Hands-On With The Wii U’s First Third-Person Shooter

Ghost Recon Online for the Wii U is a third-person shooter for Nintendo’s next big thing packed with tons of cool bells and whistles. It also demonstrates some of the big hurdles the new console will face when trying to satisfy hardcore gamers.

I’m a long-time shooter fan, so I was very excited for a chance to get my hands on Ubisoft’s shooter for the Wii U.

The early experience, customising my weapons, controlling a remote drone and seeing the video feed on the controller, were all very impressive. But the thumbsticks, designed to be more like what you’d find on a 3DS than a PS3 or Xbox 360 controller, didn’t seem to be able to deliver the same sort of experience I’ve come to expect from my console shooters.

I’m sure a bit of tweaking to the settings would have solved some of the issues, and the developers say they still have work to do on their end before the 2012 release, but what bothered me the most was how flat those sticks feel. Unlike with the thumbsticks on a PS3 or 360, you’re sliding around two buttons on a flat platform. I might get used to it, but for now I’m much more comfortable tilting miniature joysticks under my thumbs.