I wouldn't necessarily say I love them, but I don't recall any instances where they've give me any trouble. They're quite nice actually. GTAV is probably one of the best examples of how to implement them thanks to the fact the game slows down when you bring it up.

It's funny, I was just about to use GTA:V on PC to point out how not to do it. Using a radial menu with a mouse makes me feel ill.

You can use the number keys in Wolfenstein though.

While a hotbar will always be preferable and arguably better, weapon wheels are fine for consoles/controllers. Better then having controllers come with a numpad ala the Atari Jaguar.

As for Wolfenstein my major issue was having the Dual-Wield version of the weapons on separate slices of the wheel, which meant having a bigger wheel and scrolling through a lot more. Also when trying to pick a specific weapon you my end up getting the dual-wield variant of the weapon you want or the weapon next to it on the wheel.

I think Saints Row does it better than GTA V because it pauses the game if I remember right...

Maybe Rockstar should bring back to most forgotten/ignored/didn't-even-know-it-existed feature of GTA IV, weapon shortcuts. If you held LB and pressed Up on the D-pad you would equip the pistol, Left was SMG's, Right was AR's and Down was Shotguns If I recall correctly.

The very best possible weapon selection system is 1 weapon assigned to each button..or 1-0 on the keyboard basically, with 'hold shift then press a number" for any other weapons, or etc For controllers though? The weapon wheel is the best alternative to this.

The other options, where your limited to a single extra weapon, I always found "remove fun for the sake of realism". Like no, of course you can't carry more then 2 weapons at once (if that) in r/l usually..but a game is a game. Options beat limitations almost always.

More games need a Hard Reset-ish approach.

I think weapon wheels are great BUT only when the game pauses when you bring them up, or at least slows down time in the background.

Edit: Basically what Humanity said^

Radial wheels work well on a controller, but only if it lets you change items/weapons/powers by slowing time or pausing the game completely. In a game like Wolfenstein where changing weapons while enemies are shooting at you is not very fun.

I can't think of a better way to switch between 4 or more weapons using a controller. They're a pretty elegant solution.

When using a controller there's no better method than a weapon wheel. On a keyboard you can usually press the number keys to bring up whatever weapon it is you want, as long as you remember what button is mapped to Flak Cannon and what one is mapped to Shock Gun.

But without a weapon wheel on a controller, you'd just have to cycle through each weapon until you got the one you wanted.

Having the grenade and weapon wheel button be the same button is just bad design on Wolfensteins part though. That's on them.

Wolfenstein's sin is not pausing the game while you're selecting your weapon. It gets just a bit too hectic when you run out of ammo and want to switch your weapons out. I'm fine with a radial in general though, at least on consoles.

I kind of love weapon wheels, I don't know why, but it's just something that I really like. It's just one of those videogamey things that gives me happy videogame feels. It does suck when the action around you continues whilst you're selecting your weapon, though.

Good for controllers, crap for mouse. I rarely play shooters at all, and even more rarely with a pad. So fuck weapon wheels more or less.

In Ratchet and Clank 2 onward time stopped when you opened the radial menu since there were like 3 pages of weapons. That's really apropos of nothing, it was just fucking sick.

I like weapon wheels. It's better than cycling through a bunch or stuff or opening a separate menu. If you're playing on PC, then the number keys should select weapons, obviously. Radial menus suck with a mouse.

Totally with this. Weapon wheels make me think specifically of Ratchet & Clank as well, when they had so many things that you ended up with three pages of weapon wheel (and just about everything you could cram into there felt useful too, what a masterclass in weapon design those games have been over the years).

I do also like the option to map the weapons to the number keys when playing on PC, and will usually favour that if it's an option. Far Cry 4 is a good example: it has both and I use the number keys when selecting weapons or equipment, the scroll wheel to change thrown weapons (grenades, molotovs, knives, meat), and the wheel for syringes.

They are fine as a concept, but for some reason I'm starting to get tired of them.

