Tank controls are a control system used in video games whereby players control movement relative to the position of the player character, rather than the perspective of the game camera.[1]
System
In a game with tank controls, pressing up on the game controller moves the character in the direction they face, down reverses them, and left and right rotates them.[1] This differs from many games, in which characters move in the direction players push from the perspective of the camera.[1] The term "tank controls" comes from the steering mechanisms of old tanks, which had to stop completely before turning.[2]
Tank controls were common in 3D games in the 1990s, such as Grim Fandango and the early Resident Evil and Tomb Raider games.[1][3] Tank controls allow players to maintain a direction when the camera angle changes. The Grim Fandango designer Tim Schafer chose the system as it allowed the developers to create "cinematic" camera cuts without disrupting the controls.[4] Shinji Mikami, the director of the first Resident Evil (1996), felt the use of fixed camera perspectives and tank controls made the game scarier.[5]
Criticism
Tank controls have been criticized as stiff or cumbersome.[4] They have become less common over time and free-roaming cameras have become standard for 3D games.[2] The remastered versions of Grim Fandango, Resident Evil, and Tomb Raider include alternative control schemes, and later Resident Evil and Tomb Raider games discarded tank controls.[5][6]