PlayStationhas been trying to sell me onmotion controlsever sinceRatchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction in 2007. Please, for the love of god, stop. It’s been 17 years, Sony. I was seven when you first tried to indoctrinate me into this strange gyro cult. It didn’t work then, and it won’t work now.
Every singleAstro Botmission starts with you piloting a PS5 DualSense controller, turning it in real life to turn it in-game. It’s cute! I’ll admit, it felt more natural because my controller had been transported into the game itself. So, I took the bait and left it on, conceding that maybe, just maybe, Sony had finally cracked motion controls.
I was wrong. Later on, you have to ride along a circle grind rail while avoiding projectiles, finding a gap to squeeze into by using the motion controls to move left and right. No matter how much I turned, it was never smooth enough for me to get out of the way in time. I died a lot before I caved and turned them off, and everything felt so much snappier.
Not only was it easier to navigate grind rails without reducing my Astro Bot to a pile of cutesy scrap metal, but controlling the DualSense ship at the start of every level now gave me a much wider range of motion. It was like my arthritis had been cured. Getting the easy-to-miss jigsaw pieces and PlayStation coins was a lot less hassle without having to contort my controller.
For a split second, I thought PlayStation finally had a grip on motion controls, but I’m not sure it’ll ever be anything more than a cheap gimmick. It isn’t nearly precise enough, paling in comparison to the tried and tested thumbstick, so any time you fail while using motion controls, it feels unfair and needlessly punishing.
Thumbsticks give you far more command over what you’re doing than motion controls ever can, so when the option is there to turn them off, why wouldn’t you? Astro Bot especially highlighted how weak a feature this is, because so much of the game is built on the other DualSense selling points, which it does a great job of successfully showcasing.
Motion controls haven’t noticeably improved since I was unendingly frustrated by them back in 2007 — falling from the sky as Ratchet while avoiding obstacles was a nightmare then, and it’s a nightmare today. But PlayStation has significantly improved its controllers elsewhere. The PS5 DualSense is more ergonomic and sturdy, feeling better inmy admittedly large handsthan the DualShock ever did, and the haptic feedback is so responsive that it truly felt like the little bots I had been collecting were inside my controller.
The adaptive triggers are also an amazing improvement. Shooting hasweight,likeyou’re really pulling the trigger, which makes it less of a gimmick and more of an adornment. It’s an improvement to what was already there, rather than an attempt to replace a good thing. Motion controls don’t offer that, and that’s why they feel so tacked on.
I love you Astro Bot. Not only do you showcase how fantastic the PS5 and its controller are, but you pay homage to the diverse history of this console with so much care and attention to detail. But please, for the love of Kratos, stop trying to make me like motion controls. It will never happen.
Astro Bot
WHERE TO PLAY
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