Some PC Games, are better played with a Game Pad
If you are gonna play games like Shadowrun, Overlord and Halo 2 on a PC, you would be better off investing in an Xbox 360 controller rather than simply playing with your trusty keyboard and mouse combination. The reasons are pretty simple:
- Mouse-aiming is crippled in Shadowrun. You actually get penalized for accurate shooting.
Quoting a Gamespy review:
"The fast-aiming ability of the mouse has been negated by an accuracy penalty when aiming via mouse (as opposed to plugging in a gamepad). Abilities add either a generous auto-aim (Smartlink) or conduct area-effect (Strangle) as to negate the need for accurate shooting." - Overlord's controls are more finely-tuned on the Xbox 360 controller, and offers more options compared to using a keyboard and mouse.
Quoting a 1UP review:
"Problem is you need finer control than the keyboard-and-mouse setup offers on the PC. Play enough battles requiring simultaneous attacks from a gremlin horde and your antihero, and you'll notice a huge difference when using a gamepad.
As is now becoming the standard, Overlord maps its controller layout to the ubiquitous Xbox 360 pad -- the left stick moves the master, and sweeping the right stick gives total control of the minions. So if you don't already own a gamepad, add that to the price tag." - 4 words when it comes to playing Halo 2 with an Xbox 360 controller: "Force Feedback" and "Auto Aim"
Quoting a Gamespot review:
"playing with a controller is a bit closer to the original console experience, right down to force-feedback support. This creates some really weird and potentially unbalanced trade-offs in multiplayer. By default, a player with a mouse will be able to turn more quickly and, if that player is skilled, more accurately than a gamepad user. Gamepad players can increase the right-stick sensitivity to turn faster, but they also get another benefit that feels downright dirty.
Like the console version, the PC game employs a certain amount of auto-aim when you're using a gamepad. This makes sticking to other players for up-close shotgun blasts or melee attacks significantly easier with the gamepad, and there doesn't appear to be any way to disable it or even detect that another player is using a pad. After pumping up the gamepad's sensitivity, we found ourselves doing more damage when armed with a gamepad"