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- 28 Jun 2003
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IGN hat das SmartJoy FRAG getestet. Hier mal die wichtigsten Auszüge:
Gameplay
So the main question here is, "How well does it work?" The answer is actually entirely dependant on what game you're playing. It can range from being OK to excellent, depending on the title. The problem is that some games compensate a whole lot for joystick use, and this doesn't always translate well to mouse use.
The worst I've seen the SmartJoy FRAG perform is just OK. In those cases, some things may be better about using a mouse/keyboard and others may be better with a controller. But even at those times I'd probably still use the SmartJoy FRAG over the standard controller. In the games where it works really well though, there's no question at all that I'd rather use it than a controller.
The two main problems are due to joystick acceleration and lack of a sensitivity setting. Some games use acceleration with joystick movement, like Rainbow Six 3. If you press the controller slightly, it'll move slowly. If you press it all the way to the edge, it'll move slowly for a second but then pick up speed to help you turn around faster.
The game assumes you'll be controlling the game like this and it can screw with mouse use a bit. Since you can't "hold" the mouse at the end of its movement, everything will always be slow. If you have it set up where the deadzone offers fine movement, even at the highest sensitivity setting in-game you'll have to pick the mouse up multiple times to turn around. If you get aggressive with the deadzone setting to make movement faster you'll start having problems with finite movement.
Sniping can become a pain, though you can learn to compensate for it. You're basically trading off having better all-around, sweeping movement for less accuracy. In the case of a game with this problem, like Rainbow Six 3, it's a close call, but I'll probably take the keyboard/mouse combo over the joystick.
The lack of an in-game sensitivity setting can be a pain as well. You generally need to crank this all the way up in a game that allows it, so if a game doesn't have this option you'll constantly be picking up your mouse. Serious Sam on PlayStation 2 has this problem. Messing with the deadzone can help adjust sensitivity when you don't have an in-game option, though sometimes it can mess with fine movement.
Of the games that we tested the units with, the ones that worked best were Halo, TimeSplitters 2 on both systems (even though it lacks an in-game sensitivity setting), Killzone, MechAssault and Crimson Skies, surprisingly.
Halo just works damn fine with the SmartJoy FRAG. Movement is as smooth as butter and being able to spin around or look anywhere quickly is a godsend. Our only complaint with this is that the vertical movement is slower than the horizontal, but that's not too big a deal. Hopefully Halo 2 has options for both.
MechAssault was very nice to play with the SmartJoy FRAG, partly due to the fact that you can assign your jumpjet to any key you want. Normally you use it by clicking the left analog stick, which means you have to keep it held while still steering. I had it mapped to the right mouse button, and it work beautifully. Everything else about the game worked nicely as well with smooth controls like Halo.
Killzone on PlayStation 2 worked very well also. The game doesn't seem to have any sort of auto-targetting or joystick acceleration which makes it a perfect candidate for mouse use. Movement was dead-on and smooth.
We should say that the games we tried on both systems, including Hitman: Contracts and Rainbow Six 3 among others, performed equally on both platforms. There doesn't seem to be any difference between the two units other than the plug that goes into the system, its shape and color.
Overall
The SmartJoy FRAG is somewhat of a hard unit to review and give an overall score to. On the one hand, it's built well and has some smart and easy configuration features. On the other hand, how well it works control-wise is almost entirely dependent upon the game you're playing.
The way we figure it is that if you own more than one first-person shooter on either PS2 or Xbox, you'd do yourself well by picking one up. It works great with some of the best software on either system, especially Halo (and presumably its sequel) on Xbox. And you gamers out there looking forward to Killzone should pick up the PS2 version as it'll do you well in your killing of zones.
Performance
Depends on the game, but it can be really damn good.
8.5
Ease of Use
Remembering the key configurations can be a pain, but everything else is super-easy.
7.5
Value
At under $30 this thing's a steal, assuming you have the right sofware.
9.0
Features
Great configuration options; you can pretty much set it up however you want.