The ones that take a noticeble amount of time to come up almost as if there is a load associated with them are infuriating though. Menues and maps in modern games already take to long to come up, don't screw up the quick select as well. Looking at you Assassin's Creed.

They're best when time is slowed down while using them. Stopping time is ok, too. I don't care for two-weapon systems.

They're fine for controllers (I think the Ratchet games handle them well, for example, with time stopping and the wheels being fully customizable), but I prefer numbers on a keyboard.

If you're on KB+M, then nothing is better than having a separate key mapped to every weapon. On a controller there is no better system for managing a lot of options quickly that doesn't use too many buttons that could be used for something else. I don't have a problem with accidentally selecting the wrong weapon often so I don't share your frustrations.

I think they're good when you've got access to a lot of weapons. And usually, as is the case with GTAV, there's also a quick switch button if you want to access a weapon quickly. But, as everybody has been saying, there are better ways for keyboard and mouse players. Personally, when playing HL2, I like to use the quick switch option where pressing any of the numbers on the keyboard switches to a weapon.

I remember in TimeSplitters the way you switched weapons was cycling through your weapon selection by pressing left and right on the d-pad. Not exactly a comfortable way to do it. So when you have a lot of weapons, while using a controller, the weapon wheel is great. I think MGSV has a good take on the weapon wheel, where you press the d-pad in any direction, or hold it, to switch to the weapon you want. I think GTA IV did something like that as well, where you pressed a face button and then a d-pad button to the corresponding weapon type.

I don't have an alternative to weapon wheels, but they should be more of a backup option and less of a mainstay in action games than they are today. Selecting items from a menu takes you out of the moment in a game. Additionally, I don't likeany menu that doesn't require a button press to make a selection because I can't be sure that one was made. This was an issue for me in Mass Effect. I'd sooner have a 3 weapon system like Destiny than a 10 weapon system like Wolfenstein if a radial menu is the only way to make the latter work.

For consoles, I think they're the best option. I really hate the two weapon limitation of most console FPSes these days.

The default bindings for weapons on the number line are also really lame on top of the way you have to cycle through the different weapons of a particular type. Want your silenced 1911 with all the upgrades? Why would you when you have the vintage pistol? It's just as good. We promise.

It's the best option we have right now. Think about the alternatives, you have to cycle through them one-by-one, or you have to use a halo-style limit on what you can carry.

Now, I don't play shooters with a controller, so your frustrations are a bit alien to me. I remember playing Crysis, on PC, and I remember that the best way to control the radial menu was to start the movement with your mouse before you hit the button for a radial menu. If you want to enable super strength, you mouse up, then quickly press then depress the power selection button. This allows you to select what you want without even having to see the menu.

@reverendk: Use the scroll wheel to cycle through pistols or the number keys.

Helluva lot better than we had to press 0-9 to change weapons.

They are, in my opinion, the best way to pick anything as long as they follow two rules:

• Make sure it controls well. GTA V gets the slowdown right but sometimes I have problems picking the right thing with a mouse, especially when "the right thing" is something in a diagonal corner.
• Always, always, always, always, ALWAYS, ALWAYS significantly slow the game down or pause it when the player pulls up a weapon wheel. GTA V gets this right. So does The Witcher 2. Wolfenstein, as much as I love it, does not, and that can lead to some frustrating moments where you feel like you should be able to pick a gun faster, but can't because the game doesn't slow down. This is a rule that should have no exception in any case whatsoever. It's an absolute. If you're going to include a radial menu for weapon or item selection, slow the fucking game down while letting players pick something.
  • Let's make a side note, here. You can pick the gun you want with the number keys in the PC version. That was all right back when Doom and Wolfenstein 3D did it, but I don't think it is these days. It feels extremely awkward to twist my hand so that my index finger can reach 5 or 6 and those are the easiest to reach without letting go of W. My fingers should have to leave WASD as few times as possible, so no, that's not an acceptable solution. It's uncomfortable and sluggish, and I feel like it's something longtime PC gamers argue for (and PC developers implement) only because they've been doing it that way for twenty five plus years.

