The Precision Shot 3 is a new gun attachment for the PlayStation Move that promises to enhance your gaming experience. Unfortunately, it actually detracts from the experience.

A gun attachment for the PlayStation Move was inevitable. Even Sony is releasing an official attachment late October. The Precision Shot 3 differentiates itself by including an optional grip for the Navigation controller. In terms of looks, this gun attachment seems perfect.

The gun itself doesn’t weigh much and it’s long enough to hold with two hands (as if it were a shotgun). The Move unit attaches to the top of the gun and fits in securely, even without the orange clip near the globe. There’s even an opening on the back that allows you to attach a USB cable to the Move controller if it needs to be charged. It’s a pretty solid design.

Once everything is connected, you’ll notice that the weight isn’t evenly distributed (the front is much heavier). The optional grip makes this less of an issue. Of course, that’s assuming you have a Navigation controller to connect it to. If you don’t, the grip alone isn’t very comfortable to hold. The Nav unit fits well into the grip but it pops out a bit when you press L1 or L2. It’s pretty annoying, actually. Perhaps if there was something that fastens around the Nav unit this wouldn’t be an issue.

The top portion of the gun is completely open and this allows for you to access the buttons on the Move controller. This sounds good on paper, but once you actually start playing games you’ll notice that this is probably the biggest flaw with every gun attachment for the Move. Even worse, the trigger itself requires too much force. This was more noticeable during The Shoot since you have to constantly pull the trigger.

The Amazon.com description claims that this attachment is compatible with all PlayStation Move games, specially all shooting games (such as RE5, The Shoot, Time Crisis, etc). While this technically is true, it’s not exactly practical for each game unless you only have to pull the trigger. This basically means that the only game that this peripheral works well with is The Shoot.

Time Crisis: Razing Storm

For this game I was more annoyed than anything else. In the demo, you can’t customize the controls. You can only shoot when you’re not behind cover and the default setup requires you to hold down the Move button to do just that. This setup isn’t too problematic actually, but the Move button placement on the controller is somewhat difficult to reach with the Precision Shot 3. If there was a button on the side of the gun like there is for a GunCon, Time Crisis would work perfectly.

The most comfortable way to play is by holding the gun sideways so your left thumb is on the Move button at all times. Depending on the size of your hand, holding the gun normally might make it difficult to reach the Move button. My hand isn’t exactly small, but I found that having my thumb across the top of the gun was too uncomfortable and distracting.

The Precision Shot 3 is sufficient enough to work with Time Crisis but it isn’t exactly ideal. Different controls schemes in Razing Storm might make the experience more enjoyable but I wasn’t able to test that out. It’s a shame that this game doesn’t have support for the Nav unit. If it did, this gun attachment would work just fine.

Resident Evil 5

The Precision Shot 3 is nearly unplayable with Resident Evil 5. You won’t notice any problems when you’re just walking around though. The optional grip for the gun attachment is actually pretty comfortable and helps keep the gun steady. However, once you actually have to do something, that’s when you’ll find yourself in some trouble.

The reason for that is because the Move button is pretty much the “do all” button in RE5. To shoot, you first need to hold down the trigger to go into aiming mode and then you press the Move button to fire your weapon. Imagine having to switch from using the Nav unit to pressing the Move button every time you have to do anything. It’s just not fun. Don’t even get me started on the wiggle QTEs…

Organizing inventory items and even doing a simple 180 degree turn becomes difficult. In fact, RE5′s default control scheme is actually unplayable with the gun attachment due to the layout of the buttons. You’ll have to switch to configuration B to even have access to the run button. And even then, you’re still going to have issues with shooting, picking up items, and interacting with the environment since that doesn’t change.

Unfortunately, Capcom didn’t provide the ability to customize your controls in RE5. The Precision Shot 3 could possibly work better for this game if I could adjust the controls to my liking to compensate for its obvious design flaws. Mapping the aim button to L1 or L2 on the Nav unit and using the trigger to shoot would be a great start.

After struggling with RE5 for a good hour, I decided to play the game without the attachment. It’s awesome when you actually have access to every button. It’s a crazy concept, I know.

Trying to take down this guy using the Precision Shot 3 is challenging for all the wrong reasons

The Precision Shot 3 is a great idea but its design doesn’t compensate for more demanding games like RE5 or Time Crisis. You’ll have no issues with The Shoot since that game only requires you to pull the trigger during gameplay. Gun attachments like this would work better if buttons were placed onto the gun itself. Until that happens though, you’ll constantly struggle with control issues for most games. Your best option is to wait until these flaws have been fixed before buying a Precision Shot 3 or any other attachment.

The Precision Shot 3 is available in North America for $24.99.

Buy from – Amazon (US) – Gamestop
All sales made through PS3 Attitude help our charity fund

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