Use both! I use Joy2Key and map WASD to the left analog stick of the Xbox 360 controller (which you can use on the PC) and aim with the mouse. I map jump to the left trigger, change stance/crouch/prone to the left bumper button, run to click the analog stick, and other random stuff to the d-pad and the right analog stick that I can reach with my left thumb. (Obviously only map stuff to the d-pad and the other buttons if you do not need to use those things while moving... like checking scores or using killstreaks or something.) Takes a little getting used to but once you get the settings down (for instance, you need to adjust the stick sensitivity for diagonal movement) it's sort of like the best of both worlds. Even better would be something like a one handed wand type controller, but I already had some 360 sticks lying around so I use this. I love it.
I grew up playing Doom, Doom 2, Quake, Unreal, etc. on the PC, got really good at it, moved to the console shooters once they really took off and lost all my KB+M skills, and just got frustrated bumbling around with Keyboard movement when I tried to come back. As a parent I have limited time to "get good" and practice (practice?? this is a video game! I don't want to practice). I missed the old days of just jumping on line for an hour and murdering people.:awe:
Some random thoughts in no particular order:
(1) I have used Kontrol Freeks (basically, stick extenders) on my Xbox 360 controller for a while. For some PC games the controller is great, e.g. Assassin's Creed, or basically anything that is not an online FPS up against KB+M master race opponents.
(2) Not to say you cannot face off against KB+M opponents with a controller... I did on Ghosts, and honestly did not do too bad. Ghosts was an oddly slow COD game though and the controller is really exposed on a game like Advanced Warfare, which of all the COD games to me plays more like a Unreal/Quake type shooter, where there is more verticality and crazy fast movement of targets across the screen (remember the red grappling hook mod from Quake 2? Yeah). The controller is not well suited for quickly aiming at rapidly moving targets across wide swaths of the screen.
(3) You will suck with aiming the mouse for a time. It takes getting used to. My aim was a full 10% worse with the mouse vs. a controller when I first went back to the mouse from years of using the controller. It is slowly rising but it's not "easy." Once mastered it is better, but it is not easy. Contrary to what a lot of people say I actually advise starting off with very low sensitivity to get used to fine tuning your aiming, and slowly moving up as far as you can as you get more comfortable. I also don't think you need a fancy gaming mouse with ultra high sensitivity for casual gaming; I've never owned one in my 20+ years of online gaming and (when I was actually good with the mouse in the past) it never mattered. Just get a mouse with adequate buttons so you have all the buttons you need on both hands, where you want them. Some mouse side buttons suck and require you to move your hand around too much to push them. Go to a store and pick up some mice and try pushing all the extra buttons and see if it is awkward or not. For instance I have some cheapo Logitech wireless mouse with 2 very comfortable side buttons, a middle clickwheel that also goes side to side (so really the wheel itself is like five buttons in one) and a middle button below the click wheel. That's 10 buttons, all easily pressed without unnecessary movement or accidental button pushing. I game from my couch with the stick in my left hand and the mouse on my couch on the right. (It's a nice flat couch so it works.) Best of both worlds!
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