9.0
Overall Rating (Not an average)
8.5
Quelle: IGN
Gameplay
So the main question here is, "How well does it work?" The answer is actually entirely dependant on what game you're playing. It can range from being OK to excellent, depending on the title. The problem is that some games compensate a whole lot for joystick use, and this doesn't always translate well to mouse use.
The worst I've seen the SmartJoy FRAG perform is just OK. In those cases, some things may be better about using a mouse/keyboard and others may be better with a controller. But even at those times I'd probably still use the SmartJoy FRAG over the standard controller. In the games where it works really well though, there's no question at all that I'd rather use it than a controller.
The two main problems are due to joystick acceleration and lack of a sensitivity setting. Some games use acceleration with joystick movement, like Rainbow Six 3. If you press the controller slightly, it'll move slowly. If you press it all the way to the edge, it'll move slowly for a second but then pick up speed to help you turn around faster.
The game assumes you'll be controlling the game like this and it can screw with mouse use a bit. Since you can't "hold" the mouse at the end of its movement, everything will always be slow. If you have it set up where the deadzone offers fine movement, even at the highest sensitivity setting in-game you'll have to pick the mouse up multiple times to turn around. If you get aggressive with the deadzone setting to make movement faster you'll start having problems with finite movement.
Sniping can become a pain, though you can learn to compensate for it. You're basically trading off having better all-around, sweeping movement for less accuracy. In the case of a game with this problem, like Rainbow Six 3, it's a close call, but I'll probably take the keyboard/mouse combo over the joystick.
The lack of an in-game sensitivity setting can be a pain as well. You generally need to crank this all the way up in a game that allows it, so if a game doesn't have this option you'll constantly be picking up your mouse. Serious Sam on PlayStation 2 has this problem. Messing with the deadzone can help adjust sensitivity when you don't have an in-game option, though sometimes it can mess with fine movement.
Of the games that we tested the units with, the ones that worked best were Halo, TimeSplitters 2 on both systems (even though it lacks an in-game sensitivity setting), Killzone, MechAssault and Crimson Skies, surprisingly.
Halo just works damn fine with the SmartJoy FRAG. Movement is as smooth as butter and being able to spin around or look anywhere quickly is a godsend. Our only complaint with this is that the vertical movement is slower than the horizontal, but that's not too big a deal. Hopefully Halo 2 has options for both.
MechAssault was very nice to play with the SmartJoy FRAG, partly due to the fact that you can assign your jumpjet to any key you want. Normally you use it by clicking the left analog stick, which means you have to keep it held while still steering. I had it mapped to the right mouse button, and it work beautifully. Everything else about the game worked nicely as well with smooth controls like Halo.
Killzone on PlayStation 2 worked very well also. The game doesn't seem to have any sort of auto-targetting or joystick acceleration which makes it a perfect candidate for mouse use. Movement was dead-on and smooth.
We should say that the games we tried on both systems, including Hitman: Contracts and Rainbow Six 3 among others, performed equally on both platforms. There doesn't seem to be any difference between the two units other than the plug that goes into the system, its shape and color.
Overall
The SmartJoy FRAG is somewhat of a hard unit to review and give an overall score to. On the one hand, it's built well and has some smart and easy configuration features. On the other hand, how well it works control-wise is almost entirely dependent upon the game you're playing.
The way we figure it is that if you own more than one first-person shooter on either PS2 or Xbox, you'd do yourself well by picking one up. It works great with some of the best software on either system, especially Halo (and presumably its sequel) on Xbox. And you gamers out there looking forward to Killzone should pick up the PS2 version as it'll do you well in your killing of zones.
Performance
Depends on the game, but it can be really damn good.
8.5
Ease of Use
Remembering the key configurations can be a pain, but everything else is super-easy.
7.5
Value
At under $30 this thing's a steal, assuming you have the right sofware.
9.0
Features
Great configuration options; you can pretty much set it up however you want.
9.0
Overall Rating (Not an average)
8.5
Quelle: IGN
