I’ve been thinking about playing FPS games like Team Fortress 2, CSGO, or maybe Black Ops on my Steam Deck, but I’m really having trouble getting used to gyro aiming. Before I spend a lot of time trying to learn it, I’m curious if it’s really worth getting the hang of gyro controls for FPS games, or if I should just skip those games on the Deck altogether. Does using gyro actually improve the gameplay experience for FPS, or is sticking with thumbsticks fine? Any tips or personal experiences with gyro aiming would be great!
5 Answers
I find gyro controls great for single-player FPS or action games on the Deck — the added precision especially when aiming slowly really helps. But when it comes to competitive multiplayer FPS, I’m not sure the small Steam Deck screen and the gyro precision can really compete with a mouse and keyboard. I’ve been playing Cyberpunk with gyro aiming, and it’s fun, though I actually switched off pitch control and only use yaw for aiming.
From my experience, gyro aiming can totally transform how you play FPS games on the Steam Deck. I’ve tried a ton of shooters and honestly, all of them feel way better with gyro controls compared to just using thumbsticks. My setup involves tuning the gyro sensitivity so I can do quick 90-degree turns in about half a second, making cornering super smooth. I also prefer gyro in mouse mode because using controller gyro settings feels laggy and less precise. After some practice, it feels natural, almost like second nature. So if you’re willing to put in a little time, it definitely pays off.
If you’re into trying something a bit different, gyro controls really boost the immersive feel in games that support them. For instance, I play a ton of boomer shooter style FPS games and even stream games via cloud services on my Steam Deck, always with gyro enabled. Setting a quick toggle for gyro on/off helps too, in case you want to snap back to thumbstick aiming quickly. Just remember it takes some patience. Once you get used to it, aiming feels more fluid and natural compared to thumbsticks.
Honestly, I couldn’t get used to gyro at all. It’s useful and all, but the thumbsticks just feel more comfortable and familiar to me. I grew up playing with thumbsticks on consoles and even on the Switch, so switching to gyro just never clicked for me. It might be worth it for some, but for me, I stick with thumbsticks despite their limitations.
I think gyro aiming can be a pretty solid alternative, especially for single-player FPS games on the Deck. But, for multiplayer, you might find a mouse is just faster overall. Also, keep in mind that playing games like Call of Duty on the Deck can be tricky due to setup difficulties and sometimes low player counts or cheating issues. So gyro’s good, but don’t expect it to replace mouse aiming in every scenario.
Thanks for the tip on mouse mode! I hadn’t thought about switching the gyro config like that. I’ll give your sensitivity settings a try and see how it feels.