I find the movement around the environment to be super finicky, why isn't there a jump button? It's like you have this open world but it restricts where you can go so much because the terrain is so hard to navigate. I wanna jump up some rocks and I cannot, you can only vault over stuff when you get the triangle prompt.

Not only that but the cover mechanics are terrible, often it looks like you should be able to get into cover, but it doesn't let you. Then it is hard to tell when you're in cover, you don't snap to it like other games, it's too easy to just walk in an out of it. More often than not though, it just don't let me get into cover and I give up on it, I just prone everywhere...

However prone sucks, all the time I'm trying to move around, I want to turn, but he doesn't rotate backwards, he just moves backwards. I cannot find out how to rotate him, end up getting seen because I cannot work out how to get him to turn around and it's like because he is moving backwards, each direction is effectively flipped.

It is very clunky in every aspect, I'm not having fun with the controls and I don't get why I have to click in the analog sticks to love around cover. Clicking those sticks are the worst, who thought of that? I don't want to click them in to run either, I just want it to be a proper button. Clicking the sticks requires too much force and you end up moving around trying to do it, holding them in is even more awkward.

The cover mechanics are horrible. It never sticks when I want to and always sticks when I don't. Haven't had any issues with prone stuff though. Rotating works fine for me, as in pushing the stick forward then rotating it to get the desired direction. I also use a lot of the sideways roll. The sprint seems like a toggle click rather than a hold down thing so I haven't had problems with pushing it in (and, well, maybe the fact that most games use that stick for sprint helps).

Overall I've found it to be the most fluidly controlling MGS to date, however it's slightly marred by the fact that so many of the animations are canned. This is especially apparent in the intro where you move through the curtains in one scene. I got stuck in the animation of doing that twice and was unable to avoid the guards because I couldn't cancel out of it.

I'm not struggling. The sprint is definitely a click, which is perfectly fine with me.

The only control I'm not really fond of is the zoom view in, with Right stick click. Feels uncomfortable. I'm using a DS3 with PC though, so whatevs.

Not really. It's the best controlling Metal Gear game to date, and in some ways the best controlling game I've played in a long time. Animations are seamless, smooth and very snappy in response to the controls. I never have any issues with Snake going from full standing to a crouch or from full standing straight to a crawl, it's all very well done. The wall sticking sometimes doesn't work but honestly since the game is third person it doesn't have to. If you're crouched behind a wall it's enough and I've hardly ever felt the real need to stick to walls apart from a few instances when I want to mark guys from behind a box - but you probably should have marked those guys 100 meters ago from atop that hill you came down off.

Not sure what you're clicking the sticks in for - isn't that for peeking around corners? I've hardly used that feature as proper scouting ahead of time renders it pretty pointless. Prone is where you want to be 99% of the time either way.

Overall I'm always super impressed at just how well the game controls overall. Climbing, running, diving - it all feels really, really good, especially in comparison with the older games. I've often argued with people who claim the old games controlled "terribly" or how "dated" and "weird" those control schemes were, but Phantom Pain is leagues ahead of those old controls in every single way.

The one thing I would want is a quick way to access my Walkman on the go. Like swipe down on the touchpad to bring down the controls for a little bit. Sometimes I want to quickly turn a tape off some enemy starts speaking or whatnot and it takes just those 2 menu screens too long to get in there.

The only thing that I'm having bother with is the buddy command wheel. The stick movement to select things on that wheel doesn't seem very accurate. I always end up making the horse poop on accident.

@vierastalo: Wait you walked through the curtains? I just crawled under them

Not really. Just like Phantom pain.

What I can tell you is, this is way tbetter than any previous MGS game, so ah, maybe this series just ain't for you.

No, it all feels pretty natural to me. To the point where I'm trying really dumb maneuvers (like throwing smoke grenades in front of me repeatedly to get in/out of areas with too many guards), and still coming out on top because everything works the way I want it to for once. It's leagues above anything in the earlier games.

Also cardboard box sledding.

If you're having trouble turning while crawling, you can always just face the camera the direction you want and go and press R1 to go to first person view. Pop back out and Snake will be facing that direction.

Change to shooter type, and don't try and slam yourself into cover, this ain't gears of war you just have to sidle up to a corner

Nope, no problems here.

Strange that someone would buy this game when they commented on every Metal Gear Scanlon 4 video about how much they hate Metal Gear.

No problems whatsoever. Compared to all the previous games, this is heaven.

Struggling is probably the wrong word. I'm more...fumbling with it. The VR Missions are imprinted upon me on a muscle memory level, so I'm having to break down those old impulses and rebuild from scratch. That said, it's been super nice so far, so the learning curve shouldn't be so bad.

