Much like Call of Duty, The Finals has aim assist support for people who play on consoles as well as on PC with controllers. And, again, much like Call of Duty, aim assist has become divisive within the The Finals community. So, today, we’re here to discuss what the solution is for aim assist within The Finals.
To start things off, it’s important to clarify the two different kinds of aim assist that exists in The Finals. First, you have ‘aim snapping’ when aiming down sites near an opponent and your reticle will smoothly snap onto the target with some extra tracking for a half second afterwards. Second, exists the kind of aim assist that most are familiar with that also make up the brunt of videos on the The Finals subreddit.
Called ‘auto rotation,’ this kind of aim assist rotates your camera to help stay on your opponent when your reticle is on or near them. The problem that players are having on PC is that the aim assist feels strong enough to make controller users too competitive. This can be seen in the way that PC players have broken down and analyzed how strong the aim assist actually is.
Many have found that the aim assist can sometimes be called auto aim with how strong it is. Some ?Reddit users have even recorded themselves testing it out while showing that the aim assist will help you completely auto rotate as long as you’re aiming down sites and moving. I can completely see how mouse and keyboard users would feel like controller players are using aim assist as a crutch to bridge the gap and compete—and this is coming from a controller user.
With that said, many seem to share the opinion that crossplay in The Finals shouldn’t be forced upon the entirety of The Finals PC players. This is mainly due to players not wanting those who play on controllers to play in their lobbies. Now, I’ve got two minds on this. I don’t think it’s a smart idea to completely segregate controller players and M/KB players because a big playerbase is a healthy playerbase and splitting the two would certainly affect that.
On the other hand, M/KB users shouldn’t feel forced into gaming against controller users which could make them feel like their skill is invalidated due to aim assist being needed. So, I feel a proper solution is a little bit of both worlds. And by that I’m referring to an optional input-based matchmaking. M/KB users would be matched with other M/KB users, and controller players would be matched in much the same way.
However, it is still important to keep this kind of matchmaking optional for those like me who enjoy playing on PC for the framerate and visuals, but also enjoy the comfort and simplicity of a controller. Especially if those of us on PC with controllers have friends who play exclusively with M/KB. I don’t think taking aim assist away on PC in any capacity is the way to go as accessibility to the widest audience is key to keeping games like The Finals alive.
It will be interesting to see how Embark Studios responds to the PC playerbase’s claims of aim assist being too strong. And who knows, maybe they will end up lessening it some, or nerfing aim snapping a bit. At the end of the day, I can always relearn how to play a game like The Finals on mouse and keyboard.
On the other hand, the freedom of choice involved in how one plays games is part of the beauty of this engaging hobby that we all share.