But then, I also feel like the XMB is one of the best UI's ever so maybe I'm just strange. Here's a category, here are its subcategories, there's the option you're looking for, easy as pie, and it looks great too.

As someone that is currently weaning himself from using controllers after using them for almost 20 years, I can't say that using numbers/hot keys to switch weapons, specifically having the muscle memory to remember which key is bound to which weapon, is second nature to me at the moment compared to using a weapon wheel and seeing where the weapon is on the wheel. So I can't say that I'm completely comfortable with playing a Saints Row or a more recent Far Cry with mouse and keyboard compared to a controller because I still want the wheel to fall back on.

So in other words, I'm pro wheel.

Well like a lot of things, depends on how it is done. In general I like them.

In the case of Wolfenstein, the situation is made even worse by having the grenade button be the same as weapon select.

In general I dislike when a game has a button that serves conflicting dual purposes like this. I think the Farcry games do this. So I'm with you on this one.

I liked it in the Ratchet and Clank games.

I think weapon wheels are probably one of the better compromises for selection on a controller with many weapon choices, but I prefer a keyboard hotkey for each gun in FPS games. I can quickly and precisely select the weapon I want without a break in the action from bringing up a menu or having to scroll linearly through the weapon list with the mouse wheel. D-pad select is good for this when the number of weapons is < 4 (like Mass Effect).

They should totally bring back numpads with those cardboard/plastic overlays for each individual game.

Also, paddles. They should bring back paddles.

The weapon wheel isn't mechanically the most superior, at least not insofar as Speed is concerned, but the side effect of SLOW MOTION is really awesome. When I really think about it, I fucking love slow motion, and the fact that pulling up the weapon wheel in some games Slows Down Time actually is far more important to me that switching to a gun quickly. That shit matters in CS or some other competitive shooter. For a single player experience that isn't Serious Sam, Time Splitters, etc, I'll take a slow motion effect to swapping guns quickly.

Weapon switching isn't something that I've really dealt with much on PC, so I'm just detailing console and portable experiences here and it ranges quite a bit.

On the PERFECT end: Astral Chain on the Switch

I have some problems with the game in other ways, but the radial menu for your five Legions slows time if you hold the button but you can also tap the button multiple times or hold it a buffer a selection IIRC to do a quick-select which doesn't affect the flow or pace of the game. Besides this, there are three main weapons to flip through on the d-pad (two directions dedicated to this) and it only takes one press for a different weapon.

On the GOOD ENOUGH end: Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition on the Switch

Devil May Cry 3's Switch port doesn't break new ground completely since PC mods like DDMK by serpentiem added a bunch of things, but to stick to the official stuff. Last year's port was the ambitious one yet by a mile and brought in not one but TWO WEAPON WHEELS as a series first.

For most of the game's existence, Devil Arms, Guns and Styles could only be changed at statues in fixed locations during missions or before a mission. On one hand, it meant that weapon synergy could be exploited with ease as it only takes one tap to get to what you want but on the other, you can't use three gun types or two styles in a boss fight.

With the Switch release, you can flip through all ten weapons after you get them in a linear order with only a few guns being skippable. There is also a radial option for Arms + Guns if you hold the Change Arm + Gun buttons and tilt the right stick, fortunately, you can change both at once so you can point up to switch to Dante's default kit with both buttons held. It doesn't feel responsive enough for me to use it alone but I can use it in addition to the regular cycling. Styles work fine as they have been assigned to separate D-Pad buttons, that said you need to double-tap fast to access two of the six since 4 D-Pad directions aren't enough.

For comparison, DMC3SE with the DDMK mod allows you to change a ton of attributes (like your weapon loadout, how many air dashes you can do or the song that's playing). If you want more details on the official controls, but you can follow this online manual (4th page is where the Switch exclusive mode's controls are detailed)

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To put it briefly, the wheel isn't the problem but how functionally it is built and what other things the game expects us to do. It is a great solution even without slowing time but another option is to make slower access to weapons a selling point like fighting game commands.