I don't mean to be a dad here, but the way you share your opinion with nothing but disses and slams of the controls and game doesn't make it very easy to take your criticisms seriously or have an actual conversation about the control challenges in this game. Especially considering you recently said you hated Peace Walker and weren't going to buy Phantom Pain, hate MGS4, etc so on. lol don't hold it against me if you seem like the problem! I think this series is not for you, and that's cool too.

Anyways, for a game as dense as it is the controls are amazing I think, honestly I love the hell out of the feel of just playing this game. It's really tactile and weighty but precise. I love the weight especially. It's a mix of the actual control speed and audio but they do it very well. All the CQC for example is very satisfying.

Dunno how much you played but maybe you need to just give it more time? It takes me about 5-10 hours to really become one with most 3D games for the first time if they are not a copy-past control scheme (nothing wrong with that, just worth nothing there is an important difference!). So yeah, crawling takes time to get used to, no doubt! But when you do you realize the genius of Snake not turning around but instead backing up.

I'm surprised you even bought the game, the last comment I saw from you regarding Phantom Pain was that you said you weren't buying it and would just watch it on YouTube or something because you didn't like the direction Kojima went with the story, the tapes, and so on.

Anyway, I'm doing alright with the controls. They are certainly better than Ground Zeroes. After 4-5 hours I'm finally starting to get a bit better at doing various things. They're not perfect, but better than some similar games. They're not so awful that it's ruining my experience or anything like that. I'm also playing with mouse & keyboard, which is probably not how most people are playing this game.

It plays perfect in my opinion, now and then Snake flies on top of a big rock when he's leaned against it but that's it.

I really don't like the radial menus for pc they just feel extra clunky, everything else is great though.

Some of your points are definitely valid. My only personal gripe is that the binoculars aren't a toggle and the xbox one controllers shoulder buttons are trash, utter trash and they keeps slipping out even though I am clearly holding them/it in. Also not as much of a direct control issue, but Boss keeps sliding back down the smallest of hills, sometimes its just a steep step. Other than that, I think the controls are top fucking notch and I am loving every minute of it.

I felt the controls weren't that great since ground zeroes, but i went back and practiced until i kinda got them down now. The cover system is annoying sometimes as i don't know when to push a button to hit cover or when to just push up against the wall, so sometimes i end up vaulting over stuff into enemy view lol. I've played through every major MGS game though, so confusing controls isn't something i couldn't get over.

You can use the up and down d-pad to zoom if you want

Also made a whole thread saying they were convinced the game was nothing they wanted ever out of a Metal Gear title based on all the reviews, but hey go figure.

To answer OP's question, no. The controls are totally fine for me. The only thing that's a little weird is holding the shoulder button for binocs since on the Xone controller I have a hard time keeping it pressed for some reason. Beyond that I haven't had any slip ups that I would contribute to the controls, so

Yeah, I'm surprised that you went ahead and did not cancel your pre-order considering how strongly negative you were towards the gameplay (e.g. saying that stealth was inconsequential due to the Fulton, etc.). It's also pretty surprising that you find the controls in the Phantom Pain (and Ground Zeroes to an extent) to be clunky considering that you've also played the past MGS games, which were even clunkier in comparison.

Other than wishing that rolling would be like MGS4 with the Y / ∆ and the non-binocular zoom to be a toggle, this game controls better than any mgs before it.

The controls don't bother me so much and seem fluid. I did have an adjustment period because of the change in controls from Ground Zeroes. For a while I kept diving into D Horse and knocking it over when trying to mount lol.

Not even going to lie. Every time I see your avatar and the topic is on MGS my eyes roll so hard I can see the back of my own skull.

Controls are fine. Cover works far better than it did in GZ. Clicking in the sticks is a smart idea, lets you access the menus for interrogation/buddy stuff while also being able to get out of them quickly without accidentally setting something off.

@Mike: As much as I agree that aiming is superior with a mouse, I just can't play third-person games without an analogue stick. And since I do have a good grasp on how to get Boss to move, I'll take more accurate movement than accurate shooting in this game.

However, the good thing is that you can switch on the fly any ways.

Little tip for everyone: if you're prone crawling and you need to very quickly change the direction you're facing or do a 180, you can look the direction you want to be facing and pull out the binoculars. When you let go you will automatically be facing the direction you were looking.

