Think about a game as simple as bowling. -áYou can remove most of the skill requirements for kids by dropping bumpers in the gutters. -áThe kids can roll balls down the lane and watch the pins drop. -áHeck, we could go on step further and build a ramp to guide the ball right to the pocket for a strike each time. -áYou just aim the ramp and a light comes on when it is positioned correctly. -áThen you place the ball on the ramp and let go. -áStrike! -áThat's the current hit-scan vs. bullet drop/travel time debate.

Here is the thing that I find frustrating. The game reacts more slowly to what I input using the controller than I can react to all of the different sensory information I am taking in while playing. And I am pretty slow.

Not what I am talking about at all. Didn't mention shooting, or firing in my examples. I am well versed in the vagaries of latency.

Yes, the latency is frustrating and is most apparent in this beta when I am running toward an enemy or group of enemies to get in range and when I transition to firing my weapon the game sort of freezes for a second before picking back up again.

But the time it takes to switch out weapons is very slow, no matter the latency. It is a constant. As are turn speed and lateral movement speed. All of these aspects of character movement have built in ceilings or take a set amount of time (no matter what) that interrupts game flow and makes it feel slow and clunky. By the time I see clear and present danger, realize I need to reload or switch out my weapon for a back up, hit R2, duck for cover, flank the enemy, line up a shot, get back behind cover, turn and face 2 more players moving in on my position, line up a shot, revive a fallen team mate, nope, still waiting for the switch out weapon animation to complete...

Take Dark Souls, for example. The time it takes your character to switch out weapons is not instantaneous, but also not agonizingly slow. It does not change even when the lag is terrible while fighting another player online. When I press a button to switch out my weapon to a back up weapon the system responds in a consistent and rapid manner. And latency doesn't affect how quickly this takes place after I press a button and then move an analog stick, say, if I need to dodge an attack, or escape stunlock. It does affect how my input and animation and hit box interact with the other player's attacks, animations and hit box, and yes, with latency that interaction can get funky. But that is only to be expected.

Oddly enough, in DUST 514 there are some areas of gameplay where there are near immediate responses between controller and action in game. Mainly jumping in and out of an LAV, switching positions in a vehicle, moving from the driver seat to the gunner's seat in a dropship, Solo flying and gunning from a dropship is one thing a player can do that utilizes the gaming skills I would like to see more room for in DUST 514, and there is not really any sort of limit that a player can't pass beyond, or bumper in the bowling lane, so to speak, if you want to solo fly and gun from a dropship. How well you do is purely based on how well you can do.

The PS 3 is a very supple and responsive system, compared to say, Xbox, and Dust just doesn't make use of that.

That the slow option makes you evaluate your choices could be a good thing. I could live with if. But we have a lot of slow options and not many quick options as infantry in gun battles.

Also, the game is not self consistent in the details. Why I brought up switching seats in vehicle. It makes no sense at all that players in "fast paced" gun battles should have to stop and think and evaluated if they should draw a side arm, re-load, or run away, if the game does not force that same kind of decision making on players getting in and out of LAVs, or switching seats in vehicles. But maybe each seat and the door to enter and exit a vehicle is really a wormhole, like a drop uplink. Who knows. There are always explanations that can be invented to explain game mechanics.

Bio engineered super soldiers are probably ambidextrous. So they would have the option of pulling a side arm with the hand not holding the main weapon and hip firing very quickly. There could also be a quick clasp mechanism where a merc could clip and stow their main gun with one hand while pulling a side arm with the other and still aim down sights almost instantaneously.

But my point is that there's a lot of stuff put in place to slow the pace of the game down. And if the game is meant to be one of painstaking and thoroughly considered decision making in moment to moment gun battles, should be consistent across the board. Should take more time to climb out of a tank.

And if things continue in that direction, this will also be aGǪ anGǪ interesting sort of game to play. Myst 514?