In Defense of Tank Controls

In the mid 90’s, early 3D games had an opportunity and a challenge when it came to camera work and control. While we take it for granted in today’s generation, there was a special time of experimentation that reinvented genres and brought the medium ever closer to film. While many today look back with disdain at games with “tank controls” and fixed camera angles, their implementation found a balance between player agency and directorial control. It’s important that we tie tank controls and static cameras together. Tank controls outside of this kind of setting, or … outside of driving a tank in games is not something I am addressing. Let’s explore this by looking at the Resident Evil franchise, a series that has implemented all sorts of camera styles and control options to illicit different types of fear.

A quick explanation of tank controls. On an analog stick or digital directional buttons, up moves your character forward and down backwards. Left and right will turn your character in place. This is done independent of the camera. Early in the series we have examples of this kind of control and camera scheme, but its best implementation is the Resident Evil remake for the Gamecube in 2002. In combination with the lighting and sound design, the sense of dread and horror are elevated, I would say to its height. This comes at the cost of player comfort. Not knowing what is around the corner, or having a full view of what is ahead of you is meant to build anticipation. Even your monsters might obscure the view and leave you out of sight, unsure of what direction to move, or aim. This disadvantage pressures the player to avoid enemies (along with scarcity of resources).

In the later titles, for example Resident Evil 4, we are given an over the shoulder view. We lose the sense of dread, the fear of the unknown when we have full control of what we can see and simply dispatch the enemy within our sights. Producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi said ”.. In this game, it's "the fear of groups". We gave players a hint of that in previous games with the zombies, but the enemies in RE4 move differently, and they have actual AI. They also don't mindlessly come at you from the front—they sneak around and surround you.” This works with this camera and control setup, but something is now lost and replaced. The series moved on to a more Hollywood action type game where panic and abundance are substituting dread and perseverance.

Another advantage that the static camera and tank controls provide is a cinematic license the developers can employ. They can make the most of lighting effects, highlight details and play on expectations. For example, the swinging chandelier in a dark room, swaying ominously from side to side just as the undead shuffle about the pathways. That then creates a moving shadow that might give you pause, but creates a dance of trepidation. The environment is a direct reflection of the situation the player is in. With an over the shoulder view, you have to make room for the camera and the player character which takes up to a third of the screen space. The sacrifice is made to no benefit of the atmosphere.

Looking closer to the present with Resident evil 7 and 8, we have returned to the “haunted house” scenario and playful lighting in the first person. But the sense of suspense is less about the space around the character, but the proximity of events to the viewer. If you want to show a long hallway, having a tight, static shot starting from where your character enters to the very end give both the visual information and the demonstration of that space. This can also be done in the first and third person but the expectations in these later titles is to be ready to shoot something (over the shoulder) or wait for the eventual jump scare (first person). There is also a disconnect with the first person view that doesn’t get addressed often. We do not interpret the world through just our eyes or through what is presently in view. We create a mental map through different senses and memory. First person relies heavily on the player directing their attention manually and intentionally. In a horror scenario, its this basis that the devs break expectations and use surprise and shock to induce fear.

Screenwriter Noboru Sugimura once said “The Resident Evil world must always hold true to the idea that approaching the enemy equals danger. And even if you do choose to fight, you run the risk of expending your precious ammo…” Part of that risk is the restrictive movement. Combining this with camera angles that push the atmosphere and limited resources and you’ve got the formula for Survival Horror of the mid 90’s.

Game design has moved towards player freedom and creativity. Games like Minecraft, Tears of the kingdom or Baldur’s Gate are clear examples. But there is a feeling that games are about player action at first. To give up that agency, to be confined to specific parameters may be more than players today are willing to do. Another point might be that we can have these cinematic camera angles without the tank controls. The HD remaster of the remake of Resident Evil that released this last generation gave players that option. I would argue that you do lose something in translation and that making that change optional was a mistake. The learning curve for that player control style is not steep, and it was hardly rare. The Onimusha franchise, Tomb Raider, Mega Man Legends are a few that come to mind from that same era. What you gain with the tank controls is a consistency that is carried through each scene that requires less visual confirmation.

When the focus of a game becomes the player, it’s at a cost. Some games are there for you to manipulate, but for the horror genre, its important to feel at a disadvantage from time to time. There is joy to be had in the difficult, the obscure, the implied threat and the strategy necessary for success. The limitations and challenge are where the fun is. The controls are part of that and I hope that developers are more willing to break away from the norms of third and first person cameras to give us more unique experiences.