@kasaioni: Yeah I agree. After awhile on full mouse and keyboard, I pulled out the wireless 360 controller and have been doing most stuff with that. Since fast, precision shooting is rarely needed, a controller is just more comfortable for me for running around and sneaking and what not. Then if I need more accuracy, I just grab the mouse which is right next to me anyway. Works out very well. I'm thankful they left the on-the-fly switching in - I played Far Cry exactly like this. Used a controller for almost everything except precision sniping, which I found to be an exercise in frustration with a controller.

@Mike: @kasaioni: Tangent - the only game I've played in recent years that is in the third person where I prefer using the KB+M over the controller is Warframe. Other than that, I just used the controller for most 3rd person-perspective games.

@gaspower: Yeah I strongly prefer KB+M controls for Warframe, too. Although I haven't played that game in quite some time, and evidently there was a recent update that completely overhauled parkour. Anyway...METAL GEAR

The only struggle I'm having is the fact my DS4 R2 is broken, which leads to a lot of "misfiring". Hurry up, R2 replacement.

Not sure if someone has mentioned this, but if you want to changed directions and do a 180 while prone you can move the camera in front of Snake, and then use the binoculars.

My only issue was that they removed the Action Type B controls which were in Ground Zeroes, but I quickly adjusted. This game controls great.

The controls in this game are so much better than they have ever been. I am loving them. I just got off playing a ton of ground zeroes so that definitely helps though.

The only criticism I have is that occasionally when I am sneaking prone, I will try to crawl over a bump in the ground and Boss will pop up. That drives me insane when I am trying to sneak around, but it's been an issue in the series since MGS2 so whatever.

Weren't you the guy that said: "I'm not going to buy the game, I'll probably just skip the gameplay and watch the story bits if they play it on Metal Gear Scanlon," because I think I'm starting to see a trend here.

It's ok if the game isn't clicking; you really don't have to torture yourself just so you can tell everyone how the game is torturing you. The series moved in a direction you aren't happy with, and that's fine. You'll always have MGS2.

To answer your question: the vast majority of people do not seem to share your sentiments, myself included.

Getting into cover can be a pain, but otherwise I feel just fine about how the game controls. Boy, that dive to prone sure is fun!

Why did you buy this game? You hate Metal Gear Solid. I don't know if you know that, but hopefully this helps you out.

The game controls fine.

I feel like the cover sticking doesn't work particularly well, and when crawling I always end up going backwards because I'm not used to having to go a radius in order to turn around.

The controls are fine. You probably shouldn't have bought the game, you should've probably just tried Ground Zeroes.

I don't know if it's because I'm coming into V after 80 hours of the Witcher 3, but V just feels super tight and fluid to me. Riding a horse in an open world has honestly never controlled better in my opinion.

Nope.

I think they're mostly fine, but the cover system is definitely not ideal. There's no doubt that it's the best controlling Metal Gear to date, but it's still leagues behind something like the most recent Splinter Cell.

I'm pretty sure he did and he hated it. I am wondering if this is the same guy that would make a thread every week or so announcing how poorly DmC is selling. Brighty.. is that you?

It's not that bad, and there are several control schemes, some of which are more of a "modern shooter" scheme. That should help.

That being said, some things I've noticed

• It's almost as if there are too many things you can do, so several buttons serve dual purposes.
• The interrogation, knock on walls, and buddy whistle are kind of awkward to use while holding the button, moving the stick, and clicking
• To use cover, you need actually press into it like the previous games. The problems you are having is that you aren't getting close enough to objects to stick

And, no offense, but it kind of sounds like you don't necessarily have the hand strength and dexterity in your fingers to use the controller properly.

The only issues with the controls I'm having are related to ledges. I've died a couple of times because I wanted to hang over the edge of something but jumped off instead. The difference between the size of the context areas and the movement involved with either seems real weird.

It's not perfect, but I don't think there is a single game of this size with perfect control. GTAV, Witcher 3. They all have their little quarks, but they still play great on the whole. I feel the same about MGSV

Definitely a result of open world jankiness.

The cover controls don't seem to work with walls. The pause menu is hard to find as it is the top-left corner of the touchpad on PS4. Whichever character you are playing as will have trouble climbing small rocks, even with triangle prompts, slipping fairly often. When interrogating the enemy the strangle/stun button icon should not pulse as it looks like you are meant to tap it. Peace Walker's controls were much easier, but that game was also much simpler.

Despite those minor issues, all the other controls and the actual game are S+++ Rank >:D The people who made it did an exceptional job.

A little. So far the only time it was really an issue was when I was doing the first real mission where you rescue Miller. I had completed the rescue and was running away on horseback from the zombie troops and the camera was just killing me. It was all over the place and wouldn't center on anything meaning I was running into rock and walls during a high speed chase. Still the best controls of a Metal Gear game without a doubt tho.