I won't spoil all of the weapons in The Wonderful 101, but it lets you can make a larger hand, sword or gun with bigger shapes with your heroes in the mix which multiplies the potential variants that can be accessed at will without pausing.

It has some faults as RNG can play against your attempts to be optimal in using a specific hero/weapon with over 100 of them to manage, but it's wonderful that it allows enables people to go wild with the right analog (drawing option), touch-screen/touchpad (drawing option), second screen (menu-selection in real-time for heroes - usually not intended for combat) and holding the morph button (enlarges morph/weapon on your selected hero when using the right upgrade).

The act of drawing the morphs out slows time on most difficulties (removed on highest difficulty unless you use Hero Time dodges - sorta like Bayonetta), so there is a crutch to help out but most importantly, the game wouldn't really benefit from a Weapon Wheel. It would need multi-layer weapon wheel to choose between a ton of weapons and the possible sizes which wouldn't account for how the act of drawing the liner slows time usually and can be used offensively.

P.S. I wanted to mention Shulk's Monado Art's Wheel in Smash Ultimate too but this post is running on and it is functionally very close to Devil Arm/Gun switching on DMC3SE's Freestyle mode on Switch besides how it is for modes that expire over time and cooldown. It is interesting how people buffer charging it for invincibility frames and to eliminate landing lag though.

The Ratchet and Clank handled wheels great and I didn't mind Goldeneye's cycling but I wasn't playing the games too seriously. Jak 3 had 12 guns split across 4 directions, three apiece which was neat even if you might need to press a direction twice on rare occasion.

Accepting that I haven't played an FPS with a keyboard and mouse since Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, I can't imagine preferring having to remember what key does what to having a visual signifier on screen. But KB+M controls have often come across as black magic to me anyway. Who's got time to fish for the I key when the triangle button/touchpad/options button is right there?

Fine or probably even idea if your playing on a controller, terrible on keyboard/mouse. Give me 0-9 any day of the week, personally the best version that comes to mind is HL2 with everything categorized(IE pressing 2 gets you the pistol, pressing 2 twice gets you the revolver) and having a quick switch to previous weapon on Q.

I play on PC most of the time, so I don't really use them as often as some, but I think they're about as good as it gets on a gamepad for quickly selecting from more than four options. I also don't really have a problem with games that don't slow down when you bring up the wheel, unless it's something like Ratchet and Clank and you've literally got two or three completely full wheels of stuff to worry about. If you've only got a single wheel, it's a really good way for being able to pick stuff quickly and so I've got no problem with a game incentivising picking stuff quickly.

Number keys are my go-to preferred method overall, but honestly, I even kind of liked using the mouse for the radial menu for selecting the suit powers in the original Crysis. With a bit of practice, it became a surprisingly useful method for switching quickly between modes to combo the effects.

Just let me hotkey the weapons to the d-pad, at least as an option.

At this point my fingers mash buttons on the keyboard in the same way my fingers used to know where A/B/X/Y/X/O/□/△ were without even thinking about it. As long as I generally rebind generic functions to the same place, it's no different. Typing has helped out a lot with this - I type pretty fast and almost never have to look at the keyboard.

As far as whether I prefer using 1-9 or a weapon wheel these days? I'm in complete disagreement with my statement from however many years ago. I'm at the point where I play most things with a keyboard and mouse instead of a controller so I've gotten used to twisting my hand over to reach those higher numbers. If it really becomes a problem, I'll bind 6-9 to Z/X/C/V or something of the sort. And, of course, sometimes I'm completely lazy and just scroll through things with a mouse wheel. If a game doesn't let me rebind quick select keys, it's probably something that should be played on a controller anyway.

That's not to say that I never use weapon wheels anymore. I certainly do find myself pulling them up sometimes, occasionally because old habits die hard, sometimes because I just don't feel like contorting my hand. But the less I see them, the better.

...all of this said, they're still way better for quick-selecting things on controllers than anything else. On an input device where buttons are limited, tying weapon selection to one button is certainly still the best thing to do.