in the past. With no option to remap them, you’re caught having to relearn fundamental capabilities like aiming and reloading simply to have the ability to play.
I’d argue that the goal 30fps isn’t ok, however let’s be reasonable, even essentially the most highly effective CPU this era inside an Xbox One X continues to be effectively under-powered in comparison with desktop i5s and i7s. PUBG has at all times been CPU-intensive, and it’s widespread for PC gamers to show down most settings to attempt to preserve a stable 60fps, one thing no different recreation calls for.
To get round this could require a full engine revamp, which has zero likelihood of occurring. At greatest, we’re locking at one other 30fps shooter, which isn’t an issue in and of itself. 30fps is manageable, and much from unplayable, nevertheless it’s not one thing you need in your tactical shooter. Ubisoft understood this when it determined that Rainbow Six: Siege’s multiplayer mode must run at 60fps, whereas capping Terror Hunt at 30fps.
Maybe the frame-rate shall be a rock stable 30 some months from now, and possibly controls will change into extra wise. But even then, it nonetheless gained’t be sufficient.
For the sake of the argument, let’s assume there aren’t any technical or networking issues to talk of, simply to take them out of the equation. This will make obvious simply what number of of PUBG’s core mechanics don’t translate effectively to a controller. I’m not speaking about Battle Royale tenets, reasonably how the sport performs.
As it stands, close-quarter fight in PUBG is borderline damaged. The velocity with which characters speed up whereas shifting – even side-to-side – makes monitoring targets in shut proximity more durable than it needs to be. You can get round this considerably with a mouse, nevertheless it’s unimaginable to do the identical with a stick. Firefights in shut quarters resolve in one in all two methods proper now.
Either one participant is tenting someplace, watching a really particular entry level, giving them a bonus, or each gamers are strafing and capturing till sufficient bullets join and one in all them comes out alive. That’s about it, as a result of there isn’t any intention help to talk of. I can’t say if it is a acutely aware determination on PUBG Corp’s half, or if the characteristic is just MIA, however the finish consequence is identical: it’s not enjoyable to battle somebody near you.
The lack of intention help additionally implies that long-range firefights are unpredictable. When character motion is as mild as it’s, you gained’t have the ability to sustain together with your goal as rapidly as you’d like, inherently giving a bonus to the participant who shoots first. PUBG is exclusive on this case as a result of engagement distances are effectively past what’s discovered within the majority of video games.
Other tactical shooters like Siege remedy this drawback by having firefights happen solely indoors. A shooter with huge open maps like Battlefield are nonetheless tiny by comparability, on prime of getting totally different levels of intention help in any respect ranges.
Aim help can alleviate a few of these issues, however one thing else additionally might: making a smaller map for consoles, sufficiently small to forestall stutters and different issues however large enough to take care of the Battle Royale pacing. Reducing the participant depend might even have an identical impact. Or, you’ll be able to dig deeper and create smaller buildings and quicker circle speeds on console to encourage gamers to remain on the transfer. And let’s not cease there.
If bullet drop and intense weapon recoil don’t work on consoles, they have to be toned down or eliminated. Looting objects and the crippling UI have to be reimagined. On PC, the place everybody simply drags and drops, shirts and different clothes objects on the bottom aren’t a lot of a nuisance. On console, most individuals will decide every merchandise individually, and it’s extremely foolish to maintain selecting and dropping garments while you’re aiming for weapons and ammo.
Even easy issues just like the act of including or eradicating attachments is a nightmare. The UI must make the most of analogue sticks and work round controller limitations. These and plenty of others are all issues that exist as a result of the sport is making an attempt to port strictly mouse and keyboard-driven gameplay to controllers.
Sooner or later, PUBG Corp must determine what sort of recreation it desires PUBG to be on console. It won’t ever have the ability to replicate the PC expertise, on account of management or limitations, so it must create one thing that’s enjoyable in its personal proper. This gained’t occur until the group has the braveness to chop content material and rethink options if it means making a playable, enjoyable console shooter.
Nobody took shooters on consoles significantly till Halo happened. Things have been this manner for a cause, however Bungie was the primary to design a shooter particularly across the limitations of a controller. It labored out fairly effectively for Halo, and once more for CoD four. Developers understood that you would be able to’t simply port your PC setups to consoles, you must design a brand new mannequin particularly for his or her enter strategies and restricted .
The course of has at all times been an evolution, which inherently means some issues have to be discarded with the intention to transfer ahead. Even if we’re going to finish up with two totally different video games that share the identical DNA, it could be significantly better than the gimped, neither right here nor there factor we have now as we speak.
PUBG on Xbox One is a clunky, ugly and deeply irritating expertise, all as a result of it’s making an attempt to suit a sq. peg right into a spherical gap. If it could possibly’t replicate the full-fat PC recreation, it must evolve or danger being a distinct segment recreation performed by handful of individuals whereas the remainder of us benefit from the “real” PUBG.
Source
